Thanks for watching! 🖤 And thanks your patience guys, apologies this took longer than usual. The inner emo kid in me is giddy with the number of other fellow MCR/emo pop-punk fans on here 😍 Albums that defined your adolescence? Ill start: Riot! (Paramore), American Idiot (Green Day), Welcome to the Black Parade (MCR), Third Eye Blind (debut), and a bootleg album gifted to me of Avril's best hits - which also randomly included songs by Michelle Branch lol.
Loved the video! I usually do something while I have youtube going but this had me take the time out and watch, just so much nostalgia and brings back the weight that everything felt at the time. My albums would have been the same as your first three, as well as Don't You Fake It by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Crisis by Alexisonfire, Black Holes and Revelations by Muse, a bootleg of Curtain Call by Eminem, Gorillaz self titled album, Nothing is Sound by Switchfoot, and Deja Entendu by Brand New. I got introduced to the world of music when I was about 12 by my best friend and their family and they were all much more excited about the art of movies and music than what I otherwise grew up with and I think that was a great gift
i’m a touch older than some of y’all, so Green Day -dookie, Rancid - and out come the wolves, NOFX - punk in drublic Suicide Machines - destruction by Demolition
Loved this video! Really a trip down memory lane and you do a great job with research. I just know you're going places with this channel :) The Black Parade, Riot! and Numb are definitely up there for me, but I get emotional just mentioning these albums: Folie au Deux (Fall Out Boy). A fever you can't sweat out (Panic! at the disco) and This is war (30 seconds to mars)
Man I feel WAY out of place here cause I grew up listening to a lot of Nile and Behemoth and such, still do, but some of the bands that helped me cope with my misery the most as a teenager were Alice In Chains, Suicidal Tendencies, and Nevermore. When you look at their lyrics, they do tackle a lot of the same topics, just in a, I don't know, darker way? The whole emo thing was just nowhere near depressing enough for me, plus it was what all the popular kids got into and I was way too much of a loser to copy them.
The Black Parade didn't promote suicide. It celebrated life, by looking death in the eye and saying "bring it the fuck on." And that was always MCR's tone. It was the one consistent thing in their ever-evolving music: a stubborn defiance against a world that seeked to crush your spirit.
@@deeji6098 "I'm not afraid to keep on living. I'm not afraid to walk this world alone" Defiant lyrics that helped me carry on back in my darkest days. I hold Welcome the the Black Parade very dear to me, as it helped me to finally seek help and keep going, even when the constant sensation of panic and uncertainty made me unable to voice my own frustrations.
It's about moving forward while accepting the harsh realities of life It's like going through a dark tunnel fighting whatever obstacle is in your way, and your goal is to reach the light at the end of the tunnel
Gerard has always been incredibly humane and caring even before the anti-emo rhetoric started. I saw them before they blew up at a tiny gig and I remember him telling the audience to go home and do 'One Good Thing' that day. He got us to repeat it back to him. Every time I saw MCR Gerard always took a moment to promote positivity to the crowd, and he would often stop mosh pits if he saw someone go under and would tell everyone to look after one another in them. He's always struck me as a brilliant example of a Good Person. Not to mention I don't remember him getting mixed up in any of the abusive BS that other frontmen were engaging in with their (much younger) fans...
Weird. Because when I saw them on 3 different dates opening for American Nightmare, and The Hope Conspiracy he was pompous ass. A couple years later, his entire demeanor noticeably changed when they were no longer the opener
Gerard is great, he is known for calling those gross band members out and getting pissed if any girls flashed him.. he is the real og. I wish all guys in bands and in general were like him, he has so much respect for girls.
Man I've had people think I was just going through a phase since I was like 7 and started getting into heavy music, now I'm 32 and death metal is like my main obsession in life.
also, I feel, that the band stopping after their four albums was a great move. Too many bands/artists hang around too long trying to replicate the formula of their initial success.
I feel like so many moral panics can be boiled down to "Your child is becoming their own person/doing something that doesn't involve authority figures, and that's just intolerable." Kids and teens *need* to feel heard and seen. They need the chaos of growing up to be acknowledged and not trivialized and sometimes, just *knowing* that someone out there not only felt the same way, but *survived* and is now doing amazing things is massively empowering. Adults get so caught up in no one knowing what a hot mess they used to be that it leaves kids with this impossible task of being perfect and getting it right the first time, and I am a firm believer in telling kids "no, everyone was a hot mess at some point. Most of us still are. Someday, you'll figure out how to manage it all so that it doesn't keep you from being and doing what you want to do and be. Just hang in there, and keep trying." Anyone who gets butthurt that kids are hearing that from the radio and not from their parents, they need to take a long hard look at themselves and stop being part of the problem.
I honestly couldn't have articulated this better. It's funny how adulthood is just as messy and chaotic as adolescence, just in its own ways. The inability for some adults to extend this much-needed level of empathy towards kids during a typically tumultuous time in their lives saddens me. Though seeing others with perspectives like yours give me hope :)
I love that message everyone has their own issues, I happen to be 26 and I still have the empathy towards people in the younger generation dealing with that stuff, I happen to be in a band who are writing our first album, I hope some of the stuff in the album makes a genuine impact to people, I'm here on TH-cam A LOT going to videos like this and trying to deliver a message to people that you're not alone that it does get better and being happy doesn't necessarily mean that life is perfect but that you recognise the less positive sides in life and accept them
@@thomasleongeorgerobertglad7560 Best of luck with your band! At age 40, I'm still in the "cleverly disguised as a functional adult" stage and have always been honest and open about it when working with teens. It's rarely perfect out here, but it's a lot better and building your own little fortress of joy goes a long way to ward off the perils of life.
I’ve seen it so many times. “My child ________ isn’t the same sweet kid he/she used to be. What’s happening?!” It’s called “growing up.” Teenagers have all kinds of hormones flooding their bodies and their brains are developing and don’t work the same way adult brains do. Duuuurrrr!
@@keirfarnum6811 Also, you don't WANT your kid to be the same person they used to be when they were single digits. You want them to grow, change, evolve into full fledged human beings with agency and all that. If your kid still acts the same at 16 as they did when they were 6, that's likely a sign that they have some sort of development disability and you should probably get them to a specialist.... I think far too often, parents get caught up in the trap of time being fake and somehow expect that their kid is going to be the same forever when... no, no they aren't and that's a good thing! And there really does need to be more acknowledgment of absolute hell that is puberty just on a physical level. The rapid changes and hormonal fluctuations are just so harsh it's kind of amazing so many teens are holding it together as well as they are.
My mom always warned me about emo music, but unfortunately I didn't listen to her. When I was a happy and outgoing 16 year old kid, I went to the music store and bought a cd from a band called "The Used". After listening to it, I instantly became sad. It got so bad, that I had to go to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed me with 4.5 depressions. He said teens who listen to emo music usually only get 2 depressions at most, so he was alarmed that I got more than twice the amount of depressions. I killed myself a couple months later, and now I'm typing this in my coffin that's buried under my family's private cemetery, to warn all of you to stop listening to emo music. I should have listened to my mom.
everyone feels like shit from time to time, the fact that those bands made people talk about their feelings instead of repressing them, caused more people to "look" depressed or talk abbout their depression without any proof that there is any rise in depression, people did not became more depressed or suicidal, they just felt like they could talk about it and reveal it to the public, seek support, or just not carry the toll of keeping all of these feelings to themselves. -A dude that found support in emo music in his time of need
Ours was the generation who acknowledged and faced our demons, and sometimes lost, instead of burying that shit under cope and leaving the survivors to say "I don't know what happened, they seemed so happy"
The OP's comment reminds me of this TH-cam thread I read years ago. One of the comments was like "Haven't you noticed that gay people are all of a sudden appearing out everywhere", and then another person replied with "Gay people have existed for years, it's just that now they're getting more media representation". At least I think that's how it went, it's been years.
The problem with constantly expressing your emotions comes with putting them first. This music thrives on that. Just like rap thrives on gang culture and drug use and edm on faux love and tolerance and…you guessed it…drugs. Just because you feel something and feel that you need to be heard, doesn’t mean that feeling is right. Ppl got lost in this shit and it was for the worst.
I have a theory about that study that sad music makes you feel more sad. I think it's because it's forcing you to recognize and deal with your emotions and actually recognize "there are things I'm sad about and are struggling with" so yeah you feel more sad in the moment but afterwards you feel better because you dealt with your emotions instead of pushing them down and trying to ignore them. It's kinda like the thing where you're acting fine and think youre fine until someone asks you if you're okay and you're like "actually no I'm not". Or like going to therapy and being okay going in and you end up crying in session cause you dealt with your issues and yeah you feel sad in the moment but you come out feeling like a weight has lifted. Feeling sad isn't always an unhealthy thing, it's normal and you should allow yourself to just feel it so you can process it and then go about your life. Trying to ignore your emotions/sadness and bottle it up is way more dangerous than just listening to music and feeling kinda sad for a little while.
This is a really insightful take, thank you. In hindsight, I regret not digging a little deeper into that study and its limitations. After all, it seems they only studied their participants' current rather than long-term responses to "sad" music. My personal experiences were similar (though I wasn't diagnosed with depression), while "emo music" only heightened my sadness when listening to them, it was overall very therapeutic for me. I admit this was a weak element of my research; thanks for giving me something to think about!
@@ana-isabel it's still a really interesting study, I'd really like to see more studies on this subject matter. And I absolutely loved your video. Not gonna lie I did tear up a couple of times from all the memories this brought back. 🖤
The emo cult panic was just the mid 2000's answer to the 1980's satanic panic. Just a bunch of misinformed old grumps who don't understand youth culture and immediately jump on the "this is the ultimate threat to our children" bandwagon. I grew up with that second wave of bands like The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, Sunny Day, even early Jimmy Eat World in the pre-Bleed American days and the mid 2000's boom was nothing more than an evolution of the genre. I guess because I was in my mid 20's at the time third wave blew up, even though I loved all of the music, I wasn't aware of this alleged emo self harm cult nonsense that was being spewed by the media. I'm sorry all of you third wave emo kids had to go through such nonsense. Those albums are absolute icons of rock music. Black Parade is a musical masterpiece.
There's always a group of bitter old fuckheads who just aren't happy unless they're shitting themselves over some nonsense. In the 50s it was rock and roll. In the 60s it was hippies and free love. In the 70s it was drugs. In the 80s it was Satanism and D&D. In the 90s it was violent video games. In the 2000s it was emo (and also still violent video games). IDK what the 2010s had, probably LGBT representation and social media or something. I, for one, am already laughing at them for whatever non-issue they'll latch onto in the 2020s..
@@keirfarnum6811 it seems like rock always created some cultural panic, but now that rock is dead I guess rap is the one that's making cultural panic. And if not then hyperpop is.
I was a self-harming and suicidal (and bisexual and atheist since the Mail cares about that stuff too xD) waaaay before listening to emo, finding the music and the community just helped me cope with my emotion and find support that I couldn't find among my peers, who just saw me as "heavy" or "doing it for the attention" (even if I was chronically depressed and went through a lot of trauma I didn't have to tools to process at that age). After years of therapy I'm finally good, and I still listen to MCR and Paramore and Panic! at the disco, I have a great fondness for their music and I find it empowering and energetic (I also still wear mostly black clothing, colorful hairstreaks and black eyeliner xD and use xD unironically. I'm almost 30). I still tear up listening to the line "I am not afraid to keep on living" because it gave me so much strength growing up. Great video btw, I love how everyone is sharing their stories in the comments
You know that an atheist is in the room because they will tell you about how thay are an atheist whilst arguing that it's not a religion or cult whatsoever. Lol
Is that a dig or reference at/to Glenn Beck by any chance? Because I remember him calling MCR's song 'Sing', "Propaganda" and a call-to-arms anthem that he can't win against. And Gerard basically replied 'Lol. Nope. You got us wrong. Fact check next time.'
@@sezzac155 oh my god I remember that. And his wild claims were based on a misread of the lyrics too which was even worse. Like my guy, you based some of your argument on lyrics that don't exist.
@@Kagomai15 I remember going back to double check the lyrics was “webways” not “railways”, because I hadn’t quite worked them out at that stage. But then I realised that “webways” made a lot more sense. It’s just funny now, because in a way ‘Sing’ was intended to be a call-to-arms anthem. Like a lot of the other songs on Danger Days. It also wasn’t propaganda, it was a concept and that concept was rather political. Encouraging the message of hope and to use your actual voice to enact change.
Hi, I have clinical depression, and I can tell you that study at 26:26 is a load of bull. Even in my adult years I'm still listening to depressing music as a relief, and yeah it makes me feel more depressed *in the moment* after listening to it, but it helps my brain deal with those emotions by facing them head on instead of it being an undercurrent the rest of the day, and all in all I feel way better just a few hours later. The idea that listening to depressing music while depressed is somehow dangerous is satanic panic scare propaganda spawned from fears of backmasking and violence in heavy metal lyrics. If I was ordered by a psychiatrist to only be allowed to listen to happy music, I would not be here today, that's all I'm gonna say.
Also please don't use language like "mental illness is such a mysterious and complicated matter that nobody knows all the details about", because we that have that mental illness and have been to therapy for years know very well, even if the rest of the world don't. It's not a complicated mystery, it's just a very personal matter that outsiders will never understand fully, which is fine as long as we're treated with respect and as full human beings struggling with immense hardships, rather than as things to be fixed.
I feel like I've had to explain this to people my whole life, that listening to depressing music actually helps me feel better, not the other way around, but I never fully understood why myself, it's just something I've always done to cope. There has always been so much I couldn't talk about with anyone, and other things that I'd try to talk about but nobody would understand cause they've never experienced it, so depressing doom metal that I could relate to was my only therapeutic outlet.
I’ll second that. I have found myself sobbing suddenly when listening to happy music, because in those moments, it feels like a portrayal of a life or mood I felt like I would never have. Some “sad” music made me feel less alone.
Seems somewhat similar to watching horror movies. It seems counterproductive, but people may feel better about themselves after watching horror movies because they often compare their lives to the lives of the characters. People might actually think worse of themselves after a romantic comedy because they see what they feel that they’re missing. It’s kind of difficult for someone to compare themselves unfavorably to horror movie characters, so they can come away from it with a sort of “at least I’m not that guy” feeling.
I agree that people, especially parents, would much rather blame literally anything else than admit to themselves that the kids are already depressed and suicidal, especially since it's often got a lot to do wiiiith them and how they treat said emo kids lol I was definitely an "MCR saved my life" kid. I still am, tbh, I'll never stop liking that band. I DO think only ever listening to depressing and/or angry music can keep you in that mindset but if you're already always in that mindset and you're not allowed to express it yourself, music is super cathartic and totally life saving. Also think it's funny the bands and musicians commonly thought of as like...the definition of whatever genre they make ALWAYS hate the label. Emo? Ew no. Goth? I'm not goth, my music's not goth. Wonder if that's a thing with every genre or just some of em...hmm.
It's pretty much all the good ones. They either are interesting enough to redefine or outright define a genre (of note here would be the rapid transition from goth to emo in the late 90's, which as someone exactly the right age to have lived through it, I described as goth's incestuous punk child) which always seems to feel weird to people in general, or they feel the one label simplifies what they're doing to a degree they can find insulting.
fall out boy is so underrated in their lyricism which actually is kind of a good thing actually because the daily mail could have picked on them for so many things….
I was a huge Linkin Park fan in high school. I saw MCR on that Black Parade tour open for them but wasn't a big fan. Now I am a casual fan, but I had some gen z kids telling me how jealous they are of me. It is kind of funny.
I remember having to have "that conversation" with my mom, assuring her that being "emo" wasn't making me suicidal. I honestly had no idea the media at the time was blowing it up into something dangerous, so it makes more sense now why she was concerned. But I guess in a way it helped push my mom to have a conversation with me that she probably wouldn't have had otherwise, and struggling with depression myself, it was a conversation I hated at the time but definitely needed, even just for the simple fact of knowing she cared.
I never knew the media was doing that either. I never really watched the news anyway lol. My style was more of a mix between rap and emo (still is) so I guess my mom didn’t feel the need to speak about depression. We never talked about our feelings anyway.
Whilst I enjoyed several "emo" bands, I was never part of the subculture itself. Though, many of my friends were and they definitely went through that tumblr phase, which they cringe about now when we talk about our school days. They still refer to themselves from that time as the "outcast" group, though there's some irony in that their social circle was the largest within the school, dozens of people all feeling incredibly alone together. As always, Ana, your content is vastly superior to your sub count and I have enjoyed everything you put out
A part of me wonders if a majority of us "feel like the outcast" in our teenage years, and there some that are just more honest (and/or empathetic towards others) about it. Glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you - that means a ton. 😌
It's a shame that Myspace did a data purge on its servers a few years ago. Myspace not only wiped its servers of data, it also got rid of the millions of emo photos and videos. I guess thats a good thing for me, but a big L for emo history.
I was a teenager during the post punk revival slowly shifting into emo. I always enjoyed how it painted death and sadness in a romantic light. Everything is temporary,we shouldn't be afraid of these subjects. I am so captivated by dancing off beat to my own doom. My unwanted advice for younger people is simply this,this life is but a temperance of the soul for what is yet to come.
In western culture, music has long played a part in expressing the anxiety of teen years, which is why people form such strong music associations with music they listened to in that 13-19 year age range, it sticks with them for decades. I think the music industry found that emo and other "alt/indie" music (right back into the 80's with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, and Tears for Fears) had a market outside of commercial AM and FM radio, so music well outside the standard rock and pop format had a commercial market, so more varieties of music were recorded and published. That and the advent of video music TV so that the fashion/style associated with the bands could catch on, played a big part in the style of goth, emo, new wave, etc. Proving that the music industry can profit from any musical trend. 😌 And the "moral authorities" in any society can get their knickers in a twist about any style of music that their kids enjoy, whether it's Elvis' hips, The Beatles haircuts, Mods and Rockers or emo or goth fashion. You've produced another well researched and enjoyable video with an intelligent and informed personal viewpoint combined with informative docu-content. Your production quality steps up all the time, and your chops as a presenter continue to grow. Two thumbs up Ana Isabel, you're crushing it. 👍👍
That means so much Barry, thank you! And thanks for sharing your insights on the musical impact of teen/alternative cultures over the decades; very true how the rise of MTV helped in further launching alt or indie styles of music as their own styles of fashion and even fully-formed subcultures. And yes - sadly, moral uproars have been going on since these musical trends have been around - and unfortunately still take place today (not a huge fan of either's music, but I _highly_ doubt Cardi B and Lil Nas X are about to usher in the "downfall of society" 😂). Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@ana-isabel Music isn't likely to be the cause of the downfall of society, but it will almost certainly be the soundtrack play-by-play. 😱Back in my day of teen music we had war angst, and impending nuclear Armageddon angst, so songs like CSNY Ohio, Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth, The Animals Sky Pilot, Black Sabbath Iron Man, and a bunch of others were capturing the angst of a generation.
“Sing it for the boys” “Sing it for the girls” “Every time that you lose it, sing it for the world“ I feel like I was more of an emo on the inside, but Love or hate emo, I feel like emo spread more positivity and resilience. The bands and this genre helped it to be more common to talk about how you feel and what you were going through emotionally. Ergo, “emo”. And to know that you were not alone in trying to find help and strength if you were in a bad place.
“I’m Not Okay” got me through some rough years in middle and high school. It was incredible to find something that said everything I was feeling after my friends first attempt but I couldn’t figure out how to express yet. When you are forced to deal with “adult” issues and troubles as a preteen or teen, it is cathartic to have music that actually acknowledges how much life can hurt sometimes.
It didnt promote it. Most of us were already depressed asf. It actually eased the pain a bit. Didnt really make that much of a difference tho cuz I had been a sucker for dark lyrics since I was a child lol.
HIM was a big Thing 1996. Ok i have never been deep into that Scene, don't know how it was in my Coutry. Vienna, Austria. Anyways..Ville Valo is back. Haha.
Okay, firstly, that clip of Gerard hearing that dad's thanks at the end was the most wholesome thing ive seen today and I'm not crying YOURE CRYING, and secondly, thank you for putting to words and video such an important and impactful topic to my life. I have always felt like my feelings of depression and loneliness were unfounded because I have never had a "good reason" to be depressed or lonely, and because of this I have never felt I could really share how I felt with people. This genre of music heard and understood me, and inspired passion in me when I was uninspired in all other ways. I read somewhere that music is what feelings sound like, and I will always sing the praises of those who sing to my soul. And those who talk eloquently about it! :P So thanks. :)
This was incredibly moving to read, and I'm so happy this music managed to have such a positive impact on your life. It's definitely an era of music I'll also forever hold dear. Thanks so much for watching, glad you enjoyed the video. :) Also that video of Gerard and the dad is probably one of my favourite clips on the internet right now ngl
You sent me on an emotional rollercoaster that hit a brick wall on that last clip. I look back on the lyrics that I wrote for my highschool-years metalcore band, I needed help. but as you emphasize so beautifully in this essay, at the time awareness to mental health was awful. I'm almost 27 and still struggling. hopefully some day I'll be able to write music that will help a kid go through what I've been through.
As someone who also grew up with these experiences or an "Elder Emo" as TikTok has dubbed us, this an amazingly cathartic and well researched video. Think growing up as an "emo kid" really helped with the stigma of speaking about mental health as an adult and you handled this topic perfectly! To this day I'm still scream singing MCR, Paramore, Billy Talent and Fall Out Boy in the car 🤘🤘🤘 Also love your visual comedic edits! Thanks again for another amazing upload Ana!
This was what stuff like Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, and a certain little glass vial-related movie-musical did for me when I was around 13. I think it says something about adults that me at age 12 watching the 2005 movie adaptation of the ALW Phantom musical with its multiple murders, shown hanging corpse props, themes of cyclical abuse, _ALL OF PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN,_ and whatnot were a-okay but if someone my age listened to exactly one MCR album it would suddenly be a whole ordeal. Like me in 2012 fanboying over Les Miserables getting not only a movie-musical but also a Broadway revival with the whole ordeal that is what goes on in Les Mis is fine, but if a 14-year-old consumed I Write Sins Not Tragedies once it was "OMG SATAN CULT!!!" despite Les Mis' depiction of a character going into s•x work out of desperation and then dying of possibly an STD, and the _shown death of a 10/12 year old child character_ arguably being more alarming than the funny tophat man saying a swear word.
Quite the opposite, actually. Emo music was therapeutic for teens who felt like they didn't fit in, and let them know that they weren't alone and didn't have to repress their emotions. Plus, the guys in MCR are very nice.
"Musical catharsis" is a great way of putting it. The solace I have found through emo and pop punk is something that I'll cherish for life. It's almost indescribable how much music from MCR, Linkin Park, and The Used have helped me through some of the toughest and darkest periods of my life. Finding comfort through music is one of the things that's kept me going through the years. More recently I've found myself relating to the songs of The Front Bottoms and PUP, as they capture the feelings of the directionlessness of your early 20's, which I'm currently going through. But I don't think there will ever be a time that I wouldn't throw on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Hybrid Theory, or In Love and Death.
I will never forget seeing the Helena music video for the first time as a kid, its up there with Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz as a music video that shaped my tastes.
I graduated in 09 so I was growing up at the height of this wave of emo. I remember well, how popular it was to make fun of emos and not take them or the music its self seriously. Even I scoffed at the concept. I never picked on anyone but I would certainly laugh along at any jabs toward the idea of being emo and only saw it as attention seeking emotionality Ironically I was probably just as anxious, self conscious and depressed as any kid that identified with emo, I just took pride in not expressing that or seeking out any kind of emotional support. Furthermore, I was far from popular myself and was picked on for my body image as well as being weird. I had friends and all, often my friends were the ones making fun of me or not getting me. High School age is a confusing time for most of us Anyway, I now have a real appreciation for the second wave of Emo myself. Bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, The Jazz June, Mineral, Eliot, the Casket Lottery, The Anniversary And the number one emo band of all time Rainer Maria. Anybody reading this, go check out some Rainer fucking Maria. Only their first two albums were traditionally emo and than I’d say they became more just an alt rock band but there is a not a single bad album in their discography imo. One of those bands that changed their style but did it so well that no one cared. It would have filled me with glee had they gotten named dropped in this vid but alas they have always been some what underrated
As a person who has struggled with my mental health for a long time, I never really liked emo stuff and in fact had a pretty disparaging, toxic attitude towards it. I would repeatedly make fun of my first girlfriend for listening to MCR, Fall Out Boy and the like, because teenage me was a total fucking wanker. In more recent years, though, I've learned to be a lot less judgemental - after all, my music of choice in my teen years was Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish and ska music, while certainly having a much more bright and cheery sound than a lot of emo music, is no less bleak and depressing in its content. Whenever we listen to music with really dark content like that, it's in part a coping mechanism (and a much healthier coping mechanism than some others I've picked up over the years) and it took me a little too long to realise that no one person's musical coping mechanism is more or less valid than another's. Some of us revel in the misery as a source of catharsis, and others like to hide the pain behind trumpets and a silly tune. And others still like to listen to angrier shit, which is where punk and even metal come in - which is where my music taste is more at nowadays. Whatever your choice of angst music, it's all valid and cool and shit. You do you, my dudes.
We were all wankers when we were teenagers. The fact that we can look back and cringe means we've grown up into better people. At least that's what I try telling myself everytime I get a cringe attack from the past 😋
Strangely I was definitely one of those people who made fun of emos, whilst being... pretty emo 😅 I mean, I had a side fringe. I liked pink and skulls. My favourite bands were Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Evanescence... But me and my friends always considered ourselves to be fans of pop punk or rock or metal, and we "hated" emos. I think part of it was that a lot of people in our area suddenly became emo after having previously not been alternative, so we saw it as an annoying trend. We refused to listen to MCR and Paramore (even though I'd secretly sing along when their songs came on Kerrang TV lol). Over the years I've begun to feel that I was pretty silly for feeling that way. In particular I think MCR are a pretty cool band and I feel like I missed out because we drew this arbitrary line in the sand.
Although I was never actually part of the "Emo Culture" per se, as a 90s goth and metalhead, I can relate. Many people told that my music were what kept me depressed an anxious... it was not. Death Metal helped me control my anger and provided an output outside the boundaries of my shy self. And yes... I still wear long hair, black converses, black clothes and skinny jeans! LOL! That's why I never judged "Emo Culture" because I see it has the new generation that replaced mine. Nowadays I mostly hear symphonic metal like Nightwish.
Gosh, you really dug up relics of Tumblr's DARK phase to remind me why I signed up in the first place: Community. While I'm still active on the hellsite (term of affection), you reminded me on the impact Emo had on me growing up too. Despite the highs and lows, the solidarity in this community was exactly what I needed in a period of my life where I felt so alienated. You never truly have to scream into the void alone. There is always someone who OPENLY ADMITTED that they related to your experience. It wasn't as uncomfortable feeling uncomfortable after that, which is honestly so refreshing. Even if it was just for the moment, you got to scream together. The experience of connecting on a genuinely unconditional level made it that much easier to carry on.
Emo did not make me depressed, it just gave me the courage to address it and an outlet to work through it. I found MCR as a kid, at the release of TCFSR and since they've been my favorite band because they made me feel seen and relevant.
I came into this video expecting to hate on it, but quickly realized you understand the music and the culture and the video is also really well researched!
The funniest part about the daily mail article is that there are actual death parades where I’m from. They’re called jazz funerals where the casket is carried through the city behind a brass band and the funeral party will fallow behind dancing, celebrating the persons life. I always thought the MCR song was about getting the concept of death explained to you as a child at one of these parades. Have none of the daily mail writers ever been to New Orleans??
Sad that a lot of these “4th wave” bands are already gone. They were my favorite bands during college. There’s a “5th wave” of emo now, that features a lot more women and LGBT members with more personal lyrics and less misogyny than the older emo bands. Would be cool to see some of these bands make it big
Honestly I really appreciate one album in particular: Three Cheers by MCR. That story, above all else, helped me get through my teen years. I'd honestly say it's an overall more important emo album than The Black Parade. BP is more acceptance while Three Cheers is more human in it's grief and growth
"Emo" music helped me through some horrible things. I needed to not be ok for a bit, esp at those times. It helped me face my pain when I didn't want to escape. It was a place my pain felt heard, and that was a gift. I would have died without that ability to sit with it, even for a little bit.
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety all my life. I always felt so alone because at the time in society mental health wasn’t something people talked about. Going to therapy meant you were broken or you were “messed up”. And my family didn’t talk about anything painful. Appearances were everything so I locked everything deep down. I struggled all through high school just thinking there was something wrong with me. I felt so alone and darker thoughts would also come. When I went to college as a freshman I listened to MCR and it changed my life. I realized that I wasn’t alone and that other people knew how I felt. Not only that, but here was this band telling me it was okay to be fucked up, but I had to keep fighting. That there was something left living for. From there I got into more of the genre. It might sound dramatic when I say this, but emo music, especially MCR gave me something to stay alive for.
the quiet hesitant way you said "brand new" sfjdhgf same...I used to listen to them a lot and now its like, ugh. thinking about Jesse makes me so mad also the G note at the start of the section "romanticizing sadness?" really got me xD This was a lovely video, I care so much about this era/genre (third wave emo) and specifically MCR, and I think you did a wonderful job exploring both its positive and negative aspects! Your work is always so thoughtful, keep it up ^w^
It sucks, huh? 😞 The fact he had a significant audience of female fans is just salt in the wound. On the topic of shitbags, I literally can't bring myself to listen to "Rooftops" by Lostprophets again. Banger of song, monster of a person. Thanks for watching, glad to meet another fellow MCR/third wave emo fan! (and yes, the G note is literally our siren's call hahaha)
Brand new got me into music. That news felt like someone killed my cousin or something. I knew how to play all their songs, they were my first concert. Such a fucking disappointment.
I was a hardcore punk in the early and mid-'80s. I didn't discover the bands you listed until several years ago. My daughter tells her friends that her dad is in his Emo phase. LOL
I seem to remember I would definitely, and cringily, pretend to be depressed to seem cooler but i knew i wasnt, deep down. That is until i developed it naturally, for other reasons. But then i was always very open about it because I knew it was semi-acceptable because of my time in the emo scene.
I second Meet Me @ the Altar as a recommendation - have been rocking to their stuff lately. I also recommend Pinkshift - the MCR inspiration is palpable and amazing.
Emo Culture certainly awoke something in me as a teenager, heh. Also The Rasmus was one of my first emo music loves, I honestly still listen to them to this day, Avril was so good that even my parents enjoyed her music when it came on the music channels. Thankfully my parents seemed to understand that when i started wanting to wear black and listen to this music, it was just my way of dealing with the world. Eventually I got into the more metal and rock side of music and really found my voice but still to this day that emo look is just, mmmm. Dayum ya know?
I’m crying right now because this really brought me back to when I was 15/16 at my second highest peak of depression, listening to a lot of emo, especially FOB. I’m now on meds after the pandemic and with it unemployment sent me on my toughest journey and I have to say, even then music, albeit moreso (emo) rap lately, has really played a part in my journey of achieving inner peace. Thank you, this video really helped me reflect on a time I try to forget but was ultimately very formative.
Mcr had one song in specific that talked about teen suicide and how much people didnt notice them hurting until after. And idk the tone empowered me. Like he was acknowledging all of us on the edge. And encouraging us to stay. Ge angry and use that anger as motivation. Stay alive because FUCK THEM. it's the worst thing we can do to get back at em. Stay alive when they want us dead. He taught me to stay alive for me. And no one else. That I wasnt alone. That I'm loved. And valued. Not worthless. All within that ONE SONG. It's insane..
There is something extremely satisfying about listening to lyrics that you can relate to. I feel like music like this needs to exist for those who are going through things in their lives.
The emo attack in Mexico happened in my city of Tijuana. At the time, it was honestly awesome, for both punks and emos. It was like we were part of a wrestling show.
I'm honestly surprised that emo and punk was a think in Mexico. US media told me that only rap and traditional music exist in Mexico, and that emo/punk was white people's sh1t
Ghost of you and Helena are my favorite songs. I never thought of taking my life because the music felt inspiring. Never have I considered self harm though
MCR was my favorite band in high school, and I still really love them. My mom died of cancer when I was 15 and their music really helped me grieve and process my emotions. The first time I heard Welcome to the Black Parade I felt a huge wave of healing, it pushed me into the next level of recovery from the death of my mom. They truly gave me strength. I honestly believe that you have to face the hard and sad emotions in order to deal with them, ignoring them is more unhealthy and creates more problems imo.
Actually I'm 34 and Nobody's Home still gets me in the feelings, it reminds me of the 16 year old me living on the streets and the life of pain that's followed after falling into addiction. I get what you're saying though. Complicated used to remind me of my mam after she left my dad "acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated" summed up exactly how 14 year old me felt about how she'd changed so much since leaving my dad for a man I hated and making me and my brother act different in front of him. I wasn't having it and we fell out, my dad was never the same and became abusive so that's how I ended up homeless and a drug addict at 16. I still love some of these songs. I'd say mental health issues have become a trendy thing to have more in recent years. Back when these songs were popular people weren't proud and dying to tell people about their "anxiety". Now you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't self diagnose themselves with anxiety and depression. Frustrating for people who actually suffer with these things and more. It's not cool to be sad. It's a horrible way to live and you wouldn't be all done up on tiktok if you were truly depressed or suffering from bad anxiety. The idea of loads of people watching me fills me with dread.
Emo, Screamo, Punk, Grunge, Metal, and most rock overall helped get all my anger, frustration and sadness out. We need these genuine avenues of music more than ever.
i watched this with my teenage daughter who struggles with things ...we both liked v much . thanku for ur content ana isabel and for citing all ur links and sources :)
Thanks for a nuanced discussion of the emo culture, also adressing the whole emo-bashing that happened in Mexico years ago. As a mexican myself I recall seeing videos of that and felt very sick with how big and often unreasonable the backlash towards emos was back then. I wasn't even emo then, but I felt a sense of kinship towards people who were like that back then, so I never bought it that they were a cult of depression as others liked to put it. Something about the backlash against emo culture felt so wrong to me, but I felt like I couldn't speak out because there were some undeniable evidences about certain behaviors among the crowd that made some parents reasonably concerned (the romantization of depression and suicidal behavior). I'm just glad that today it's a little easier to talk about our feelings with more honesty.
I definitely feel that the cause/correlation issue was at play. Emo wasn't making people self harm or encouraging suicide, but teenagers that had tendencies towards these behaviours were more likely to be attracted to the type of music. I was one of these and I think it is just very common for teenagers to feel strong, deep emotions that they can't quite process or understand. Emo music helped with that and we could recognise the feelings in the music. However I do also feel that it allowed me to indulge in those depressing emotions and wallow in it. But perhaps that was what I needed at the time, hard to tell. The gigs were the most exhilarating experiences and really full of life!
I remember, quite vividly, during my teenage years my best friend gifted me The Black Parade out of the blue cos she said that it helped her and it would help me with what was happening at home. And I enjoyed the album, but something about Disenchanted gave me clarity. There was something in that song that perfectly encapsulated the pain and the anger I was feeling to the point that, if I was really upset I knew I could stick that song on and cry it out and be fine afterwards. Still works 13 years later.
i'm so mad because i was just a little too young for this emo trend i missed those years, i propose we bring them back, along with the eye liner and the hair that could barely let you see
oh man, not only was this a HUGE nostalgic trip, you did such a WONDERFUL job going through all the points. and that clip of gerard at the end. :'( thank you for such amazing, top tier content! can't wait to see what you do next
I somehow missed the whole emo scene when it was at it's peak in middle/high school, but I really wish I hadn't. After actually listening to some MCR, P!atd, and FOB, it definitely speaks to me on a deep level.
Holy shit, that opening from MCR was some powerful stuff, I was in tears. Anyway, I've been legitimately suicidal for a near majority of my adult life, I've attempted once, and have had periods of self harm...ALSO, there were a couple points in my life that Death Cab for Cutie saved my f-ing life. When I listened to them, I was not alone, and it was the only time I wasn't alone. Mine is just one experience, but it's real and it matters. If you're reading this and you've struggled, please just hold on a little longer... death is inevitable, so reason dictates that at the very least it makes sense to hold on and see if anything gets better. I love you. My angel once said to me "they lied, you are not enough, and that....... is O.K." You're loved, hold on, ask for help.
When I was, maybe 11, I also used to think that Emo is all about "giving up" and "what the fuck there is to live for" attitude. Now that I am 24, I understand (or atleast this is my personal interpretation) that Emo music gives voice to those aspects of life where life, and the suffering that comes with it, feels pointless sometimes, i.e. without any meaning to why should I suffer so much. Which is REALLY helpful as this helps me to understand and process those emotions, which is WAY better than just burying them deep inside.
I believe emo subculture is associated with childhood emotional neglect. Where kids were taught not to have emotions, punished for having emotions, ignored, dismissed, and left alone by parents, all of which could create pre-existing depression and low self-esteem. I believe emo subculture gave space for a generation of kids to express their pain (rawrr) sadness (
even years later just hearing the sentence "i am not afraid to keep on living" almost makes me cry. i'm so grateful to mcr and gerard for caring so deeply
I wasn’t really in the emo scene as a teen but I loved a lot of the music without even realizing it was emo - The black parade really helped save me during a really dark time in my teen years, like the song Dead was a huge cathartic thing for me to listen to while dealing with my mother’s alcoholism. Fall Out Boy’s first two albums helped me so much too, along with Riot and Brand New Eyes from Paramore. Later in uni punk was more of my tonic to my mental health issues but I still have a special place in my heart for emo music
Though I never directly participated in the emo culture because of where I lived and my fear of being judge, the music that came from it certainly was a factor in keeping me together. Many of the bands mentioned here along with other heavier ones were staples of my teens and the reason I survived. As someone who silenced herself before others could try to I had no voice, no personality really other than the ones I adopted to fit in with whoever I was with, music was the only thing that ever felt mine and expressed things I could never dare think let alone say. I may not have been able to openly blast it at full volume and sing my heart out to it but just hearing someone belt/scream out was cathartic to me and was contributing factor of me still being here. Funny thing is years later I'm now realizing that despite my best efforts to appear bubbly and adapt, a lot of people still considered me emo despite me avoiding the aesthetic as much as I could. Honestly I kinda regret not just wearing what I wanted and actually showing an interest in things. Long spiel but it's 1 am, I'm exhausted and contemplative and this video got me thinking of the old me and how all this time "emo" was never just a phase to me. As cliche as that may sound lol
Everyone always gives things that talk about reality a bad rap. As a kid who has been disabled her whole life physically and just got diagnosed with mental illness 33 years later, I can tell you that this type of music is huge in my life. I grew up on what was popular or oldies due to my parents. But when I was introduced to this it really spoke to me. AFI and their album "Sing the Sorrow" is basically my hero; it helped me cope with coming out as Asexual, dealing with bullying, dealing with disabilities and how people treated me for my oddness and my dislike for being a woman and not wanting children. It still helps me to this day, through surgeries and injuries and constant new diagnosises that take their toll on me and bring me down. Other great albums to mention include the first 2 MCR ones, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out by P!ATD, and Green Day's American Idiot. I am grateful I grew up in the early 2000's and got to experience this time because I made some amazing friends who are still my friends to this day. Plus the emo music really kept me going, knowing it was okay to be myself and stand up for my rights and what I believe in; especially being in a family who is the complete opposite of me and constantly fights me over everything I decided.
I'm happy to hear it had such a positive impact on your life, and it makes me glad the music continues to live on, albeit with a more mature style. American Idiot (and subsequently, 21st Century Breakdown) were cornerstones of my teen years too :)
This essay was excellent. It's nice to know and understand it's roots, to take this time capsule and remember my own experiences as an emo with all the ups and downs. It was and always will be cathartic to listen to those songs which are helping me even now. Thank you for the memory trip, I'll gladly take it again.
Honestly, i was a person who was more into the fashion and subculters in emo than the music at first. And I think thats how i got sucked into its most depressing parts. The music itself isnt the problem, but the way the emo communities often normalize and romantacize bad mental health. You wanna be the broken girl that pierce the veil sings about, you know? You wanna be the most outstanding freak of the bunch. Its something i found in a lot of subcultures that bring together outcasts, is that it becomes almost compedetive of who can be the biggest outcasts. Being basic in an alternative community, you can get just as bullied as being alternative in a basic community. So i dont think that the music is bad for ones mental health, but the type of grouping and pressure from people that form around it.
Yeah, I was a member of a pretty decent sized Emo group on Facebook a few years back, and there were a SHITLOAD of high school kids on there literally bragging about cutting their wrists.
@@philcollins5890 I was also a part of one of the huge Facebook emo groups when I was like 13. It wasnt the music or bands that were the problem it was the communities. Self harm was rampant and almost felt like something you had to do, even tho it's a serious problem that can take years to solve. It was taken so lightly and being mentally ill was so romanticized
I love this discussion! For all the good that the music did for me and people I knew, I think the culture, not the music, caused some friends of mine to want to play into the romanticism of self-harm. I mean, some songs really felt like anthems for self harm (I even had friends tell me they loved certain songs because they cut to them), but for the most part those bands weren't really trying to encourage that behavior. It was often a piece of a story they were trying to tell with their full projects and sometimes what a 25 year old guy is trying to achieve, unsurprisingly, goes over a 14 year old's head. The height of the emo craze was really the darkest part of my life but nothing I ever sang along to made me want to do anything other turn the music up. Those that I knew that took things further were already dealing with other major issues like juvenile substance abuse etc. They found solace online and felt close to other kids whose Xanga posts were littered with similar vague retellings of dark parts of their lives - they bonded over it and indulged one another. Self harm was widely discussed before Ohio is for Lovers came out. Blaming it on the music is short-sighted. To me, a lot of the music was a result of the culture, not the other way around. The depression and self harm didn't go away with the music, but since there isn't a big bad to blame it seems like it's sort of disappeared from the conversation.
I will always have a soft spot for scene or emo girls when I see them. Literally cannot get that culture out of my head, growing up through it lol. I think I was in middle school when it was at it's peak and boy oh boy.
This video is such a flashback to all I listened to in middle and high school. I was 100% "this is cathartic" category. It is interesting now that I have a difficult time listening to much of that music... it just feels like I have outgrown it. Life has gotten better and I don't relate to it anymore. Listening to it just brings be back to my troubles as a youth and I don't enjoy being in that headspace anymore. I still look fondly on the scene and how it made me feel at home in my skin.
Thank you for talking about this, especially the social media and mental health part. So many people seem to take real conditions and use them as normal adjectives, or like they're emotions you can just experience. I know OCD is a big one that gets misused, but I've seen ADHD, depression, bi-polar, and others used wrong as well. I'm glad people are talking about their experiences and struggles, as it really helped me as a tween and teen with undiagnosed ADHD and learning disability, and all the anxiety that comes along with that, trying to hide that I was different. But with various subcultures, I found spaces online where I felt I could be me. But I wasn't really full on into emo the same way. I'm not sure what you'd call the genres that HeyHiHello, Hello!Beautiful (now April's Atlas), Eleventyseven, and even Owl City would fall into, but they helped me a lot. Especially Eleventyseven's song "Feel Okay," that was like an anthem of my middle school experience, even though it came out before I was old enough to appreciate the group. I'd still say some of that music and ideas around the time (mostly 2011-2013 shaped me, as that was when I got an iPod Touch and got online beyond just Disney stuff), have still affected me, and shaped some of my style and preferences. And I think it's worth talking about the good, since so many people focus on the bad.
these videos are SO well done, and i can’t wait for her star to shine brighter! It’s only a matter of time til the rest of the internet discovers the magnificent AnaIsabel - bravo!
In 2005 I was 12 years old and my dad had passed in May of that year. A couple of months later I discovered Green Day - older siblings had listened to them a decade before me...but I was just at the time to start discovering my own music taste. And I was Sad. And ANGRY. Then I listen to American Idiot and I know those feelings. Even if I wasn't politically aware enough just yet to get the full depth of feeling on that album (not that Green Day is what I'd consider emo)...it resonated. Fast forward to August of that year and I start at a new school...first period English a girl sat behind me and saw my Green Day notebook I was toting around with me. We became friends almost instantly. Here I was - sad, alone, with this one band that I liked and going to a new school where I hardly knew anyone because my grade school split between two middle schools...and suddenly I had a friend. And a lunch table to sit at. And somewhere to hang out after school when my mom was at work and my siblings were out of the house or doing whatever else. That friend introduced me to her friends, as well. So I had a group. And they showed me more music. Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Gym Class Heroes, The Used, My Chemical Romance, The Academy Is..., Panic! At The Disco, The All-American Rejects...all of these bands that not only understood my feelings, but made it to the other side of them with...hearts and wrists intact more or less. Then it was concerts...which brought me an even larger sense of community. And then local gigs which brought an even tighter knit sense of community. The friends I made through those years...most of them I'm still friends with. We all understood each other. And in that comfort I was eventually able to open up more. To join theatre like I'd been wanting to. I gained confidence and security. All because of the hope and community these bands brought with them. I'm at a point in my life, now....where it's hard to remember the sadness and pain I was feeling back then. Our brains are so good at forgetting the true weight of it over time...but when I look back at why these bands still mean so much to me....it's not hard to remember. I also want to note that at the time I was also discovering my sexuality. And as any of us who went through it will remember....2005 was not a very friendly time to the LGBTQ+ community....but most of those bands were so aggressively anti-homophobia. They celebrated queerness. And while some of that we'd look back on and call performative....most of it came from genuine places as many of the artists eventually came out in some capacity. It was a space where you weren't regulated to one after school club that might not have an advisor next year or one small shelf in a library if you were lucky to hear your own stories....but you were able to exist freely and openly in the same space as others and still feel supported and accepted. Because of finding those bands when I did...I never once felt alone in my sexuality...or scared of what it meant. Because I knew there were spaces where I could be myself safely and without judgement. And for someone already dealing with so much at that age...that was invaluable to my mental health. I'm lucky. I've never needed to credit a band with saving my life. But the amount of community I found, the amount of understanding and care....it was priceless to me.
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Thanks for watching! 🖤 And thanks your patience guys, apologies this took longer than usual.
The inner emo kid in me is giddy with the number of other fellow MCR/emo pop-punk fans on here 😍 Albums that defined your adolescence? Ill start: Riot! (Paramore), American Idiot (Green Day), Welcome to the Black Parade (MCR), Third Eye Blind (debut), and a bootleg album gifted to me of Avril's best hits - which also randomly included songs by Michelle Branch lol.
Loved the video! I usually do something while I have youtube going but this had me take the time out and watch, just so much nostalgia and brings back the weight that everything felt at the time. My albums would have been the same as your first three, as well as Don't You Fake It by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Crisis by Alexisonfire, Black Holes and Revelations by Muse, a bootleg of Curtain Call by Eminem, Gorillaz self titled album, Nothing is Sound by Switchfoot, and Deja Entendu by Brand New.
I got introduced to the world of music when I was about 12 by my best friend and their family and they were all much more excited about the art of movies and music than what I otherwise grew up with and I think that was a great gift
I know they're not pop-punk by I defy anyone to say Linkin Park's In the End, Crawling, and Numb weren't iconic emo kid tracks
i’m a touch older than some of y’all, so
Green Day -dookie, Rancid - and out come the wolves, NOFX - punk in drublic
Suicide Machines - destruction by Demolition
Loved this video! Really a trip down memory lane and you do a great job with research. I just know you're going places with this channel :)
The Black Parade, Riot! and Numb are definitely up there for me, but I get emotional just mentioning these albums: Folie au Deux (Fall Out Boy). A fever you can't sweat out (Panic! at the disco) and This is war (30 seconds to mars)
Man I feel WAY out of place here cause I grew up listening to a lot of Nile and Behemoth and such, still do, but some of the bands that helped me cope with my misery the most as a teenager were Alice In Chains, Suicidal Tendencies, and Nevermore. When you look at their lyrics, they do tackle a lot of the same topics, just in a, I don't know, darker way? The whole emo thing was just nowhere near depressing enough for me, plus it was what all the popular kids got into and I was way too much of a loser to copy them.
Emo music is actually trying to PREVENT suicide, that’s the irony of this
THISSSS
It was the only thing that kept me from km back in 2014-2016! Still listen to the music all the time
Facts
Exactly, it's like just because they're talking about it people think it means they're promoting it
EXACTLY
The Black Parade didn't promote suicide. It celebrated life, by looking death in the eye and saying "bring it the fuck on."
And that was always MCR's tone. It was the one consistent thing in their ever-evolving music: a stubborn defiance against a world that seeked to crush your spirit.
@@deeji6098 "I'm not afraid to keep on living. I'm not afraid to walk this world alone"
Defiant lyrics that helped me carry on back in my darkest days.
I hold Welcome the the Black Parade very dear to me, as it helped me to finally seek help and keep going, even when the constant sensation of panic and uncertainty made me unable to voice my own frustrations.
This
@@deeji6098 the lyrics you are mentioning are actually from Welcome To The Black Parade but yes i totally agree with u!!
It's about moving forward while accepting the harsh realities of life
It's like going through a dark tunnel fighting whatever obstacle is in your way, and your goal is to reach the light at the end of the tunnel
Gerard has always been incredibly humane and caring even before the anti-emo rhetoric started. I saw them before they blew up at a tiny gig and I remember him telling the audience to go home and do 'One Good Thing' that day. He got us to repeat it back to him. Every time I saw MCR Gerard always took a moment to promote positivity to the crowd, and he would often stop mosh pits if he saw someone go under and would tell everyone to look after one another in them. He's always struck me as a brilliant example of a Good Person. Not to mention I don't remember him getting mixed up in any of the abusive BS that other frontmen were engaging in with their (much younger) fans...
This warms my heart, and I further regret not catching them live in their prime.
(...might get my chance with this reunion tho *fingers crossed*)
Weird. Because when I saw them on 3 different dates opening for American Nightmare, and The Hope Conspiracy he was pompous ass. A couple years later, his entire demeanor noticeably changed when they were no longer the opener
@@wienersmcbutts Good humans can have bad days.
@@ana-isabel assuming that the rona stays back, I intend to attend their NZ concert.
Gerard is great, he is known for calling those gross band members out and getting pissed if any girls flashed him.. he is the real og. I wish all guys in bands and in general were like him, he has so much respect for girls.
“See mom, I told you it’s not a phase,”-Me last month when I had my mom walk me down the aisle to an instrumental version of ‘Helena.’
Man I've had people think I was just going through a phase since I was like 7 and started getting into heavy music, now I'm 32 and death metal is like my main obsession in life.
Oh my god I love reading this, congrats on the wedding and that’s a beautiful wedding song.
that’s beautiful omg
That is really cute and funny. I hope your wedding was everything you wanted it to be
@@RoguSpanish quick gimme a random metal song suggestion!
Hearing Gerard Way yell 'fuck the Daily Mail' with an echo by a crowd is remarkably satisfying.
Gerard Way is so fucking cool. I love how society is coming back around to accepting that yeah, MCR was actually pretty cool all along.
It helped that he bought us the Umbrella Academy. 😉
Always has been, still is. 😉 I'm glad he's come so far.
also, I feel, that the band stopping after their four albums was a great move. Too many bands/artists hang around too long trying to replicate the formula of their initial success.
Gerard is god, truly 🖤
@@PseudoFiction well now that MCR is back together, I would love to see what new album they will put out
I feel like so many moral panics can be boiled down to "Your child is becoming their own person/doing something that doesn't involve authority figures, and that's just intolerable." Kids and teens *need* to feel heard and seen. They need the chaos of growing up to be acknowledged and not trivialized and sometimes, just *knowing* that someone out there not only felt the same way, but *survived* and is now doing amazing things is massively empowering.
Adults get so caught up in no one knowing what a hot mess they used to be that it leaves kids with this impossible task of being perfect and getting it right the first time, and I am a firm believer in telling kids "no, everyone was a hot mess at some point. Most of us still are. Someday, you'll figure out how to manage it all so that it doesn't keep you from being and doing what you want to do and be. Just hang in there, and keep trying." Anyone who gets butthurt that kids are hearing that from the radio and not from their parents, they need to take a long hard look at themselves and stop being part of the problem.
I honestly couldn't have articulated this better. It's funny how adulthood is just as messy and chaotic as adolescence, just in its own ways. The inability for some adults to extend this much-needed level of empathy towards kids during a typically tumultuous time in their lives saddens me. Though seeing others with perspectives like yours give me hope :)
I love that message everyone has their own issues, I happen to be 26 and I still have the empathy towards people in the younger generation dealing with that stuff, I happen to be in a band who are writing our first album, I hope some of the stuff in the album makes a genuine impact to people, I'm here on TH-cam A LOT going to videos like this and trying to deliver a message to people that you're not alone that it does get better and being happy doesn't necessarily mean that life is perfect but that you recognise the less positive sides in life and accept them
@@thomasleongeorgerobertglad7560 Best of luck with your band!
At age 40, I'm still in the "cleverly disguised as a functional adult" stage and have always been honest and open about it when working with teens. It's rarely perfect out here, but it's a lot better and building your own little fortress of joy goes a long way to ward off the perils of life.
I’ve seen it so many times. “My child ________ isn’t the same sweet kid he/she used to be. What’s happening?!” It’s called “growing up.” Teenagers have all kinds of hormones flooding their bodies and their brains are developing and don’t work the same way adult brains do. Duuuurrrr!
@@keirfarnum6811 Also, you don't WANT your kid to be the same person they used to be when they were single digits. You want them to grow, change, evolve into full fledged human beings with agency and all that. If your kid still acts the same at 16 as they did when they were 6, that's likely a sign that they have some sort of development disability and you should probably get them to a specialist....
I think far too often, parents get caught up in the trap of time being fake and somehow expect that their kid is going to be the same forever when... no, no they aren't and that's a good thing!
And there really does need to be more acknowledgment of absolute hell that is puberty just on a physical level. The rapid changes and hormonal fluctuations are just so harsh it's kind of amazing so many teens are holding it together as well as they are.
My mom always warned me about emo music, but unfortunately I didn't listen to her. When I was a happy and outgoing 16 year old kid, I went to the music store and bought a cd from a band called "The Used". After listening to it, I instantly became sad. It got so bad, that I had to go to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed me with 4.5 depressions. He said teens who listen to emo music usually only get 2 depressions at most, so he was alarmed that I got more than twice the amount of depressions. I killed myself a couple months later, and now I'm typing this in my coffin that's buried under my family's private cemetery, to warn all of you to stop listening to emo music. I should have listened to my mom.
Good thing you were a vampire, right? 😆
Wow that's so sad...emo is truly evil/s
God the used is amazing
Can't believe how long I actually bought this.
Sorry but this is kinda hard to believe
This comes to mind “art is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comforted”
everyone feels like shit from time to time, the fact that those bands made people talk about their feelings instead of repressing them, caused more people to "look" depressed or talk abbout their depression without any proof that there is any rise in depression, people did not became more depressed or suicidal, they just felt like they could talk about it and reveal it to the public, seek support, or just not carry the toll of keeping all of these feelings to themselves.
-A dude that found support in emo music in his time of need
The worst thing a person in the depths of depression can be is totally isolated: the emo community coming into existence saved lives (including mine).
Ours was the generation who acknowledged and faced our demons, and sometimes lost, instead of burying that shit under cope and leaving the survivors to say "I don't know what happened, they seemed so happy"
The OP's comment reminds me of this TH-cam thread I read years ago. One of the comments was like "Haven't you noticed that gay people are all of a sudden appearing out everywhere", and then another person replied with "Gay people have existed for years, it's just that now they're getting more media representation". At least I think that's how it went, it's been years.
@@kittykittybangbang9367 so true
The problem with constantly expressing your emotions comes with putting them first. This music thrives on that. Just like rap thrives on gang culture and drug use and edm on faux love and tolerance and…you guessed it…drugs.
Just because you feel something and feel that you need to be heard, doesn’t mean that feeling is right. Ppl got lost in this shit and it was for the worst.
I have a theory about that study that sad music makes you feel more sad. I think it's because it's forcing you to recognize and deal with your emotions and actually recognize "there are things I'm sad about and are struggling with" so yeah you feel more sad in the moment but afterwards you feel better because you dealt with your emotions instead of pushing them down and trying to ignore them. It's kinda like the thing where you're acting fine and think youre fine until someone asks you if you're okay and you're like "actually no I'm not". Or like going to therapy and being okay going in and you end up crying in session cause you dealt with your issues and yeah you feel sad in the moment but you come out feeling like a weight has lifted. Feeling sad isn't always an unhealthy thing, it's normal and you should allow yourself to just feel it so you can process it and then go about your life. Trying to ignore your emotions/sadness and bottle it up is way more dangerous than just listening to music and feeling kinda sad for a little while.
This is a really insightful take, thank you. In hindsight, I regret not digging a little deeper into that study and its limitations. After all, it seems they only studied their participants' current rather than long-term responses to "sad" music.
My personal experiences were similar (though I wasn't diagnosed with depression), while "emo music" only heightened my sadness when listening to them, it was overall very therapeutic for me.
I admit this was a weak element of my research; thanks for giving me something to think about!
@@ana-isabel it's still a really interesting study, I'd really like to see more studies on this subject matter. And I absolutely loved your video. Not gonna lie I did tear up a couple of times from all the memories this brought back. 🖤
It's sad how we still seem unable to move past moral panics over artistic expressions that depict the darker aspects of the human experience.
Couldn't agree more! They have just as much of place in art as our positive experiences. Sadly tabloids don't seem to be going away anytime soon.
The emo cult panic was just the mid 2000's answer to the 1980's satanic panic. Just a bunch of misinformed old grumps who don't understand youth culture and immediately jump on the "this is the ultimate threat to our children" bandwagon. I grew up with that second wave of bands like The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, Sunny Day, even early Jimmy Eat World in the pre-Bleed American days and the mid 2000's boom was nothing more than an evolution of the genre. I guess because I was in my mid 20's at the time third wave blew up, even though I loved all of the music, I wasn't aware of this alleged emo self harm cult nonsense that was being spewed by the media. I'm sorry all of you third wave emo kids had to go through such nonsense. Those albums are absolute icons of rock music. Black Parade is a musical masterpiece.
There's always a group of bitter old fuckheads who just aren't happy unless they're shitting themselves over some nonsense. In the 50s it was rock and roll. In the 60s it was hippies and free love. In the 70s it was drugs. In the 80s it was Satanism and D&D. In the 90s it was violent video games. In the 2000s it was emo (and also still violent video games). IDK what the 2010s had, probably LGBT representation and social media or something. I, for one, am already laughing at them for whatever non-issue they'll latch onto in the 2020s..
Before that it was Jim Morrison. And before that it was Elvis and his evil hips. Every generation goes through this stuff.
@@zackakai5173
You got it.
@@keirfarnum6811 it seems like rock always created some cultural panic, but now that rock is dead I guess rap is the one that's making cultural panic. And if not then hyperpop is.
“I’m not Afraid to keep on living, I’m not afraid to walk this world alone” MCR I think that promotes living rather than death
If they even listened to a lyric instead of going based off of their image they would kno how ignorant they sounded
I knew I'd see a photo of mde in here lmao
amazing video btw very well made
Thanks so much Johnnie, I found myself watching a few of your videos during my research. Keep making bangers. 🤟
@@ana-isabel Thank you :)
@@JohnnieGuilbert didn't expect to see you here
I was a self-harming and suicidal (and bisexual and atheist since the Mail cares about that stuff too xD) waaaay before listening to emo, finding the music and the community just helped me cope with my emotion and find support that I couldn't find among my peers, who just saw me as "heavy" or "doing it for the attention" (even if I was chronically depressed and went through a lot of trauma I didn't have to tools to process at that age). After years of therapy I'm finally good, and I still listen to MCR and Paramore and Panic! at the disco, I have a great fondness for their music and I find it empowering and energetic (I also still wear mostly black clothing, colorful hairstreaks and black eyeliner xD and use xD unironically. I'm almost 30). I still tear up listening to the line "I am not afraid to keep on living" because it gave me so much strength growing up. Great video btw, I love how everyone is sharing their stories in the comments
You are truly a trooper, I appreciate your strength to still draw breath.
You know that an atheist is in the room because they will tell you about how thay are an atheist whilst arguing that it's not a religion or cult whatsoever. Lol
Politician: MCR is promoting r*volution. MCR: for legal reasons, no
Is that a dig or reference at/to Glenn Beck by any chance? Because I remember him calling MCR's song 'Sing', "Propaganda" and a call-to-arms anthem that he can't win against.
And Gerard basically replied 'Lol. Nope. You got us wrong. Fact check next time.'
@@sezzac155
For legal reasons, that is a joke
@@dustinjames1268 I think they got the joke but were hoping the joke was a more obscure referance.
They'd feel super smart if it were and they got it.
@@sezzac155 oh my god I remember that. And his wild claims were based on a misread of the lyrics too which was even worse. Like my guy, you based some of your argument on lyrics that don't exist.
@@Kagomai15 I remember going back to double check the lyrics was “webways” not “railways”, because I hadn’t quite worked them out at that stage. But then I realised that “webways” made a lot more sense.
It’s just funny now, because in a way ‘Sing’ was intended to be a call-to-arms anthem. Like a lot of the other songs on Danger Days. It also wasn’t propaganda, it was a concept and that concept was rather political. Encouraging the message of hope and to use your actual voice to enact change.
Hi, I have clinical depression, and I can tell you that study at 26:26 is a load of bull. Even in my adult years I'm still listening to depressing music as a relief, and yeah it makes me feel more depressed *in the moment* after listening to it, but it helps my brain deal with those emotions by facing them head on instead of it being an undercurrent the rest of the day, and all in all I feel way better just a few hours later.
The idea that listening to depressing music while depressed is somehow dangerous is satanic panic scare propaganda spawned from fears of backmasking and violence in heavy metal lyrics. If I was ordered by a psychiatrist to only be allowed to listen to happy music, I would not be here today, that's all I'm gonna say.
Also please don't use language like "mental illness is such a mysterious and complicated matter that nobody knows all the details about", because we that have that mental illness and have been to therapy for years know very well, even if the rest of the world don't. It's not a complicated mystery, it's just a very personal matter that outsiders will never understand fully, which is fine as long as we're treated with respect and as full human beings struggling with immense hardships, rather than as things to be fixed.
I feel like I've had to explain this to people my whole life, that listening to depressing music actually helps me feel better, not the other way around, but I never fully understood why myself, it's just something I've always done to cope. There has always been so much I couldn't talk about with anyone, and other things that I'd try to talk about but nobody would understand cause they've never experienced it, so depressing doom metal that I could relate to was my only therapeutic outlet.
I’ll second that. I have found myself sobbing suddenly when listening to happy music, because in those moments, it feels like a portrayal of a life or mood I felt like I would never have. Some “sad” music made me feel less alone.
Sometimes, just knowing you are not alone, knowing what you are feeling, someone else felt it, can be enough to get you through.
Seems somewhat similar to watching horror movies. It seems counterproductive, but people may feel better about themselves after watching horror movies because they often compare their lives to the lives of the characters. People might actually think worse of themselves after a romantic comedy because they see what they feel that they’re missing. It’s kind of difficult for someone to compare themselves unfavorably to horror movie characters, so they can come away from it with a sort of “at least I’m not that guy” feeling.
NOBODY EVER TALKS ABOUT THE AVRIL TO MCR PIPELINE
TRUUUU
It's very real lmao I'm 15 now and discovered avril when i was like 11 and now i just saw mcr live a few weeks ago :)
I feel like there was one for me, but it was a bit more complicated
I agree that people, especially parents, would much rather blame literally anything else than admit to themselves that the kids are already depressed and suicidal, especially since it's often got a lot to do wiiiith them and how they treat said emo kids lol
I was definitely an "MCR saved my life" kid. I still am, tbh, I'll never stop liking that band.
I DO think only ever listening to depressing and/or angry music can keep you in that mindset but if you're already always in that mindset and you're not allowed to express it yourself, music is super cathartic and totally life saving.
Also think it's funny the bands and musicians commonly thought of as like...the definition of whatever genre they make ALWAYS hate the label. Emo? Ew no. Goth? I'm not goth, my music's not goth.
Wonder if that's a thing with every genre or just some of em...hmm.
It's pretty much all the good ones. They either are interesting enough to redefine or outright define a genre (of note here would be the rapid transition from goth to emo in the late 90's, which as someone exactly the right age to have lived through it, I described as goth's incestuous punk child) which always seems to feel weird to people in general, or they feel the one label simplifies what they're doing to a degree they can find insulting.
fall out boy is so underrated in their lyricism which actually is kind of a good thing actually because the daily mail could have picked on them for so many things….
Also growing up on early TH-cam as a kid into anime, AMVs with Linkin Park or that Wake me up inside song were my shit
If Evanescence counts as emo, I gotta put that stamp on my bingo card :D
@@FranNyan not an expert on the genre myself but I do associate them with the era and vibe lol
holy heck, yes to ALLL the AMVS
Did you really Just refer to *Bring Me To Life* as *that wake me up inside song?* C'mon man.
@@zacharyyang8697 I ain't heard it in like 12 years and never looked up the name back then lol
I was a huge Linkin Park fan in high school. I saw MCR on that Black Parade tour open for them but wasn't a big fan. Now I am a casual fan, but I had some gen z kids telling me how jealous they are of me. It is kind of funny.
I remember having to have "that conversation" with my mom, assuring her that being "emo" wasn't making me suicidal. I honestly had no idea the media at the time was blowing it up into something dangerous, so it makes more sense now why she was concerned. But I guess in a way it helped push my mom to have a conversation with me that she probably wouldn't have had otherwise, and struggling with depression myself, it was a conversation I hated at the time but definitely needed, even just for the simple fact of knowing she cared.
I never knew the media was doing that either. I never really watched the news anyway lol. My style was more of a mix between rap and emo (still is) so I guess my mom didn’t feel the need to speak about depression. We never talked about our feelings anyway.
Whilst I enjoyed several "emo" bands, I was never part of the subculture itself. Though, many of my friends were and they definitely went through that tumblr phase, which they cringe about now when we talk about our school days. They still refer to themselves from that time as the "outcast" group, though there's some irony in that their social circle was the largest within the school, dozens of people all feeling incredibly alone together.
As always, Ana, your content is vastly superior to your sub count and I have enjoyed everything you put out
A part of me wonders if a majority of us "feel like the outcast" in our teenage years, and there some that are just more honest (and/or empathetic towards others) about it.
Glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you - that means a ton. 😌
It's a shame that Myspace did a data purge on its servers a few years ago. Myspace not only wiped its servers of data, it also got rid of the millions of emo photos and videos. I guess thats a good thing for me, but a big L for emo history.
I was a teenager during the post punk revival slowly shifting into emo. I always enjoyed how it painted death and sadness in a romantic light. Everything is temporary,we shouldn't be afraid of these subjects. I am so captivated by dancing off beat to my own doom. My unwanted advice for younger people is simply this,this life is but a temperance of the soul for what is yet to come.
In western culture, music has long played a part in expressing the anxiety of teen years, which is why people form such strong music associations with music they listened to in that 13-19 year age range, it sticks with them for decades. I think the music industry found that emo and other "alt/indie" music (right back into the 80's with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, and Tears for Fears) had a market outside of commercial AM and FM radio, so music well outside the standard rock and pop format had a commercial market, so more varieties of music were recorded and published. That and the advent of video music TV so that the fashion/style associated with the bands could catch on, played a big part in the style of goth, emo, new wave, etc. Proving that the music industry can profit from any musical trend. 😌 And the "moral authorities" in any society can get their knickers in a twist about any style of music that their kids enjoy, whether it's Elvis' hips, The Beatles haircuts, Mods and Rockers or emo or goth fashion.
You've produced another well researched and enjoyable video with an intelligent and informed personal viewpoint combined with informative docu-content. Your production quality steps up all the time, and your chops as a presenter continue to grow. Two thumbs up Ana Isabel, you're crushing it. 👍👍
That means so much Barry, thank you! And thanks for sharing your insights on the musical impact of teen/alternative cultures over the decades; very true how the rise of MTV helped in further launching alt or indie styles of music as their own styles of fashion and even fully-formed subcultures. And yes - sadly, moral uproars have been going on since these musical trends have been around - and unfortunately still take place today (not a huge fan of either's music, but I _highly_ doubt Cardi B and Lil Nas X are about to usher in the "downfall of society" 😂).
Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@ana-isabel Music isn't likely to be the cause of the downfall of society, but it will almost certainly be the soundtrack play-by-play. 😱Back in my day of teen music we had war angst, and impending nuclear Armageddon angst, so songs like CSNY Ohio, Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth, The Animals Sky Pilot, Black Sabbath Iron Man, and a bunch of others were capturing the angst of a generation.
Its catharsis.
“Sing it for the boys”
“Sing it for the girls”
“Every time that you lose it, sing it for the world“
I feel like I was more of an emo on the inside, but Love or hate emo, I feel like emo spread more positivity and resilience. The bands and this genre helped it to be more common to talk about how you feel and what you were going through emotionally. Ergo, “emo”. And to know that you were not alone in trying to find help and strength if you were in a bad place.
“I’m Not Okay” got me through some rough years in middle and high school. It was incredible to find something that said everything I was feeling after my friends first attempt but I couldn’t figure out how to express yet.
When you are forced to deal with “adult” issues and troubles as a preteen or teen, it is cathartic to have music that actually acknowledges how much life can hurt sometimes.
It didnt promote it. Most of us were already depressed asf. It actually eased the pain a bit. Didnt really make that much of a difference tho cuz I had been a sucker for dark lyrics since I was a child lol.
exactly!!!
HIM was a big Thing 1996. Ok i have never been deep into that Scene, don't know how it was in my Coutry. Vienna, Austria. Anyways..Ville Valo is back. Haha.
Okay, firstly, that clip of Gerard hearing that dad's thanks at the end was the most wholesome thing ive seen today and I'm not crying YOURE CRYING, and secondly, thank you for putting to words and video such an important and impactful topic to my life. I have always felt like my feelings of depression and loneliness were unfounded because I have never had a "good reason" to be depressed or lonely, and because of this I have never felt I could really share how I felt with people. This genre of music heard and understood me, and inspired passion in me when I was uninspired in all other ways. I read somewhere that music is what feelings sound like, and I will always sing the praises of those who sing to my soul. And those who talk eloquently about it! :P So thanks. :)
Also, I was audibly shook with that G note that didn't just go into the intro of Black Parade. Well played. :P
This was incredibly moving to read, and I'm so happy this music managed to have such a positive impact on your life. It's definitely an era of music I'll also forever hold dear. Thanks so much for watching, glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Also that video of Gerard and the dad is probably one of my favourite clips on the internet right now ngl
You had me at "Fuck the Daily Mail"
You sent me on an emotional rollercoaster that hit a brick wall on that last clip. I look back on the lyrics that I wrote for my highschool-years metalcore band, I needed help. but as you emphasize so beautifully in this essay, at the time awareness to mental health was awful. I'm almost 27 and still struggling. hopefully some day I'll be able to write music that will help a kid go through what I've been through.
I wish you nothing but the best, and hope I get a chance to listen to the music you put out one day. 😊
As someone who also grew up with these experiences or an "Elder Emo" as TikTok has dubbed us, this an amazingly cathartic and well researched video.
Think growing up as an "emo kid" really helped with the stigma of speaking about mental health as an adult and you handled this topic perfectly!
To this day I'm still scream singing MCR, Paramore, Billy Talent and Fall Out Boy in the car 🤘🤘🤘
Also love your visual comedic edits! Thanks again for another amazing upload Ana!
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed! Also Billy Talent OH MY GOD, nearly forgot about them. Gonna go on a nostalgic trip on Spotify now.
This was what stuff like Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, and a certain little glass vial-related movie-musical did for me when I was around 13. I think it says something about adults that me at age 12 watching the 2005 movie adaptation of the ALW Phantom musical with its multiple murders, shown hanging corpse props, themes of cyclical abuse, _ALL OF PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN,_ and whatnot were a-okay but if someone my age listened to exactly one MCR album it would suddenly be a whole ordeal. Like me in 2012 fanboying over Les Miserables getting not only a movie-musical but also a Broadway revival with the whole ordeal that is what goes on in Les Mis is fine, but if a 14-year-old consumed I Write Sins Not Tragedies once it was "OMG SATAN CULT!!!" despite Les Mis' depiction of a character going into s•x work out of desperation and then dying of possibly an STD, and the _shown death of a 10/12 year old child character_ arguably being more alarming than the funny tophat man saying a swear word.
I'll never get over seeing MCR live in 2007, still one of the best live shows in my opinion ❤
luckyyy
I saw them in 05 only time I saw them but I'm seeing them at Riot next year!
@@Donnerpartyof5 05? i wasn't even born lmao
@@thatonerampartmain8843 I was like 16/17 it was them Reggie and the full effect and Alkaline trio
@@Donnerpartyof5 how was that wish I could of saw their earlier shows
Quite the opposite, actually. Emo music was therapeutic for teens who felt like they didn't fit in, and let them know that they weren't alone and didn't have to repress their emotions. Plus, the guys in MCR are very nice.
"Musical catharsis" is a great way of putting it. The solace I have found through emo and pop punk is something that I'll cherish for life. It's almost indescribable how much music from MCR, Linkin Park, and The Used have helped me through some of the toughest and darkest periods of my life. Finding comfort through music is one of the things that's kept me going through the years. More recently I've found myself relating to the songs of The Front Bottoms and PUP, as they capture the feelings of the directionlessness of your early 20's, which I'm currently going through. But I don't think there will ever be a time that I wouldn't throw on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Hybrid Theory, or In Love and Death.
Ah man, that bit at the end. Gotta say highschool woulda been way worse without Taking Back Sunday and Motion City Soundtrack. Thanks for making this
I will never forget seeing the Helena music video for the first time as a kid, its up there with Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz as a music video that shaped my tastes.
same actually
I graduated in 09 so I was growing up at the height of this wave of emo. I remember well, how popular it was to make fun of emos and not take them or the music its self seriously. Even I scoffed at the concept. I never picked on anyone but I would certainly laugh along at any jabs toward the idea of being emo and only saw it as attention seeking emotionality
Ironically I was probably just as anxious, self conscious and depressed as any kid that identified with emo, I just took pride in not expressing that or seeking out any kind of emotional support. Furthermore, I was far from popular myself and was picked on for my body image as well as being weird. I had friends and all, often my friends were the ones making fun of me or not getting me. High School age is a confusing time for most of us
Anyway, I now have a real appreciation for the second wave of Emo myself. Bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, The Jazz June, Mineral, Eliot, the Casket Lottery, The Anniversary
And the number one emo band of all time Rainer Maria. Anybody reading this, go check out some Rainer fucking Maria. Only their first two albums were traditionally emo and than I’d say they became more just an alt rock band but there is a not a single bad album in their discography imo. One of those bands that changed their style but did it so well that no one cared. It would have filled me with glee had they gotten named dropped in this vid but alas they have always been some what underrated
As a person who has struggled with my mental health for a long time, I never really liked emo stuff and in fact had a pretty disparaging, toxic attitude towards it. I would repeatedly make fun of my first girlfriend for listening to MCR, Fall Out Boy and the like, because teenage me was a total fucking wanker.
In more recent years, though, I've learned to be a lot less judgemental - after all, my music of choice in my teen years was Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish and ska music, while certainly having a much more bright and cheery sound than a lot of emo music, is no less bleak and depressing in its content.
Whenever we listen to music with really dark content like that, it's in part a coping mechanism (and a much healthier coping mechanism than some others I've picked up over the years) and it took me a little too long to realise that no one person's musical coping mechanism is more or less valid than another's. Some of us revel in the misery as a source of catharsis, and others like to hide the pain behind trumpets and a silly tune. And others still like to listen to angrier shit, which is where punk and even metal come in - which is where my music taste is more at nowadays. Whatever your choice of angst music, it's all valid and cool and shit. You do you, my dudes.
Very well said, keep on keeping on brother
We were all wankers when we were teenagers. The fact that we can look back and cringe means we've grown up into better people. At least that's what I try telling myself everytime I get a cringe attack from the past 😋
Strangely I was definitely one of those people who made fun of emos, whilst being... pretty emo 😅 I mean, I had a side fringe. I liked pink and skulls. My favourite bands were Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Evanescence... But me and my friends always considered ourselves to be fans of pop punk or rock or metal, and we "hated" emos. I think part of it was that a lot of people in our area suddenly became emo after having previously not been alternative, so we saw it as an annoying trend. We refused to listen to MCR and Paramore (even though I'd secretly sing along when their songs came on Kerrang TV lol).
Over the years I've begun to feel that I was pretty silly for feeling that way. In particular I think MCR are a pretty cool band and I feel like I missed out because we drew this arbitrary line in the sand.
Although I was never actually part of the "Emo Culture" per se, as a 90s goth and metalhead, I can relate. Many people told that my music were what kept me depressed an anxious... it was not. Death Metal helped me control my anger and provided an output outside the boundaries of my shy self. And yes... I still wear long hair, black converses, black clothes and skinny jeans! LOL! That's why I never judged "Emo Culture" because I see it has the new generation that replaced mine. Nowadays I mostly hear symphonic metal like Nightwish.
I grew up during the peak of "emo culture" and this could be a regional thing...but we always related country music as "the suicide music" 🤔
I can see it lol
Farm emo
@@starlight-j956 ee-ai-ee-em-oh
Is that because hearing it makes you wanna end it all?
Is it because most of country song have a sad tone to it?
Gosh, you really dug up relics of Tumblr's DARK phase to remind me why I signed up in the first place: Community.
While I'm still active on the hellsite (term of affection), you reminded me on the impact Emo had on me growing up too. Despite the highs and lows, the solidarity in this community was exactly what I needed in a period of my life where I felt so alienated.
You never truly have to scream into the void alone. There is always someone who OPENLY ADMITTED that they related to your experience. It wasn't as uncomfortable feeling uncomfortable after that, which is honestly so refreshing.
Even if it was just for the moment, you got to scream together. The experience of connecting on a genuinely unconditional level made it that much easier to carry on.
Emo did not make me depressed, it just gave me the courage to address it and an outlet to work through it. I found MCR as a kid, at the release of TCFSR and since they've been my favorite band because they made me feel seen and relevant.
HELL YEAH, AN EMO ANALYSIS THAT DOESNT SKIP OVER THE ORIGINS, SCREAMO, AND MIDWEST EMO. SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW
I came into this video expecting to hate on it, but quickly realized you understand the music and the culture and the video is also really well researched!
The funniest part about the daily mail article is that there are actual death parades where I’m from. They’re called jazz funerals where the casket is carried through the city behind a brass band and the funeral party will fallow behind dancing, celebrating the persons life. I always thought the MCR song was about getting the concept of death explained to you as a child at one of these parades. Have none of the daily mail writers ever been to New Orleans??
Sad that a lot of these “4th wave” bands are already gone. They were my favorite bands during college. There’s a “5th wave” of emo now, that features a lot more women and LGBT members with more personal lyrics and less misogyny than the older emo bands. Would be cool to see some of these bands make it big
Thank you for actually talking about the actual history of the genre. This wasn't music that showed up overnight.
Honestly I really appreciate one album in particular: Three Cheers by MCR. That story, above all else, helped me get through my teen years. I'd honestly say it's an overall more important emo album than The Black Parade. BP is more acceptance while Three Cheers is more human in it's grief and growth
"Emo" music helped me through some horrible things. I needed to not be ok for a bit, esp at those times. It helped me face my pain when I didn't want to escape. It was a place my pain felt heard, and that was a gift. I would have died without that ability to sit with it, even for a little bit.
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety all my life. I always felt so alone because at the time in society mental health wasn’t something people talked about. Going to therapy meant you were broken or you were “messed up”. And my family didn’t talk about anything painful. Appearances were everything so I locked everything deep down. I struggled all through high school just thinking there was something wrong with me. I felt so alone and darker thoughts would also come.
When I went to college as a freshman I listened to MCR and it changed my life. I realized that I wasn’t alone and that other people knew how I felt. Not only that, but here was this band telling me it was okay to be fucked up, but I had to keep fighting. That there was something left living for. From there I got into more of the genre. It might sound dramatic when I say this, but emo music, especially MCR gave me something to stay alive for.
the quiet hesitant way you said "brand new" sfjdhgf same...I used to listen to them a lot and now its like, ugh. thinking about Jesse makes me so mad
also the G note at the start of the section "romanticizing sadness?" really got me xD
This was a lovely video, I care so much about this era/genre (third wave emo) and specifically MCR, and I think you did a wonderful job exploring both its positive and negative aspects! Your work is always so thoughtful, keep it up ^w^
Yeah Jessie being a shit bag hurts, it's kinda like watching Se7vn after Kevin Spacey being a shit bag was revealed.
It sucks, huh? 😞 The fact he had a significant audience of female fans is just salt in the wound.
On the topic of shitbags, I literally can't bring myself to listen to "Rooftops" by Lostprophets again. Banger of song, monster of a person.
Thanks for watching, glad to meet another fellow MCR/third wave emo fan! (and yes, the G note is literally our siren's call hahaha)
Brand new got me into music. That news felt like someone killed my cousin or something. I knew how to play all their songs, they were my first concert. Such a fucking disappointment.
I was a hardcore punk in the early and mid-'80s. I didn't discover the bands you listed until several years ago. My daughter tells her friends that her dad is in his Emo phase. LOL
I seem to remember I would definitely, and cringily, pretend to be depressed to seem cooler but i knew i wasnt, deep down. That is until i developed it naturally, for other reasons. But then i was always very open about it because I knew it was semi-acceptable because of my time in the emo scene.
I second Meet Me @ the Altar as a recommendation - have been rocking to their stuff lately. I also recommend Pinkshift - the MCR inspiration is palpable and amazing.
Thanks for the rec
Emo Culture certainly awoke something in me as a teenager, heh. Also The Rasmus was one of my first emo music loves, I honestly still listen to them to this day, Avril was so good that even my parents enjoyed her music when it came on the music channels. Thankfully my parents seemed to understand that when i started wanting to wear black and listen to this music, it was just my way of dealing with the world. Eventually I got into the more metal and rock side of music and really found my voice but still to this day that emo look is just, mmmm. Dayum ya know?
I’m crying right now because this really brought me back to when I was 15/16 at my second highest peak of depression, listening to a lot of emo, especially FOB. I’m now on meds after the pandemic and with it unemployment sent me on my toughest journey and I have to say, even then music, albeit moreso (emo) rap lately, has really played a part in my journey of achieving inner peace. Thank you, this video really helped me reflect on a time I try to forget but was ultimately very formative.
Mcr had one song in specific that talked about teen suicide and how much people didnt notice them hurting until after. And idk the tone empowered me. Like he was acknowledging all of us on the edge. And encouraging us to stay. Ge angry and use that anger as motivation. Stay alive because FUCK THEM. it's the worst thing we can do to get back at em. Stay alive when they want us dead. He taught me to stay alive for me. And no one else. That I wasnt alone. That I'm loved. And valued. Not worthless. All within that ONE SONG. It's insane..
There is something extremely satisfying about listening to lyrics that you can relate to. I feel like music like this needs to exist for those who are going through things in their lives.
The emo attack in Mexico happened in my city of Tijuana. At the time, it was honestly awesome, for both punks and emos. It was like we were part of a wrestling show.
I'm honestly surprised that emo and punk was a think in Mexico. US media told me that only rap and traditional music exist in Mexico, and that emo/punk was white people's sh1t
@@kittykittybangbang9367 yeah, gringos don’t know how Mexico is. But in all honesty, US media has invaded Latin America since the 90s.
thank you so so so so much we truly are not afraid of keep on living
Ghost of you and Helena are my favorite songs. I never thought of taking my life because the music felt inspiring. Never have I considered self harm though
MCR was my favorite band in high school, and I still really love them. My mom died of cancer when I was 15 and their music really helped me grieve and process my emotions. The first time I heard Welcome to the Black Parade I felt a huge wave of healing, it pushed me into the next level of recovery from the death of my mom. They truly gave me strength. I honestly believe that you have to face the hard and sad emotions in order to deal with them, ignoring them is more unhealthy and creates more problems imo.
Actually I'm 34 and Nobody's Home still gets me in the feelings, it reminds me of the 16 year old me living on the streets and the life of pain that's followed after falling into addiction. I get what you're saying though. Complicated used to remind me of my mam after she left my dad "acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated" summed up exactly how 14 year old me felt about how she'd changed so much since leaving my dad for a man I hated and making me and my brother act different in front of him. I wasn't having it and we fell out, my dad was never the same and became abusive so that's how I ended up homeless and a drug addict at 16. I still love some of these songs. I'd say mental health issues have become a trendy thing to have more in recent years. Back when these songs were popular people weren't proud and dying to tell people about their "anxiety". Now you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't self diagnose themselves with anxiety and depression. Frustrating for people who actually suffer with these things and more. It's not cool to be sad. It's a horrible way to live and you wouldn't be all done up on tiktok if you were truly depressed or suffering from bad anxiety. The idea of loads of people watching me fills me with dread.
Emo, Screamo, Punk, Grunge, Metal, and most rock overall helped get all my anger, frustration and sadness out.
We need these genuine avenues of music more than ever.
We need them now more than ever
My chemical romance got me through some of the hardest parts of my life. I felt more understood listening to their music than I did by my family.
i watched this with my teenage daughter who struggles with things ...we both liked v much . thanku for ur content ana isabel and for citing all ur links and sources :)
So happy to hear you and your daughter enjoyed this video! 🥰 All the best.
Proud to be a part of the Emo community. It helped me a lot throughout out my journey with Bipolar and BPD.
Thanks for a nuanced discussion of the emo culture, also adressing the whole emo-bashing that happened in Mexico years ago. As a mexican myself I recall seeing videos of that and felt very sick with how big and often unreasonable the backlash towards emos was back then.
I wasn't even emo then, but I felt a sense of kinship towards people who were like that back then, so I never bought it that they were a cult of depression as others liked to put it. Something about the backlash against emo culture felt so wrong to me, but I felt like I couldn't speak out because there were some undeniable evidences about certain behaviors among the crowd that made some parents reasonably concerned (the romantization of depression and suicidal behavior). I'm just glad that today it's a little easier to talk about our feelings with more honesty.
I definitely feel that the cause/correlation issue was at play. Emo wasn't making people self harm or encouraging suicide, but teenagers that had tendencies towards these behaviours were more likely to be attracted to the type of music. I was one of these and I think it is just very common for teenagers to feel strong, deep emotions that they can't quite process or understand. Emo music helped with that and we could recognise the feelings in the music. However I do also feel that it allowed me to indulge in those depressing emotions and wallow in it. But perhaps that was what I needed at the time, hard to tell. The gigs were the most exhilarating experiences and really full of life!
I remember, quite vividly, during my teenage years my best friend gifted me The Black Parade out of the blue cos she said that it helped her and it would help me with what was happening at home. And I enjoyed the album, but something about Disenchanted gave me clarity. There was something in that song that perfectly encapsulated the pain and the anger I was feeling to the point that, if I was really upset I knew I could stick that song on and cry it out and be fine afterwards. Still works 13 years later.
i'm so mad because i was just a little too young for this emo trend i missed those years, i propose we bring them back, along with the eye liner and the hair that could barely let you see
oh man, not only was this a HUGE nostalgic trip, you did such a WONDERFUL job going through all the points. and that clip of gerard at the end. :'( thank you for such amazing, top tier content! can't wait to see what you do next
I somehow missed the whole emo scene when it was at it's peak in middle/high school, but I really wish I hadn't. After actually listening to some MCR, P!atd, and FOB, it definitely speaks to me on a deep level.
Holy shit, that opening from MCR was some powerful stuff, I was in tears. Anyway, I've been legitimately suicidal for a near majority of my adult life, I've attempted once, and have had periods of self harm...ALSO, there were a couple points in my life that Death Cab for Cutie saved my f-ing life. When I listened to them, I was not alone, and it was the only time I wasn't alone. Mine is just one experience, but it's real and it matters.
If you're reading this and you've struggled, please just hold on a little longer... death is inevitable, so reason dictates that at the very least it makes sense to hold on and see if anything gets better. I love you. My angel once said to me "they lied, you are not enough, and that....... is O.K."
You're loved, hold on, ask for help.
When I was, maybe 11, I also used to think that Emo is all about "giving up" and "what the fuck there is to live for" attitude. Now that I am 24, I understand (or atleast this is my personal interpretation) that Emo music gives voice to those aspects of life where life, and the suffering that comes with it, feels pointless sometimes, i.e. without any meaning to why should I suffer so much. Which is REALLY helpful as this helps me to understand and process those emotions, which is WAY better than just burying them deep inside.
I believe emo subculture is associated with childhood emotional neglect. Where kids were taught not to have emotions, punished for having emotions, ignored, dismissed, and left alone by parents, all of which could create pre-existing depression and low self-esteem. I believe emo subculture gave space for a generation of kids to express their pain (rawrr) sadness (
Losing grip, forgotten, take me away, and together are some of my favorite Avril Songs.
Ohhhh a 46min video, let's goooo. Work can wait!
even years later just hearing the sentence "i am not afraid to keep on living" almost makes me cry. i'm so grateful to mcr and gerard for caring so deeply
If it wasn’t for “Hold on till may” by PTV I wouldn’t be here. Still holding on till may .
I wasn’t really in the emo scene as a teen but I loved a lot of the music without even realizing it was emo - The black parade really helped save me during a really dark time in my teen years, like the song Dead was a huge cathartic thing for me to listen to while dealing with my mother’s alcoholism. Fall Out Boy’s first two albums helped me so much too, along with Riot and Brand New Eyes from Paramore. Later in uni punk was more of my tonic to my mental health issues but I still have a special place in my heart for emo music
Though I never directly participated in the emo culture because of where I lived and my fear of being judge, the music that came from it certainly was a factor in keeping me together. Many of the bands mentioned here along with other heavier ones were staples of my teens and the reason I survived. As someone who silenced herself before others could try to I had no voice, no personality really other than the ones I adopted to fit in with whoever I was with, music was the only thing that ever felt mine and expressed things I could never dare think let alone say. I may not have been able to openly blast it at full volume and sing my heart out to it but just hearing someone belt/scream out was cathartic to me and was contributing factor of me still being here.
Funny thing is years later I'm now realizing that despite my best efforts to appear bubbly and adapt, a lot of people still considered me emo despite me avoiding the aesthetic as much as I could. Honestly I kinda regret not just wearing what I wanted and actually showing an interest in things.
Long spiel but it's 1 am, I'm exhausted and contemplative and this video got me thinking of the old me and how all this time "emo" was never just a phase to me. As cliche as that may sound lol
Everyone always gives things that talk about reality a bad rap. As a kid who has been disabled her whole life physically and just got diagnosed with mental illness 33 years later, I can tell you that this type of music is huge in my life. I grew up on what was popular or oldies due to my parents. But when I was introduced to this it really spoke to me. AFI and their album "Sing the Sorrow" is basically my hero; it helped me cope with coming out as Asexual, dealing with bullying, dealing with disabilities and how people treated me for my oddness and my dislike for being a woman and not wanting children. It still helps me to this day, through surgeries and injuries and constant new diagnosises that take their toll on me and bring me down. Other great albums to mention include the first 2 MCR ones, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out by P!ATD, and Green Day's American Idiot. I am grateful I grew up in the early 2000's and got to experience this time because I made some amazing friends who are still my friends to this day. Plus the emo music really kept me going, knowing it was okay to be myself and stand up for my rights and what I believe in; especially being in a family who is the complete opposite of me and constantly fights me over everything I decided.
I'm happy to hear it had such a positive impact on your life, and it makes me glad the music continues to live on, albeit with a more mature style.
American Idiot (and subsequently, 21st Century Breakdown) were cornerstones of my teen years too :)
You know you're old now when something from your late teens is now the subject of a serious retrospective analysis.
This essay was excellent. It's nice to know and understand it's roots, to take this time capsule and remember my own experiences as an emo with all the ups and downs. It was and always will be cathartic to listen to those songs which are helping me even now. Thank you for the memory trip, I'll gladly take it again.
Honestly, i was a person who was more into the fashion and subculters in emo than the music at first. And I think thats how i got sucked into its most depressing parts. The music itself isnt the problem, but the way the emo communities often normalize and romantacize bad mental health. You wanna be the broken girl that pierce the veil sings about, you know? You wanna be the most outstanding freak of the bunch. Its something i found in a lot of subcultures that bring together outcasts, is that it becomes almost compedetive of who can be the biggest outcasts. Being basic in an alternative community, you can get just as bullied as being alternative in a basic community. So i dont think that the music is bad for ones mental health, but the type of grouping and pressure from people that form around it.
Yeah, I was a member of a pretty decent sized Emo group on Facebook a few years back, and there were a SHITLOAD of high school kids on there literally bragging about cutting their wrists.
@@philcollins5890 I was also a part of one of the huge Facebook emo groups when I was like 13. It wasnt the music or bands that were the problem it was the communities. Self harm was rampant and almost felt like something you had to do, even tho it's a serious problem that can take years to solve. It was taken so lightly and being mentally ill was so romanticized
I love this discussion! For all the good that the music did for me and people I knew, I think the culture, not the music, caused some friends of mine to want to play into the romanticism of self-harm. I mean, some songs really felt like anthems for self harm (I even had friends tell me they loved certain songs because they cut to them), but for the most part those bands weren't really trying to encourage that behavior. It was often a piece of a story they were trying to tell with their full projects and sometimes what a 25 year old guy is trying to achieve, unsurprisingly, goes over a 14 year old's head. The height of the emo craze was really the darkest part of my life but nothing I ever sang along to made me want to do anything other turn the music up. Those that I knew that took things further were already dealing with other major issues like juvenile substance abuse etc. They found solace online and felt close to other kids whose Xanga posts were littered with similar vague retellings of dark parts of their lives - they bonded over it and indulged one another. Self harm was widely discussed before Ohio is for Lovers came out. Blaming it on the music is short-sighted. To me, a lot of the music was a result of the culture, not the other way around. The depression and self harm didn't go away with the music, but since there isn't a big bad to blame it seems like it's sort of disappeared from the conversation.
I will always have a soft spot for scene or emo girls when I see them. Literally cannot get that culture out of my head, growing up through it lol. I think I was in middle school when it was at it's peak and boy oh boy.
This video is such a flashback to all I listened to in middle and high school. I was 100% "this is cathartic" category. It is interesting now that I have a difficult time listening to much of that music... it just feels like I have outgrown it. Life has gotten better and I don't relate to it anymore. Listening to it just brings be back to my troubles as a youth and I don't enjoy being in that headspace anymore. I still look fondly on the scene and how it made me feel at home in my skin.
Thank you for talking about this, especially the social media and mental health part. So many people seem to take real conditions and use them as normal adjectives, or like they're emotions you can just experience. I know OCD is a big one that gets misused, but I've seen ADHD, depression, bi-polar, and others used wrong as well. I'm glad people are talking about their experiences and struggles, as it really helped me as a tween and teen with undiagnosed ADHD and learning disability, and all the anxiety that comes along with that, trying to hide that I was different. But with various subcultures, I found spaces online where I felt I could be me. But I wasn't really full on into emo the same way. I'm not sure what you'd call the genres that HeyHiHello, Hello!Beautiful (now April's Atlas), Eleventyseven, and even Owl City would fall into, but they helped me a lot. Especially Eleventyseven's song "Feel Okay," that was like an anthem of my middle school experience, even though it came out before I was old enough to appreciate the group. I'd still say some of that music and ideas around the time (mostly 2011-2013 shaped me, as that was when I got an iPod Touch and got online beyond just Disney stuff), have still affected me, and shaped some of my style and preferences. And I think it's worth talking about the good, since so many people focus on the bad.
these videos are SO well done, and i can’t wait for her star to shine brighter! It’s only a matter of time til the rest of the internet discovers the magnificent AnaIsabel
- bravo!
Thank you!!! 🥺 Glad you enjoyed!
In 2005 I was 12 years old and my dad had passed in May of that year. A couple of months later I discovered Green Day - older siblings had listened to them a decade before me...but I was just at the time to start discovering my own music taste. And I was Sad. And ANGRY. Then I listen to American Idiot and I know those feelings. Even if I wasn't politically aware enough just yet to get the full depth of feeling on that album (not that Green Day is what I'd consider emo)...it resonated. Fast forward to August of that year and I start at a new school...first period English a girl sat behind me and saw my Green Day notebook I was toting around with me. We became friends almost instantly. Here I was - sad, alone, with this one band that I liked and going to a new school where I hardly knew anyone because my grade school split between two middle schools...and suddenly I had a friend. And a lunch table to sit at. And somewhere to hang out after school when my mom was at work and my siblings were out of the house or doing whatever else. That friend introduced me to her friends, as well. So I had a group. And they showed me more music. Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Gym Class Heroes, The Used, My Chemical Romance, The Academy Is..., Panic! At The Disco, The All-American Rejects...all of these bands that not only understood my feelings, but made it to the other side of them with...hearts and wrists intact more or less. Then it was concerts...which brought me an even larger sense of community. And then local gigs which brought an even tighter knit sense of community. The friends I made through those years...most of them I'm still friends with. We all understood each other. And in that comfort I was eventually able to open up more. To join theatre like I'd been wanting to. I gained confidence and security. All because of the hope and community these bands brought with them. I'm at a point in my life, now....where it's hard to remember the sadness and pain I was feeling back then. Our brains are so good at forgetting the true weight of it over time...but when I look back at why these bands still mean so much to me....it's not hard to remember.
I also want to note that at the time I was also discovering my sexuality. And as any of us who went through it will remember....2005 was not a very friendly time to the LGBTQ+ community....but most of those bands were so aggressively anti-homophobia. They celebrated queerness. And while some of that we'd look back on and call performative....most of it came from genuine places as many of the artists eventually came out in some capacity. It was a space where you weren't regulated to one after school club that might not have an advisor next year or one small shelf in a library if you were lucky to hear your own stories....but you were able to exist freely and openly in the same space as others and still feel supported and accepted. Because of finding those bands when I did...I never once felt alone in my sexuality...or scared of what it meant. Because I knew there were spaces where I could be myself safely and without judgement. And for someone already dealing with so much at that age...that was invaluable to my mental health.
I'm lucky. I've never needed to credit a band with saving my life. But the amount of community I found, the amount of understanding and care....it was priceless to me.
Emo helped me not kill myself as a teen in the 2000s