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Emo Music and Youth Culture

Brian Bailey
University of Rochester

Emo, short for “emotional music”, is an evolving and complex American

youth subculture that listens to a specific genre of music, which is characterized

by feelings of vulnerability and a willingness to express heart-felt confessions

about adolescence. Emo music draws from various genres of contemporary

music including rock, rap, punk, indie, pop, and heavy metal by artists such as

Finch, Taking Back Sunday, Atmosphere, Slug, Coheed and Cambria, Snow

Patrol, and Dash Board Confessional. The behaviors, attitudes, and values

expressed through the music involve emotionally turbulent themes often

associated with adolescence such as despair, nostalgia, heartbreak, hope, and

self-loathing. While these themes are not new to contemporary music, the

various and sometimes conflicting social practices associated with Emo

subculture contain valuable insights into what it means to be an adolescent

today. For many youth, Emo subculture facilitates identity formation, social

interactions, and emotional involvement. It is a place where many adolescents

share their experiences about the world and express their feelings about life

through music. Perhaps educators need to take notice of this cultural movement,

in order to learn how their students are dealing with the difficult business of

growing up in today’s world.

define and even more difficult to narrow down to one all-encompassing narrative.

The grunge, new-wave, punk, mod, gangsta rap, and hippie movements from

prior decades carried different meanings for different people both inside and

outside the music subculture. This is also the case for Emo in that meanings

seem to evolve, replicate, and recombine so that Emo, which seemingly started

as a somewhat “agreed-upon” collective subculture, has in fact become a highly

contested set of meanings and collective practices. To some, it appears to be a

cathartic experience through a genuinely outward release of painful emotions

coupled with a sense of grace, self-pity, and hope. For others, it means rejecting

the music industry hegemony for a DIY (Do It Yourself) lifestyle and following a

band that seems like “your own little secret.” For many kids, it means behaving

in a way that respects people’s feelings, and to others, it means striving to look

like their favorite emo band’s lead singer while singing along at a concert.

Unfortunately, for some participants in this music culture, the outward expression

of feelings makes them a target for ridicule by peers and adults that find Emo

melodramatic and trite.

What generally seems to be agreed upon is the origin of Emo music. In

the 1980s, Washington, D.C. became a hot bed for the Emo scene, spawning

groups such as Minor Threat with its leader Ian Mackaye and Rites of Spring

featuring Guy Picciotto. The music emerged from punk rock roots to include

themes such as rebellion, disdain for authority, and rejection of the mainstream

music industry and culture. What made Emo separate from punk and hardcore
rock was the move away from angry songs of rebellion to more hear-felt

introspective reflections by the artists. These pioneers of Emo were still

rebellious but expressed their angst in a sensitive way through songs about self-

loathing, dejection, and personal turmoil.

The Emo movement grew to other areas of the country to include bands

with small, local, yet loyal followings like Seattle’s Sunny Day Real Estate;

however, somewhere along the way (some say it was in 1999 when Vagrant

Records signed the Emo band Jawbreaker), the record industry took notice. This

is where defining Emo subculture gets elusive. Like many other aspects of youth

culture, the music and its associated practices and themes were appropriated for

profit and turned into a product for mass consumption. Before long, Emo bands

such as Dashboard Confessional and Weezer appeared on the cover of Rolling

Stone, on the radio, and in the buzz bins of MTV. The slippery part of describing

Emo lies in the contradiction that was inherently created when Emo started

appearing in mainstream media outlets. The newfound popularity threatened the

original intentions of Emo music participants, which focused on genuine feelings,

grassroots sentiments, and a rejection of mainstream music through independent

record labels and small, local music venues. As a result, Emo developed into a

space of tension between independent authenticity and corporate mass media.

As Emo music worked its way into the popular media channels, it no

longer appealed to many of the original participants. Hence, the evolution of Emo

subculture split into two groups within the subculture: The first could be labeled

as “Emo Independents”; those that reject the mainstream bands and styles
associated with Emo. The other group is often known as the “Emo mainstream”;

the fragment of the subculture that embraces Emo despite its growing popularity

and subsequent corporate product. These two groups are by no means definitive

or absolute. In fact, most people probably fit somewhere in between these two

categories and possibly within more than one group at the same time. At best, it

is a messy distinction full of gaping contradictions. It is, however, one way of

making sense out of what Emo means to the people that engage in the

subculture.

Emo “independents” are the kids that get psyched because they make up

a small group of early insiders and take great pride in being “in the know” about

an emerging new Emo band. Much like people that follow punk music, they revel

in alienation from the popular and seek out the unpopular. Emo “independents”

are participants in the subculture that are loyal to the original intentions

associated with the mid-eighties Emo scene in Washington D.C. They see Emo

as a means for independence from the corporate dominated music industry.

They love the raw emotion that comes from real expressions on issues that unite

human beings and often create their own forms of Emo through their bands and

zines. For these people, Emo was once pure, subsequently ruined by the

corporate music industry, and is now dead. They are still committed to

independent music by seeking out bands that have yet to sign with a major

corporate record label, yet they do not like what Emo has become and have

chosen to move on or reject the “Emo” label altogether. They oppose the

multinational corporations who dominate the music industry thus offering fewer
and fewer choices for artistic expression. Emo “independents” make

extraordinary efforts to reject the music industry by supporting Independent

record labels, DIY (Do It Yourself) operations, and locally owned music venues

and radio stations.

In an apparent contradiction to the Emo purist circle of participants, there

are those in Emo culture that enjoy everything that Emo represents and

associate strongly with bands that have been labeled Emo even if it is through

popular channels. These participants are the second wave adapters in the

subculture and are often known as the “Emo kids”. They are mostly white,

suburban, high school and college kids that dress alike, watch MTV’s TRL, and

attend mainstream Emo concerts like Dashboard Confessional, The Get Up Kids,

and New Found Glory. It should be noted that some (especially Emo

“independents”) might tend to look down at this subcategory of Emo culture as

“sell-outs” and “wannabees”.

Dashboard Confessional is the most popular of the bands that “Emo kids”

follow, and their music is characterized by songs (sometimes called screamo)

that alternate between whispering and screaming intimate reflections. Often,

Dashboard Confessional lyrics are about a relationship that has gone bad and

the singer is trying to come to terms with the emotional fallout. The band has a

section of their website called the Dashboard Confessional Community where

fans can send web log entries for posting. This is one of the spaces in the

subculture where “Emo kids” can interact with a social group of insiders centered

on the music and lyrics of their favorite band. While the Dashboard Confessional
Community may be a marketing strategy for Vagrant Records, it represents a

genuine place for youth interaction in that they are relating their own lives to the

themes of Dashboard Confessional’s songs. Evident in this community are some

of the difficult feelings that often accompany adolescence and an openness to

share these emotions with other fans of Dashboard Confessional, much in the

same way the band does through their songs like “Rapid Hope Loss” or “As

Lovers Go.” This is part of the “slippery nature” of Emo. Dashboard Confessional

is the site of separation for many in the rift in Emo culture. The Emo

“independents” see Dashboard Confessional as an insincere bastardization of

their subculture and its sentiments due to their mainstream, corporate status on

MTV, whereas Emo “mainstreamers” see Dashboard Confessional as a talented

band (and community) that provides enjoyment and authentically addresses a

difficult time in life. The distinction between the Emo “independents” and

“mainstreamers” are important as we consider youth culture. It is indicative of the

way in which music subcultures initiate, evolve, and are experienced by youth. It

reminds us that we cannot place a single definition on youth culture. It also

exemplifies an all-too-common phenomenon in our society whereby corporate

interests seek to colonize youth culture.

There may be aspects of Emo that are relevant and important for

educators. As literacy studies expand our definitions of text and what it means to

be literate in today’s world, we might be wise to take notice of Emo music and

other popular texts that permeate youth culture. The overt, genuine, manner of

dealing with inner feelings in Emo has implications for learning, especially for
teaching adolescents. Unfortunately, many forms of school learning ignore the

emotional nature of knowledge in favor of logical, factual content. This is

exemplified by the mounting pressure placed on students to perform on

standardized tests and the stress that goes with applying for acceptance into elite

colleges.

Educators might also learn from the ways in which popular music convey

contradictory messages about dealing with emotions. Take, for example, the

rapper Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, with his revelations of genuine feelings of

emotional trauma through his lyrics one minute and then sarcastic lines about

“bitches” and “beat downs” the next. This may indicate to adolescents that the

best way to deal with emotions is to keep them inside, to react with violence, or

to make a sarcastic joke about them. Perhaps schools could learn from Emo and

incorporate these texts into curriculum as a way of helping students with the

affective nature of knowledge and life. Perhaps a discourse in school centered on

genuine feelings and emotions could address student violence in a world where

Columbine-like shootings seem to be more and more prevalent. There is a

convincing body of literature that makes claims for more “emotional intelligence”

in schooling and Emo may be a bridge for making a connection between affect

and intellect.

Another reason to consider the importance of Emo in teen’s lives is related

to motivation towards schooling. Many educators are concerned with how

increased pressure to perform in school has led to an overwhelming percentage

of students that are bored, stressed-out, and all together disengaged in their own
intellectual development. Often, school curriculum is disconnected from some of

the students’ interests. Emo may have the ability to engage students in exploring

their feelings and dealing with emotions because it relates so well to their

inherent interests about relationships. Perhaps school leaders and teachers

could learn from Emo music about how to engage students in exploring school

related activities. For example, students might be more likely to engage in

Shakespearean literature, like Romeo and Juliet, if the teacher were able to

contextualize the experience in Emo music. It is possible that Emo subculture

presents an opportunity to help students connect their personal narratives and

out of school literacies with school-based literacies. By coupling contemporary

culture with school culture, many students may feel more connected to the

curriculum in school, thus more likely to see it as important and interesting. Many

social psychologists and education researchers believe that it’s imperative to

learning to have students that engage in literature or other school related topics

because they find it personally interesting. While it is important not to colonize

youth culture for educational purposes, Emo might be one way to engage

students in school while seeing the world from a youth perspective.

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