EMO = EMOTIONAL HARDCORE Contrary to popular belief, Emo is not short for Emotional, at least not really. It is not a style, either. It has nothing to do with cutting yourself, or boys with swooping haircuts taking pictures of themselves. Emo is not about whining about your problems. It’s got nothing to do with your girlfriend breaking up with you. If you believe that, you’re exercising your right to do so. This does not, however, make you correct. Emo is short for Emotional, sort of. It’s short for Emotional Hardcore. Say it with me, folks. And repeat it several times to yourself. The thing I’ve never gotten is how people can even begin to believe that it’s short for ‘Emotional’, because, well, the theme song for Fraggle Rock is emotional, for christ’s sakes. One response I usually get, when I say that it’s short for Emotional Hardcore, is "Well, if all music is emotional, wouldn’t it just be Hardcore?" I respond with telling them what the word ‘Emotional’ means, when talking about Emo. The emotional aspect of Emo comes from the lyrics. They are, of course, emotionally driven, but usually actually about one emotion or another. It’s usually about anger towards something, or whatever you want. Its instrumentals are brutal and loud, and seemingly random. They are the instrumental equivalent of screaming your lungs out. Another question I get a lot is, “What if an Emo band got popular? Would it stop being Emo?” The answer is: No, it wouldn’t. In the recent months, Circle Takes The Square has gotten somewhat popular, thank god. However, people need to understand that Emo is essentially DIY punk. It cannot be mainstream. It can be as popular as it can possibly get. But it’s still not mainstream. When we say DIY, we mean it gets where it gets without corporate promotion, and it’s produced independently. What happens if you happen to see a Circle Takes The Square album at Wal-Mart? You stop taking drugs. This wouldn’t happen. You’re probably only going to find their album at, say, an independent record store. Even those don’t always carry what you want. It’s usually best to go with a distribution (or ‘distro’) website. You’ll notice that those sites rarely charge very much for music, and they usually carry vinyl as well. They’re always worth a look, and I have yet to find a distro that I wouldn’t use again. When I think about the songs I’ve heard, only one song comes to mind that’s Emo and about a break-up: Venus & Bacchus by Saetia. But, take note: It isn’t a “boo hoo, my girlfriend broke up with me, I’m gonna whine about it” song. It’s about how much the guy hates what the girl did. Emo started in the 80’s, with a little band by the name of Rites Of Spring. While this is arguable, as the Husker Du album Zen Arcade, which is said to have started the style, came out before Rites Of Spring’s End On End album. But I digress. Rites Of Spring were only together from the spring of 1984 through the winter of 1986, but in that span of time, they set the stage for the shape of punk to come. The term Emo started when people at Rites Of Spring concerts started yelling “You’re emo!” at them. This is part of why people say Rites Of Spring started Emo. I tend to go with this, partially because I don’t like the thought that an album started the genre. It makes more sense that the band themselves did. Emo sparked and faded a bit, until the legendary band Moss Icon came along. In my personal opinion, while Rites Of Spring started the genre, Moss Icon perfected it. Their album Lyburnum is widely considered one of the best Emo albums around, as it’s the ideal album. In my experience, the music on the album is perfect for beginners, as it’s not too loud, but it’s not quiet, either. Other bands like Embrace (the US version), Faith, Void, and so on ruled the scene, blazing the trail for the new subgenre of hardcore. After awhile, the sub-movement of Screamo began. Bands like Palatka and Swing Kids were the new norm. It was loud, fast, and it could easily kill you, if you weren’t careful. This kind of music has become the new norm for Emo bands, but the unfortunate thing is that, nine times our of ten, it sounds like random syllables being screamed. -source (www.youdontknowemo.tk)