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What a shame, what a shame. Beautiful scars on critical veins Kids In The Dark, by All Time Low

Emo Forums » General Emo Discussion (Reply)

Xx_Affectus_xX
Posts: 61
On a deeper note Feb 10 2020, 02:17 PM
Hey guys and gals, I just wanted to start a discussion on something philosophical, it's always nice to hear about what the rest of the world thinks - no matter what age we are, we are always learning. Anyways, I was doing some mental experiments and I was thinking about why emo is a powerful force in humanity. Surely, emotions play a huge role - I remember, as a teenager, emotions were basically everything. However, now that I'm an older rational-minded individual, I'm beginning to pick apart why emo is still so relevant today as it was back in the day. I came to a slight epiphany after reading up on stoicism and especially, Mark Ronson's books, and I feel that emo (or just metal music subcultures in general) serves as a kind of Memento Mori - a reminder of the inevitability of death. Because of what a Memento Mori does, it helps us to remember also, the fragility of human existence. That we should always live life to the fullest, embracing all the experiences life throws at us - the good, the bad and the ugly. In a sense, I feel that emo and metal cultures build a certain kind of resilience to the fear of dying into its listeners. In my humble opinion, I feel that most of the mainstream music does the opposite; expressing and prioritising the lavishes of life and superficiality - money, ownership, consumerism etc... People forget the frailties of life and are reminded of what they don't have, ultimately leading to a sense of self-entitlement thus causing more pain, destruction and suffering. I'm curious to know what your thoughts are.

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Emo Pictures - xX_so_sad_Xx
xX_so_sad_Xx
Posts: 53
Feb 12 2020, 07:39 PM
I totally agree with this. I also see Emo as a sort of catharsis. One of my favorite interviews is one with Frank Iero where they'e asking him why he writes such sad and depressing stuff, and he says that he doesn't see his music as sad, he sees it as happy. “I always thought that I wrote really happy songs and everybody’s like ‘nah’,” he said with a giggle. Musically there’s certainly an uplifting and upbeat quality to Frank’s music, but dig a little deeper and the lyrics seem to bare his very soul and don’t exactly scream ‘happy’. “I think it’s definitely a heavy subject matter,” he agreed. “I just don’t think it’s depressing, you know?” before going on to say that his songs “might just be about stuff that normal people don’t write about or consider happy." Emo has always been this catharsis for me. I think stressing about buying the newest clothing brand and getting back with your cheating boyfriend are more depressing than talking about being depressed. I agree, mainstream music is all about the little things that don't matter, and even when they do try to get into something deep, like death and love, it's so shallow. They barely touch the surface. They're not allowed to go any deeper because going deeper would be revealing the reality that everything is really fucked up. With mainstream, people can ignore the pain while Emo allows us to express it and think about solutions to our problems.
Emo Pictures - xX_so_sad_Xx
xX_so_sad_Xx
Posts: 53
Feb 12 2020, 07:55 PM
I also wanted to say that I think Emo has been such a powerful force in gender and sexuality politics, breaking stereotypes and boundaries about not only what it means to be queer but also what it means to be cis/straight. So many of these bands, the band members, and fans have been derogatorily called "gay" because of the way they dress and the content they sing about and the fact that a majority of fans end up being girls and queers. Emo has really broken the stigma that sensitivity=femininity, femininity=gay, and that "gay" and femininity=bad. Emo really challenged the idea of masculinity, especially bands like My Chemical Romance. Mainstream doesn't dare talk about that shit. The closest thing we got was maybe Macklemore's "Same Love," and he's a straight cis guy; not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, we all love an ally, but he doesn't get the same shit that actual queer artist receive. Lil Nas X for example came out and got a lot of shit for it, and there isn't any explicit queer representation in his songs that come on the radio. I'm not sure if the radio would even play it if he did write a song about being queer/with queer subjects. Anyway, I'm talking a lot, but long story short, emo opens up the doors of conversation and acceptance that mainstream cannot and possibly never could.
KilljoyNik
Posts: 22
Feb 15 2020, 09:15 PM
While there are still people (like us) who live and breathe emo, it's never been "popular" with the mainstream. I'll try to break it down as simply as I can. Emo music sounds like over-dramatic crap to people who haven't familiarized themselves with the genre. As an outsider looking in you get the impression that it's all just a bunch of narcissistic and self pitying repetitive nonsense. Especially if you've been conditioned to fear and cringe away from emotion. If you were brought up "strong" you'll naturally fear your own weakness and have a harder time empathizing with the emotions of others. You'll listen to lukewarm music that doesn't really "say" anything, especially around your friends and family. Or if music is nothing but a mood and an aesthetic to you. In my case I take music very seriously. I listen to the music. I read the lyrics. I familiarize myself with the band members. It fuels my poetry. "Mood" and "Aesthetic" is the least of my worries. It's emotional education. It's staring the emotions that I'd never be able to talk about with flesh and blood people dead in the face. It's almost like therapy, if that makes sense.

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