How to Embrace Your Inner Emo in Five Steps

Regret, hormones, piercings, and more

First, don't try to be cool. The biggest enemy to understanding is maintaining an air of superiority and therefore eliminating empathy. For all practical purposes this can mean four things:

1) You're already cool and would like to remain so.

2) You're already emo and wish to reform.

3) You're not currently emo, but might do so for a chance at Veronica.

4) I'm not cool, not emo, and don't like to be questioned about either.

Let's dispel some myths. "Emo" is a term used to describe people who are unpopular. It is not a social clique. Nor are people who wear all black clothes and inflict harm upon themselves emo because of a bad fashion choice or problems at home. They're emo because they don't fit in. It has nothing to do with the kinds of the bands they worship either, which have their own history. Simply, it's a term, (when describing humans) meant to tear people down and not capable of being defined.

(Authentic emo commentary)

The phenomena appeared in the 80's. "Emo" is shorthand for emotional, which maybe isn't hard to believe. More specifically, emo refers to the rock sub-genre emotional hardcore, or emocore, that developed in the mid 80's. It spawned from other genres such as hardcore and punk rock that were popular at the time, borrowing the musicality and inserting more personal, heartfelt lyrics. For example, many emo bands such as Rites of Spring and Taking Back Sunday toured behind Green Day, who shared the same fan base while pursing different lyrics.

As the 90's rolled around more and more labels were created that shared the same "melodrama" and began to break off, steadily breeding emocore's own set of sub-genres and cult followings. Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate were the big names in the 90's that pushed the envelope and expanded emocore into other indie and screamo denominations, allowing further progress to be made.

(Jimmy in black)

It wasn't until the 2000's that famous bands such as Weezer and Jimmy Eat World got "emo attention." Both, however, became self-conscious of their previous "emo albums" and attempted to stay clear of the growing stigma. Jimmy Eat World arguably never escaped this, and despite later hits and multi-platinum successes have forever associated themselves with immaturity and unabashed teenage angst.

To summarize what this all means, listening to Fall Out Boy is uncool. Or Death Cab for Cutie. Many bands have been unwillingly categorized into the stigmatizing embrace of "emo," for varying degrees of legitimacy. What I've included is a brief list of steps that I think can help the average music listener fully appreciate the so-called genre, complete with pictures. If you're not ready to expand your horizons or don't want the attention, don't sweat it. Proceed at your own risk.

Step one: Lock the door

Finding a comfortable place to try out your newfound tastes will be essential. Also, headphones are a good investment. The first couple albums will be understandably awkward, so a bully-proof enclave will serve as a preliminary buffer. You know. From "others."

Step two: Find the internet.

The next step is slightly more extroverted. Though only slightly. After you've really hunkered down and decided to explore, then comes time to dig. Do some research and create a list. So start to ask yourself questions: What music do you already like? Can you tolerate bongos? How much "whine" is too much? Music that's been dubbed emo stretches across many existing rock genres and styles, so chances are you'll find something. Trust me. More likely than not, a handful of your favorite bands already fall inside the emo camp or else barely walk the line, so it won't be entirely foreign. Above all, be accepting, and don't be scared away from a band solely by their song titles or latest album cover.

Step three: Commit and listen.

Do you have your list on hand? Headphones? Plenty of Kleenex? Good, because it's time to start listening. In my experience it's good to just settle on an afternoon and binge for several hours, keeping sanity and food close. If you're going to try this method, though, don't be too hard on yourself. Accept ahead of time that you won't like every band and give yourself plenty of breaks. Occasionally, play songs you really enjoy (for me it was reggae) so that when the first hour is up your musical senses aren't totally dull. Remember, the goal of this is expanding yourself, not conquering the genre. By the end of this step you should at least feel more comfortable listening to music termed "uncool" by the masses and start to form your own opinions. While exploring, it might be smart to avoid the band's bios and look heavily into their fan bases.

Step four: Join the ranks.

This is the moment of truth. By now, you should have some visible crushes on a couple bands and be prepared to tell the world about it. So this where I'll tell you something: everyone likes Cold Play. Honestly. Don't even deny it. Cold Play has at least five trillion wonderful songs and that's before inserting this author's bias. Facts are facts. But, seriously, don't be ashamed of what you found out. None of this will change who you are or who you'll hang out with. You'll remain cool. The worst thing you can do walking out of this experience, though, is lie about your tastes and further perpetuate the hatriarchy. The world needs to know. And while maybe you reaffirmed your opinion that "X" band really freakin' blows, possibly you found out that one song by ______ is actually pretty tolerable. Congrats. This is a victory.

Step five: Put it in perspective.

So, amidst your searching you may or may not have enjoyed yourself. That's okay. I'm not judging you. But that's also because we live in an incredibly sheltered society where all we have to worry about is people not liking us. Armenia and Iraq are big countries for persecuting people based on their musical tastes, and by persecuting I mean stoning. So take your rights seriously and remember not to hate too much. At the end of the day, no matter what your opinion is, music is just music. It can never give you the right to say your better than another person or justify an ugly crime. We all share the same goals and want to live in a safe world.

Editor’s Note: Caleb Busch is sixteen years old and has enjoyed Fall Out Boy and Death Cab for

Cutie for over five years now. He plans to continue doing so.