WhoWhat&Why?
- Emo music
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Bastow, Clem. 'Emotional Rescue', theage.com.au, Dec. 16, 2005, http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/emotional-rescue/2005/12/15/1134500941604.html.
- Emo music
So you've heard the term "God, that is so emo" before, but do not know what it actually means?
Emo is a subtraction of the word Emotional which is used to describe a very specific kind of music originating from punk genres in late '90s.
Bands such as Husker Du, Embrace and Rites Of Spring felt that their music was becoming less and less personal, and wanted to protest against the growing antagonism and violence in the hardcore scene by writing songs that were confessional and - yes - emotional (Bastow, 2005).
Boiled down to the essence of the emotional music it is you the listener, the musician, the artist or whomever is paying attention who's placed in the middle and given attention. The sort of "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll go and eat worms"-kind of attention.
Emo music have become more and more popular in the later years. Some of today's hottest bands have strong emotional tendencies and thousands - if not millions of fans across the globe. My Chemical Romance and Simple Plan are probably the widest known at the moment, but more and more emo bands have been making a succesfull career over the past years.
So, what is so bad about emotional music? - Let people listen to what they want!
Well, sure, I agree with you there. But erh, have you really listened to some of those lyrics? Seen the images and videos of young people attempting to re-act their favourite emo song? No? Well have a look:
Emo is a subtraction of the word Emotional which is used to describe a very specific kind of music originating from punk genres in late '90s.
Bands such as Husker Du, Embrace and Rites Of Spring felt that their music was becoming less and less personal, and wanted to protest against the growing antagonism and violence in the hardcore scene by writing songs that were confessional and - yes - emotional (Bastow, 2005).
Boiled down to the essence of the emotional music it is you the listener, the musician, the artist or whomever is paying attention who's placed in the middle and given attention. The sort of "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll go and eat worms"-kind of attention.
Emo music have become more and more popular in the later years. Some of today's hottest bands have strong emotional tendencies and thousands - if not millions of fans across the globe. My Chemical Romance and Simple Plan are probably the widest known at the moment, but more and more emo bands have been making a succesfull career over the past years.
So, what is so bad about emotional music? - Let people listen to what they want!
Well, sure, I agree with you there. But erh, have you really listened to some of those lyrics? Seen the images and videos of young people attempting to re-act their favourite emo song? No? Well have a look:
'Stop my breathing and slit my throat, I must be an Emo.
I don't jump around when I go to shows, I must be an Emo.
Dye in my hair and polish on my toes, I must be an Emo. I play guitar and write suicide notes, I must be an Emo.' (Adam And Andrew and their song Dear Diary)
I don't jump around when I go to shows, I must be an Emo.
Dye in my hair and polish on my toes, I must be an Emo. I play guitar and write suicide notes, I must be an Emo.' (Adam And Andrew and their song Dear Diary)
Now yes, I would agree that emo music is harmless if it was not for the thousands of clips, lyrics and pictures you can find around the net documenting several (especially teenagers) whom have taken this genre as an entire lifestyle, cutting themselves, excluding themselves from a social life and from ever being 'happy' in its full sense.
In the coming days I'll be looking through the pile of articles regarding teenage suicides, all connected to this kind of music.
In the coming days I'll be looking through the pile of articles regarding teenage suicides, all connected to this kind of music.
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Bastow, Clem. 'Emotional Rescue', theage.com.au, Dec. 16, 2005, http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/emotional-rescue/2005/12/15/1134500941604.html.
Hey Nicolai!
ReplyDeleteThe topic you have chosen for your blog is very interesting and brings in a lot of knowledgeable inside and disturbing facts.
Personally, I do not mind the "emo" movement. What I do not like is its reflection in recent mainstream fashion and lifestyle trends, which might turn out dangerous. I do not like when people are just pretending to be something they are not, only because it is currently "IN" - I find it very shallow. Thus, I was quite concerned with all those teenage kids who started to dye their hair black, polish their nails black, cover their one "sad" eye, etc. without any knowledge about the emo concept itself, often without hearing any real "emo" songs. For them, it was just a question of being fashionable but such mainstreaming of some potentially harmful genres might have serious consequences - as you have reported in your blog.
Of course, there are also true fans who simply enjoy the music and the alternative lifestyle and do not feel any need to cut themselves. From my own experience I know that music and the lifestyle it brings is very important in one's life, since it ties this person with the group it wants to belong to. I can see the implications of "Uses & Gratifications Theory" and "Modelling Theory" in such behaviour.
On the other hand, I am glad that there is an ongoing scientific research, scrutinizing such issues. For illustration, the long-held belief (especially in the US) that backward audio messages in songs can affect people subliminally has been refuted by social scientists, who claim that it is very unlikely that people would be able to perceive such messages (for more information, see the reading “Handling Media” about New Technologies by Richard Harris, Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication, p. 365 and Box 4.7 at the p. 117).
And finally, do you think there is any way to prevent such unfortunate incidents, such as the cutting or suicides of young emo followers? Thank you!