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Kids today don't know 'emo music'

by DESIREE POLONIS, C&J 371

In the music world, “emo” is classified as people (mainly young adults) who are sensitive and introverted. Being emo is also associated with self-injury (cutting) and depression.

Emo kids walk around in tight jeans and studded belts, and they usually dye their hair black, just to let people know that they are in fact, “emo.”

But what exactly is emo? It really isn’t about depressed kids who hate the world. Emo is short for emotional, and it originated as a genre of music (very sad punk music), but somehow over the past few years, emo has turned into a big fashion statement.

I was recently at the Launchpad to go see a little rock band called Escape the Fate. Honestly, I’m not too crazy about the band, but I really needed to get out of my house, and the Launchpad is like my second home.

Little did I know, it was an all-ages event, and the venue was packed wall to wall. My three friends — Kim Hanson, Kayla Mortensen, and Shelby Radke — were probably the oldest people in the Launchpad that night, including myself.

It was a scary sight to say the least. This concert should have been called “Emo Fest 2007.” Kayla and I were watching all of the little boys walk by in their tight jeans with fifty studded belts hanging off of them. What's the point of a belt if you're wearing skin-tight jeans?

I was surrounded by a bunch of teens (and pre-teens) that night and I thought I was going to vomit in my mouth just a little bit. There were 13-year-old girls going into the women's bathroom with their 14-year-old boyfriends to do who knows what, a girl screaming, "How am I going to get cigarettes tonight?" and boys wearing more eyeliner than most of the girls in there. It was not fun to witness. As for the girl screaming about her cigarettes, maybe she should just wait until she's 18, and then she can buy all of the cigarettes she wants.

It’s possible that I’m just getting older, and maybe I don’t understand this emo fashion trend. But these little kids (and even people my age who are in their 20s) have ruined the term “emo” forever.

Emo music, believe it or not, actually started in the 80s, and it was mainly underground music. It’s bothersome to me that a genre of music has turned into a fashion statement for teenagers and young adults. Emo was once hardcore punk music that flowed with emotion. Now it’s is nothing but pop bands that pretend to be emotional —and their followers are just as bad.

There have been different waves of emo music throughout the years. It started out as bands that were different and hardcore. It then evolved to a more indie style of music, and it eventually ended up where it is now because of underground emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional who moved up to the world of mainstream music.

It really is a sad tale. Emo music is great, especially for people who actually are a little bit emotional. Music can move you in ways that you never thought possible, and that’s what emo music had always tried to accomplish.

Now it’s nothing but annoying kids pretending to cut themselves and be depressed while they are crunched up in their tight jeans.

We must go back to the roots of emo, and understand that it is a genre of music, not some stupid fashion trend.

December 2, 2007

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