What the heck is an "Emo kid"- New term being tossed around?

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Shockwave

Banned
Sep 16, 2000
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The funny thing is, by claiming to be counter culture and then joinging such a "movement", your becoming part of the culture.
Aside from that emo = teh suck IMO. That music is NOT for me.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
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How can they reject pop culture when what they have is becoming popular?
That will make it effectivelt "pop" culture (taking pop as popular), so their underground crap will become mainstream, and, like goths, they will argue against this.
Even though goths all do pretty much the same thing, they are individuals :roll:
 

rgwalt

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: shuan24
Thats odd, I thought thats what was "in" nowadays....I guess I haven't been "in" in a while....Maybe I'm just too emo.

That is the thing... it IS in to be on the OUT. Back when emo was still "underground", you didn't see nearly as many emo kids. Now it has become more popular, and more people are doing it to draw attention to themselves and act cool. It has become trendy to dress in tight clothes, shop at thrift stores, dye your hair black, and act "emotional".

Emo kids take the depression and darkness of being a goth (without the fascination with blood, pain, or death) and mix it with the counter-culture additude of the "punk" genre, and then add their own unique style and outlook on life and the world.

Emo was very unique back when I was an undergrad in the late 90's. They were easily mistaken for goths or punk-rockers. I hung out at the coffee bars, etc, but I was just too prepy to fit in at times. Little did I know that I was simply an emerging metal-head.

R
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
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I didn't read the whole thread, so this has probably been psoted already, but:

Emo is a type of music. It's basically whiny softer punk rock. Emo kids are the people who listen to it. They can be recognized by constant depression and listening to Saves the Day and The Ataris.
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
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Originally posted by: halik
Originally posted by: knivox
emo is the new goth

word

agreed. Emo was cool for a few months (2 years ago), then Dashboard Confessionals came and ruined it. Conor Oberst still kicks major ass, though :D

"Emo kid" is a put-down for a) people who got into emo after it stopped being trendy, or b) people who like it a bit too much. Typically, they're the ones who dress and act like their favorite singers while still proclaiming their individuality, the same way that girls used to dress and act like Avril Lavigne (or for the oldies, the way girls used to dress like Madonna in the 80's).

There's lots of cool emo music, just like there's lots of cool goth music, but the Goths and the Emo Kids are the ones who take it to a whole new level and turn cool and indy into lame and trendy.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
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Originally posted by: blakeatwork
One who rejects "pop culture" and joins the counter-culture realm. Usually has ideas contrary to popular opinion

AHAHA

So, if they're all doing it, isn't it then "pop culture"?

Ahh well, let the teenyboppers have their "depression"... they'll learn what true misery is soon enough...

Dude..are you fvckind dumb? They ARENT all doing it. At the high school I just graduated from, Id say maybe 5-10% was Emo.
 

AccruedExpenditure

Diamond Member
May 12, 2001
6,960
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Popular culture? From whose point of view? The majority of people that I know personally have never heard "emo". I apologize if me or the people I associate with do not tap into and subscribe to the adolescence suburban American subculture.

Maybe it?s because I was too busy paying attention to real tribulations to take note of the evolution and introduction of a term describing the dejected yet over-privileged teenaged boys and girls of America.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
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Originally posted by: sward666
In the mid-eighties, Emo-core (punk rockers that were sick of singing about crap like police brutality) came about, and I think it sort of morphed into the more generic indie-rock. I don't know about other cities, but in DC, bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring were a big deal in the Emo scene. Great bands, but they never prompted me to wear thick-rimmed glasses.

DING DING DING.... we have a dead on winner. I am/was one of those "kids". Ah the good ole days
THIS is where "emo" started and should have remained. Its been brutalized and MTV-ized way too much. Embrace, Rites of Spring etc etc all classics.

I enjoy the "new emo" too, but its hardly the same
 

FuZoR

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2001
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emo = thick black rim glasses... ;-)

loser music.. complains about life/girls etc.

some of it is ok but when every damn song is like that its annoying haha.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
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Originally posted by: FuZoR
emo = thick black rim glasses... ;-)

loser music.. complains about life/girls etc.

some of it is ok but when every damn song is like that its annoying haha.

if you like to stereotype I guess...
 

FuZoR

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: FuZoR
emo = thick black rim glasses... ;-)

loser music.. complains about life/girls etc.

some of it is ok but when every damn song is like that its annoying haha.

if you like to stereotype I guess...

yes im stereotyping... emo is a label :p
 

Bulk Beef

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
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Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: sward666
In the mid-eighties, Emo-core (punk rockers that were sick of singing about crap like police brutality) came about, and I think it sort of morphed into the more generic indie-rock. I don't know about other cities, but in DC, bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring were a big deal in the Emo scene. Great bands, but they never prompted me to wear thick-rimmed glasses.

DING DING DING.... we have a dead on winner. I am/was one of those "kids". Ah the good ole days
THIS is where "emo" started and should have remained. Its been brutalized and MTV-ized way too much. Embrace, Rites of Spring etc etc all classics.

I enjoy the "new emo" too, but its hardly the same
At least somebody knows wth I'm talking about.

It should be stated that at that point, none of those guys were really trying to "start" something - it just sort of happened.

I wouldn't even know what "new emo" is. One more thing to make me feel old.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
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It should be stated that at that point, none of those guys were really trying to "start" something - it just sort of happened.

I wouldn't even know what "new emo" is. One more thing to make me feel old.

I forgot to mention Swiz too. Hell 90% of the sh!t coing from the DC/Maryland area at that time (think Fugazi if you want a more "pop group"

sward666 the new stuff is good... just certainly not along the same vein as those late 80's bands. Its been reduced to commecialized crap and tagged "emo". MTV killed it pulling sXe pop-punk bands, DashBoard confidential (first EPs and full length were fantastic until every 15-18yr old girl got their hands and hormones on it). SDRE, Promise Ring (friends of mine in fact) kinda encompassed this "new emo" stuff.

Ill take em both actually... music evolves Ill come with it. The funny thing is people in "the know" know that emo is already dead and done except for in pop culture. Whats in now you may ask? Well, give MTV 3yrs to catch up and you'll know too :p
 
Mar 19, 2003
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Originally posted by: notfred
....
Emo is a type of music. It's basically whiny softer punk rock.
....

I think that sums it up pretty nicely. My roommate last year used to listen to that god-awful sh!t all the time; annoyed the hell out of me. I suppose I just don't understand the appeal of what sounds like 16 year old boys whining about their "horrible experiences" with relationships and other people - the same experiences everyone goes through anyway...
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
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So, an emo kid listens to music performed by a person who buys clothes that are too tight from a thrift store and writes poetry that rivals goth kids?

I assume that to make emo music you have to be an emo. And if your poetry rivals that of a goth kid then wouldn't that mean that emo=goth since they'd be singing this gothlike poetry?

I'm so lost and am tired of new words. Please stop making them.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
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Originally posted by: Excelsior
They do for a reason.

This one from UrbanDictionary works well:
How you can identity an emo kid:
Black, thick framed glasses
An extra small t-shirt/cardigan
Pretty tight pants
Converse All Star shoes/hightops
Possibly a studded belt
Usually carrying around some notebook/poetry book/messenger bag

This too:
One who rejects "pop culture" and joins the counter-culture realm. Usually has ideas contrary to popular opinion and seeks to gain a better understanding of life through artistic venues. May appear depressed, have black or red hair, and dress in a way that is contrary to what is popular. Thrift stores, art, coffee shops, underground music, and poetry are usually of great interest. Contrary to popular opinion, though an emo kid may seem depressed, within their own group there is an element of deep understanding and friendship. Emo kids see the world as beautiful, but its inhabitants as lost and depressing.
That describes half of my HS graduating class back in 1998. We called them "Goths".
 

Originally posted by: Anubis
i must live under a rock, cause thie thread is the first time ive ever heard this term
Naw, according to gnote you must be in highschool to know the term.

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