EMO SONGS
Put on your skinny jeans and tight band t-shirt (if they still fit), and straighten your obnoxiously long, black bangs because we’re about to take a trip back in time to the years of teen angst as we explore Emo Songs. Derived from the punk genre, Emo songs are characterized by lyrics with an emphasis on emotional expression, sometimes through confessional lyrics. Like most genres, there is some subjectivity in defining which bands and songs are included or excluded, so for this playlist a singular measuring stick will be used: Wikipedia. In order to maintain the spirit and intent of the playlist, if a band is included on the Wiki page “List of emo artists” OR if that band has emo or any of the emo subgenres listed under “Genres” on their Wiki page AND the song has slightly emotionally expressive lyrics, the song will be considered emo for this playlist. Is it possible for Mariah Carey to get a punk band backing and to create an emo song? Yes. Is it possible for Jimmy Eat World to make an acapella confessional song? Yes. Are either of those things what we’re looking for in this playlist? No. If you don’t agree, go cry about it, you emotional, overly sensitive, angsty outcast. I am heaven sent. Don’t you dare forget.
Tier 1
Face Down, I’m Not Okay (I Promise), Miss Murder, This Is Gosepl, Sugar, We’re Goin Down, Welcome to My Life, Swing, Swing
In the grand scheme of things, Emo is a very niche genre without a lot of broad popularity. Despite that, these songs all have one thing in common: they made it to the Billboard Hot 100. Even if you didn’t have a studded belt or black fingernails, you know these bands and these songs. These are the emo songs that would become staples on TRL. In this tier, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” stands above the rest. The lyrics are emotional, the music is the epitome of emo, the band members look like the most emo people ever to walk the Earth, and no song title describes the emo culture more than “I’m Not Okay (I Promise.)”
Tier 2
Hands Down, Jukebox Breakdown, Seventy Times 7, You’re So Last Summer, Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades, Stare At The Sun, Runaway, LG FUAD, Weightless, Ohio Is for Lovers, A Decade Under The Influence, Existentialism On Prom Night, Buried Myself Alive, A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black And White, The Best of Me, Letters To You
This may seem like a very large Tier 2, and that’s because it is. These are all quintessential emo songs by quintessential emo bands. They don’t have the extensive popularity of their Tier 1 counterparts, but anyone even remotely into emo will know all but maybe one or two of these bands. Most of these bands probably could’ve had 10 more songs added, and they all would’ve ended up Tier 2 or better. If you had a Myspace between 2004-2006, at least one of these was your homepage song and to be honest might still be your Myspace song.
Tier 3
Planning a Prison Break
This song isn’t bad, it just doesn’t belong in a tier with the kings of emo like Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, and others. The lyrics also don’t have quite as strong or as obvious of an emo vibe compared to the other submissions. Why is it “the last night in my body” if everything else is in 3rd person? Is it a complicated metaphor? Is this a literal prison break? This song is too complicated for an insecure teenager.
Tier 4
I’m With You, Lips Of An Angel
Neither of these songs are true emo. Yeah, they both have the lyrical part down, but so do 50% of the songs out there. Hinder is alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock, and glam metal, while Avril Lavigne is Pop punk, pop rock, alternative rock, and post grunge. Hinder is an Oklahoman discount Nickelback band, and ”Lips Of An Angel” has never been confused for an emo song until this moment in time. Exactly zero teenagers with jet black hair and long, angled bangs have ever listened to this song intentionally.
If Avril Lavigne is the first artist that comes to mind when you think “emo,” you don’t understand the genre at all. She is not emo according to the criteria, but one could at least make a half respectable argument on her behalf. However, even if this submitter fraudulently edited her Wikipedia page to add the emo genre, it still wouldn’t make much of a difference. Even if the whole world miraculously agreed today that Avril Lavigne is an emo artist, this is still a bonehead submission. It’d be like if your geometry teacher asked you to draw a rectangle and you drew a square. Yeah, it’d technically be correct, but that’s not what anyone was going for.
Tier 5
Twist And Shout, La Bamba
This is where I say I’ve had enough, and no one should ever feel the way that I feel now. A walking open wound, a trophy display of bruises, and I don’t believe that I’m getting any better, any better. What in tarnation kind of submissions are these? These songs are older than the Emo genre itself and even if they were 50 years younger, still wouldn’t be emo. Maybe this submitter mistook Emo to be “Songs that were popular when you were in high school” in which case these would probably be fair submissions. These are Hands Down the worst songs on the playlist and make Tier 4 look like tier 1 in comparison. The only benefit these songs bring is truly forcing that emo reaction of tears and helplessness whenever shuffle pops one of these bad boys on and reminds you of how they ruined the playlist.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a very solid playlist and is incredibly top heavy, which is a good thing. Tier 1 and 2 are deep, Tier 3 and 4 at least tried, and Tier 5 is a crime against humanity. This playlist managed to put together all the bands you’d expect to hear, with no glaring omissions and only a couple repeat artists. The nostalgia will hit hard with this, well at least for those of you that managed to prove you know what emo actually is, and for those of you that still need taught, well, which would you prefer? My finger on the trigger, or me face down, dead across your floor?
Emoti on.
Best: “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” - My Chemical Romance
Props: “Existentialism On Prom Night” - Straylight Run, “Buried Myself Alive” - The Used
Worst: “La Bamba” - Ritchie Valens
Playlist Rank: 8.2/10
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No Bens were harmed in the writing of these rankings.