Tuesday, March 13, 2007
tickle me emo...
what is emo? it's certainly not the stereotype that is out there right now. "the emo we now know is a bastardized version of what it once was in the early '90's, but like all genres of music there is good and there is very bad." quote from jonathan, who's thought long and hard about this because when people say that emo's cut and are a shade above goth he doesn't know what you're talking about because that's definately not what he knew it as growing up in the '90's. all of the sudden there was this shift in understanding of what emo was in about 2002ish, and then it became a swear word. it became guys wearing makeup and girls jeans which is utterly ridiculous. it's like when punk music came out in the '70's, and then had a resurgence in the '90's, but that wasn't really punk, it was a weird sub-genre, pop-pseudo punk. sorry for the rant, but i happen to like emotive hardcore, which is what it started out as, certainly not this cutting crying stereotype that pervades our society today.
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I see your point there Jonathan. not that I know too much about either side, but I also think that it makes perfect sense that each generation will take things from the previous and change them. it happens all the time, in every medium and genre.
and words shift their meaning all the time, sometimes eventually coming to mean the complete opposite of what they started out as. if you use these words in the old sense as a sort of personal rebellion, chances are that nobody will understand you.
not sure that I'm adding anything helpful to the conversation...
ya, and that's what i'm doing. oh well...
from wikepedia...
Emo (an abbreviation of "emotionally-driven Hardcore punk") is a term now broadly used to describe almost any form of guitar-driven alternative rock that expresses emotions beyond traditional punk's limited emotional palette of alienation and rage. It is also used to describe fans of this genre, most commonly teenagers. (e.g., emo kid). The actual term "emo" originated in the mid-1980s D.C. scene, with the band Rites of Spring, as well as bands such as Fugazi, Moss Icon, and Antioch Arrow. ...
No no no no....it's not that emo IS cutting, it's that cutting is emo. You don't have to cut to be emo, but if you cut then you are emo. If you say things like "I wallow in the suffocating blackness of my lonely bleeding heart" then you are emo.
I happen to like 70s punk alot. Not just stuff like Sex Pistols and Ramones, but Stiff Little Fingers and Talking Heads (who WERE considered punk). What punk is now, or rather what is called "punk," has no appeal for me. Seems like a bunch of rich kids whining 'cause nobody loves them. I don't even recognize it as the same thing, yet it's called "punk." What emo has evolved into is just plain weird - not even close to its Fugazi roots (I really like Fugazi BTW). But it's like anything that becomes popular: you can't control the direction people will take a style or fashion. You can't control how people twist the essence of something. The best example of this: skinheads. The ORIGINAL skinheads were Reggeae and ska loving working class British kids who were influenced by Jamacian subculture.
yeah, and look how that got twisted into slightly jaded Christian skinheads like me and Mike!
yes, i highly agree with you mike. back when skinheads had good connotations, neo-nazi idiots calling themselves skinheads, but the real skinheads were calling them boneheads.
by my definition, i still disagree with you roslyn. cutting, and being sad has nothing to do with a musical genre. unfortunately, that is the stereotype, and because it's the stereotype, it becomes true over time, which has happened...unfortunately.
i think emotive hardcore can have a great place within Christian music because what could be more emotive and hardcore than talking about your relationship with Jesus.
I am no longer a skinhead.
you just have to accept it
people do this, they ruin things. They take a good thing,make it popular, form it into something different and ruin it!
i will not accept it. i will use my definition and scratch my head when people use it "improperly."
I'm noting a little j&k imbalance here. where are the kimberly nursing rants?
she's off this week...
it's unfortunate that something some people enjoy so much has been given a totally different understanding than that which the people who really know about it know. You see, now when people talk about emo they ARE talking about the lifestyle, the attire, the attitude anddddd the whinny young children singing about crimson tears and thier shade of melancholy. Most people don't understand that to many "original- likers of emo" emo means *see jonathans definition*. But things evolve, and unfortunately emo is evolving into a horrible monster which is eating children, teens and some adults souls. It seems to consume every healthy human instinct... until you actually get to know a "modern-emo" person, they're mostly still regular cool people who have simply fallen prey to liking things that offend the eyes and ears of the rest of the population.
I saw Kimbee jogging the other day up (down?) Wolseley. She didn't see me and she looked like she was concentrating pretty hard.
I'll chime in again on the emo thing. I'm not sure, Jpunk5, that your plan to continue to define emo as one thing is necessarily the best course of action. For example, if I continued to use the word "slut" in its original meaning (a silly, naive country girl) I could run into real trouble. The phrase "Manitoba is full of sluts" might be very accurate according to that definition, but would be misinterrupted by everyone and people will judge ME accordingly. If you talk about emo as you understood it, people will think you're an arm-cutting, make-wearing, cross-dressing freak.
I propose coming up with an alternative term to clarify your position. "Retr-emo" perhaps?
the thing is, i don't really consider myself an emo in the original or new sense of the word. i just like to inform people. i will still use in it's original sense, with the understanding of how words change.
i think it's time for a new post. this one's been exhausted...
so...since you and kimbee are the only ones that can actually do that....
patience...
it is getting ridiculous at the school that i teach at. if a student asks for a pair of scissors another with shout "what are you? emo?" it drives me insane. so i failed them and ruined their lives.
Mike I hate to be the one to say it but you can use either definition of slut and your Manitoba sentence will be true...
Wow that looks at lot more evil posted. But I guess most of you know me so you won't be to offended. To the rest - really I'm a good person.
I know both meaning's work, Mandy, that's the sheer beauty of it.
And It's true. Mandy is a good person. I, on the other hand, am a total bastard.
Well, I guess I'm a slut then.
Mike - I'm usually concentrating so hard on keeping on keeping on and not getting hit by crazy drivers while I'm running. Though at times I think, "If only a car would hit me just a little, then I could stop running".
And, Ryan, are you sure you would want to see those students for another year. I think giving them a mercy pass would be in order.
HAHAHAHAHA... ouch Kimberly... hahaha...
kimbee: actually, having them return HAD crossed my mind so i wrote a letter to the superintendent and had them taken away from their parents and sent to boot camp. but in actuality, it's not really a "camp" per se, but really a factory where they make boots.
I get called emo because i have black glasses and play music. while i don't share your passion Jonathan, I agree that something should be done, and applaud you. Clap! Clap!
sorry to lump you in there with me Mike.
thanks jeremy!!
I like music...and emo. I could care less what its called now. If it sounds good, than power to you. If you like bands that sport tight jeans and jump around stage like monkees, power to you. If you like tree hugging music. power to you. AND if you like to listen to music that makes you wanna "cap someones ass"...power to you. in the end its all music. Sorry Jonathan. Names mean nothing, in my opinion.
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check out my blog kids!
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