Alright, here's the REAL definition of emo. It will be broken up since there are two definitions. There's the style of music, and there's the lifestyle.
1) Emo music is a sub-genre of punk. It is often characterized by high-pitched male vocals and lyrics in which emotion(hence the name) is expressed. The lyrics often have to do with betrayal, lost loves, "broken hearts", suicide/SMB (self-mutilating behaviors), and depression. Bands such as Dashboard Confessional were thought to have created the emo genre. See also: screamo.
2) The emo "lifestyle" has changed somewhat over the years. It started off with kids who were pretty much the outcasts. The guys were thought to be in touch with their sensitive side and they would wear rectangular framed glases, scarfs (much like those seen in Harry Potter), tight t-shirts, and occassionally tight pants. They would listen to emo music, and often be depressed. However, this has changed. Now, emo boys can be distinguished by their long (usually black and sometimes with a streak of another color) hair, which is cut in such a style so that it covers one eye or half of their face, and their skinny figures. They also wear eyeliner(not always), tight t-shirts, girl pants(sometimes), usually some sort of hoodie or hooded jacket, and usually sport black fingernails. Emos are usually depressed and are fragile with strong emotions. Some misconceptions about emos are that all of them want to commit suicide and all of them cut their wrists. Though many emos do this, not all of them do. Another misconception is that all emo guys are either bisexual or gay. This is not true as there are many straight emo boys and sexual preference has nothing to do with it. If you think that all emos have made-up problems, you are reading the wrong definition and should look at emo poser.
1) Emo music is a sub-genre of punk. It is often characterized by high-pitched male vocals and lyrics in which emotion(hence the name) is expressed. The lyrics often have to do with betrayal, lost loves, "broken hearts", suicide/SMB (self-mutilating behaviors), and depression. Bands such as Dashboard Confessional were thought to have created the emo genre. See also: screamo.
2) The emo "lifestyle" has changed somewhat over the years. It started off with kids who were pretty much the outcasts. The guys were thought to be in touch with their sensitive side and they would wear rectangular framed glases, scarfs (much like those seen in Harry Potter), tight t-shirts, and occassionally tight pants. They would listen to emo music, and often be depressed. However, this has changed. Now, emo boys can be distinguished by their long (usually black and sometimes with a streak of another color) hair, which is cut in such a style so that it covers one eye or half of their face, and their skinny figures. They also wear eyeliner(not always), tight t-shirts, girl pants(sometimes), usually some sort of hoodie or hooded jacket, and usually sport black fingernails. Emos are usually depressed and are fragile with strong emotions. Some misconceptions about emos are that all of them want to commit suicide and all of them cut their wrists. Though many emos do this, not all of them do. Another misconception is that all emo guys are either bisexual or gay. This is not true as there are many straight emo boys and sexual preference has nothing to do with it. If you think that all emos have made-up problems, you are reading the wrong definition and should look at emo poser.
1)Bands often considered to be in the emo genre include My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, and many others (most of them are rather obscure).
2) GirlA: The other day I took some totally emo pictures with my fingers pointing at my head and eyeliner streaming down my face. I'm like, such a camera whore. Then, I cut my wrists.
GirlB: You're a poser.
2) GirlA: The other day I took some totally emo pictures with my fingers pointing at my head and eyeliner streaming down my face. I'm like, such a camera whore. Then, I cut my wrists.
GirlB: You're a poser.
by Someone who actually knows August 31, 2008
Get the emomug. A very very annoying fad. The term emo is thrown around at almost every person nowadays. I guess I'll wait patiently for people to move on to the next stupid fad.
by chief alastor November 16, 2006
Get the emomug. Emo does not stand for "emotional" as many people think, nor is it a stereotype of whiny kids with stupid fringed hair.
EMO = EMOTIVE HARDCORE. IT'S A MUSICAL GENRE.
READ THIS:
After Minor Threat broke up in late 1983, the vibrant DC hardcore-punk scene that exploded in 1981 seems to start to run out of steam and fresh ideas within the established DC hardcore sound. The wistful, posthumous Minor Threat 7" "Salad Days" comes out in 1984 and drives the final nail into the coffin of DC hardcore punk. Bands all over the country begin casting about for new things to do : DRI and Bad Brains start going cheeze-metal, New York bands start doing tough-guy mosh, 7Seconds goes jangly U2 alternative, etc. The prevailing change in D.C. is toward melodic rock with punk sensibilities.
1984 marks the release of Zen Arcade by Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, documenting their new mature sound combining furious, intense vocal delivery and driving guitars with slowed-down rockish tempos and more-complex, melodic songwriting.
In spring 1984, a new band called Rites Of Spring forms from members of The Untouchables/Faith and Deadline. This band retains a punk speed and frenzy, but brings a totally new vocal approach to the mix. Singer Guy Picciotto keeps an out-of-breath punk style most of the time, at times delving into intensely personal lyrics dripping with emotion and sweat. His voice breaks down at climactic moments into a throaty, gravelly, passionate moan.
The summer of 1985 becomes known as "Revolution Summer" when a new wave of rock-tempo, melody based, sung-vocal bands forms out of the DC punk musician pool with diverse rock sounds - Three, Gray Matter, Soulside, Ignition, Marginal Man, Fire Party, Rain, Shudder to Think, etc. Few bands retain the fast hardcore punk-based sound with the new vocal approach, Dag Nasty being the notable exception.
Minor Threat's singer, Ian MacKaye's, sings for a band called Embrace (compare the band name to earlier DC bands Minor Threat, Void, and State Of Alert) whose lyrics are emotional and deeply self-questioning, but still clear and unambiguous. Musically, the group (formed mostly of ex-Faith members) writes midtempo, somewhat jangly music with a lot of pop guitar hooks. MacKaye's vocals retain his trademark bold enunciation, with only occasional sparks of emotive delivery.
These bands' sound eventually becomes known as the classic "D.C. sound." Some of it is derisively labeled "emo," as shorthand for "emotional." One account has this term first appearing in a Flipside interview with Ian MacKaye. Shortly thereafter DC bands aquire the tag "emo-core."
Slightly later (1986), some bands begin to focus on the "emo" element itself. The Hated in Annapolis (near D.C.) seem to be the first post-Rites of Spring to do this. Shortly thereafter, Moss Icon appears in in the same town. Moss Icon strips the "emo" element down to the core, and adds a great deal of intricate, arpeggiated guitar melody (by Tonie Joy, later of Born Against, Lava, Universal Order of Armageddon, etc.) with a strong focus on loud/soft dynamics. The vocals, too, break new ground by building up to actual top-of-the-lungs screaming at songs' climaxes.
Moss Icon, as a relatively well-known band that toured some, introduces the punk scene to music that has core emphasis on emotion instead of punk energy. As such, I consider them the starting point for the emo movement, not Rites of Spring as is more commonly asserted. Later emo bands draw heavily from the Moss Icon dynamics, guitar style, and vocal delivery.
EMO = EMOTIVE HARDCORE. IT'S A MUSICAL GENRE.
READ THIS:
After Minor Threat broke up in late 1983, the vibrant DC hardcore-punk scene that exploded in 1981 seems to start to run out of steam and fresh ideas within the established DC hardcore sound. The wistful, posthumous Minor Threat 7" "Salad Days" comes out in 1984 and drives the final nail into the coffin of DC hardcore punk. Bands all over the country begin casting about for new things to do : DRI and Bad Brains start going cheeze-metal, New York bands start doing tough-guy mosh, 7Seconds goes jangly U2 alternative, etc. The prevailing change in D.C. is toward melodic rock with punk sensibilities.
1984 marks the release of Zen Arcade by Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, documenting their new mature sound combining furious, intense vocal delivery and driving guitars with slowed-down rockish tempos and more-complex, melodic songwriting.
In spring 1984, a new band called Rites Of Spring forms from members of The Untouchables/Faith and Deadline. This band retains a punk speed and frenzy, but brings a totally new vocal approach to the mix. Singer Guy Picciotto keeps an out-of-breath punk style most of the time, at times delving into intensely personal lyrics dripping with emotion and sweat. His voice breaks down at climactic moments into a throaty, gravelly, passionate moan.
The summer of 1985 becomes known as "Revolution Summer" when a new wave of rock-tempo, melody based, sung-vocal bands forms out of the DC punk musician pool with diverse rock sounds - Three, Gray Matter, Soulside, Ignition, Marginal Man, Fire Party, Rain, Shudder to Think, etc. Few bands retain the fast hardcore punk-based sound with the new vocal approach, Dag Nasty being the notable exception.
Minor Threat's singer, Ian MacKaye's, sings for a band called Embrace (compare the band name to earlier DC bands Minor Threat, Void, and State Of Alert) whose lyrics are emotional and deeply self-questioning, but still clear and unambiguous. Musically, the group (formed mostly of ex-Faith members) writes midtempo, somewhat jangly music with a lot of pop guitar hooks. MacKaye's vocals retain his trademark bold enunciation, with only occasional sparks of emotive delivery.
These bands' sound eventually becomes known as the classic "D.C. sound." Some of it is derisively labeled "emo," as shorthand for "emotional." One account has this term first appearing in a Flipside interview with Ian MacKaye. Shortly thereafter DC bands aquire the tag "emo-core."
Slightly later (1986), some bands begin to focus on the "emo" element itself. The Hated in Annapolis (near D.C.) seem to be the first post-Rites of Spring to do this. Shortly thereafter, Moss Icon appears in in the same town. Moss Icon strips the "emo" element down to the core, and adds a great deal of intricate, arpeggiated guitar melody (by Tonie Joy, later of Born Against, Lava, Universal Order of Armageddon, etc.) with a strong focus on loud/soft dynamics. The vocals, too, break new ground by building up to actual top-of-the-lungs screaming at songs' climaxes.
Moss Icon, as a relatively well-known band that toured some, introduces the punk scene to music that has core emphasis on emotion instead of punk energy. As such, I consider them the starting point for the emo movement, not Rites of Spring as is more commonly asserted. Later emo bands draw heavily from the Moss Icon dynamics, guitar style, and vocal delivery.
Emocore bands:
Rites of Spring, Embrace, Gray Matter, Ignition, Dag Nasty, Monsula, Fugazi kind of, Fuel, Samiam, Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, Elliot, Friction, Soulside, early Lifetime, Split Lip/Chamberlain, Kerosene 454
Post-emo indie rock the kind most people mistake to be true emocore:
Sunny Day Real Estate, Christie Front Drive, Promise Ring, Mineral, Boys Life, Sideshow, Get-Up Kids, Braid, Cap'n Jazz, then later Joan of Arc, Jets To Brazil, etc. Lots of Caulfield and Crank! Records bands, more lately a lot of stuff on Jade Tree for instance.
Rites of Spring, Embrace, Gray Matter, Ignition, Dag Nasty, Monsula, Fugazi kind of, Fuel, Samiam, Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, Elliot, Friction, Soulside, early Lifetime, Split Lip/Chamberlain, Kerosene 454
Post-emo indie rock the kind most people mistake to be true emocore:
Sunny Day Real Estate, Christie Front Drive, Promise Ring, Mineral, Boys Life, Sideshow, Get-Up Kids, Braid, Cap'n Jazz, then later Joan of Arc, Jets To Brazil, etc. Lots of Caulfield and Crank! Records bands, more lately a lot of stuff on Jade Tree for instance.
by finding emotive July 21, 2008
Get the Emomug. The other popular style of dress focuses on darker colors. Commonly seen styles include straightened, dark colored hair, dyed either black, red, multi-colored (brown and black, red and purple, etc.) which covers one eye, or an unnatural dark hue, males wearing pants tailored for females, lip, eyebrow, and labret piercings, and dark make-up on males and females (most notably black eyeliner, although red eyeshadow is becoming increasingly popular). A common accessory for both males and females is glasses with a dark coloured (usually black), thick rim, a style sometimes even worn by persons who do not require corrective eye-wear. Converse All-Star style shoes are common amongst both styles of dress, as are Vans and other skate shoes. While "emo" is often used to describe the dress and attitudes of fans of emo music, "emo" as a musical genre and "emo" as a slang term are largely separate. "Emo" as a musical genre long pre-dated the use of "emo" as a slang term. At the same time, most current bands are labeled "emo" unwillingly, largely because they share some of the fashion trends and attitude associated with "emo" as a slang term. There is also a common stereotype that associates "emo" with self-harm, most notably cutting wrists, partly due to song lyrics associated with "emo" bands, which often speak of acts of self-destruction. However, apart from the anecdotal, there is no significant evidence of any correlation between emo and self-harm.
by _no_name_ November 16, 2006
Get the emomug. why cant you lot just stop talking about stuff you dont understand why cant people see that everyone is different. Believe it or not some people dress like this because they want to and most of us do have really tough lives and aren't well off but we dont complain about it we just keep ourselves to ourselves and deal with it in our own way when do you see an emo spit in the street or kick a can or yell abuse at you or graffiti everywhere unlike some people i could mention.Let me ask you a question could any of you lot hold a blade to your skin and cut it at will you couldnt,so just think about how much pain you'd have to be in to do some thing like that.
we dont do anything to upset you so why upset us and look down on us like your better and too intelligent to feel emotions and cry.Believe it or not theres this organ in the human body called a heart why dont you use it.
by natalie aka bing March 24, 2007
Get the emomug. A group of depressed Goth wannabes who have no friends and will go and kill themselves by the year 2012.
by Dead Cousin Ted August 29, 2005
Get the Emosmug. Most people misunderstand the term "EMO".
It does not mean a teenager who thinks life is tragic and cuts him/herself for attention while listening to lame "deep" and "emotional" music.
EMO--
EAT
MORE
OREOS
It does not mean a teenager who thinks life is tragic and cuts him/herself for attention while listening to lame "deep" and "emotional" music.
EMO--
EAT
MORE
OREOS
by lexophile42 February 2, 2010
Get the EMOmug.