A 26 Day Celebration of Emo

I unabashedly love emo. Emo has a long and storied history. Recent years have seen a stereotyping and backlash against emo, but I don't care. I wasn't there at the origin in the local DC hardcore scene in the mid-80's, but I've been enjoying this varied genre of music for about 15 years in its subsequent forms, admittedly before I knew that it was called emo. As I've entered my 30's, I've seen many of my friends rest in their favorite genre of music and stop experimenting. If I were somehow forced to pick one box of cereal from the variety pack today and eat it everyday of my life (nod to City Slickers), I think I'd pick the emo catalog. I'm a fanboy. What can I say?

If you don't know what emo is, let me give you a VERY brief definition and history. Emo emerged from the hardcore punk scene and cast off the political nature of that movement in favor of subject matter that was individual, introspective, and...well, emotional. Hence the name. It took the aggressive energy of punk and combined it with the intense emotional scrutinization of a psychotherapist's couch with the requisite boxes of Kleenex and smeared mascara. While, as mentioned before, it has it's roots in DC in the mid-80's, it really took off at the same time as the alternative revolution of the early 90's. While musically emo owes most of its development to punk, denying its lyrical roots in the British New Wave/Goth/Shoegaze scene would be a huge mistake. Robert Smith of The Cure may not be the progenitor of emo, but he influenced nearly every lyricist who has worn that badge since. While a strong contingent of emo bands arose from the prolific Pacific Northwest during those days, emo wasn't limited to a specific region during its national emergence. Bands from the California Coast, Southwest, Midwest, Plains states, East Coast, and the South all staked their claim in what would become one of the dominant musical movements of the dawning of the new millennium.

Another reason I love this genre is because I've been a lifelong fan of Christian rock. Emo is one of the few genres within rock in which Christian artists been relevant with niche and mainstream success since the inception.

I have a habit of humming a song and then grabbing my laptop to play the song. I usually hit the Genius button in iTunes while the song is playing so I can listen to a variety of songs which share similar characteristics. Today it was "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades" by Brand New. The next song on the list was Liar (It Takes One to Know One) by Taking Back Sunday. One of the lyrics in that song is, "We got 26 days to work with..." A thought like an ember tossed from a fire jumped out in front of my mind's eye: I should write a blog post each day for 26 days celebrating some great song from emo's lifespan. I sat at the kitchen table and began to type.

So, comb your bangs over one eye. Don your garb, whether its some flat front slacks, tight black t-shirt, and pea coat; sweater vest, skinny tie, and horn-rimmed glasses; or maybe primary colored skinny jeans, band t-shirt, and black wrist band. Join me in a lovefest of songs that are usually about love loss.

Tomorrow I will commence by extoling the emo etymon, Sunny Day Real Estate. Prepare to get dizzy.