Could somebody explain to me exactly what EMO means?

Question

I have seen and heard this phrase/word used frequently but have absolutely NO CLUE what it means. Thanks for not being TOO brutal!

Answer 1

The technical definition is overemotional.

The steryotypical definition is an overdramatic person who cuts themselves and is suicidal, wears black, tight pants, and wire rimmed glasses while moaning about how emo they are.

It can also be used as a type of music.

Answer 2

Emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music. Since its inception, emo has come to describe several independent variations, linked loosely but with common ancestry. As such, use of the term (and which musicians should be so classified) has been the subject of much debate.

In its original incarnation, the term emo was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s Washington, DC scene and its associated bands. In later years, the term emocore, short for "emotional hardcore", was also used to describe the DC scene and some of the regional scenes that spawned from it. The term emo was derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and strongly emotional during performances. The most recognizable names of the period included Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Gray Matter, Fire Party, and, slightly later, Moss Icon. The first wave of emo began to fade after the breakups of most of the involved bands in the early 1990s.

Starting in the mid-1990s, the term emo began to reflect the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason put forth a more indie rock style of emo, more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called "indie emo" scene survived until the late 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted to mainstream styles.

As the remaining indie emo bands entered the mainstream, newer bands began to emulate the more mainstream style, creating a style of music that has now earned the moniker emo within popular culture. Whereas, even in the past, the term emo was used to identify a wide variety of bands, the breadth of bands listed under today's emo is even more vast, leaving the term "emo" as more of a loose identifier than as a specific genre of music.

Answer 3

Emo, means your in touch with your emotions, and probabley more so than the average person..
its not always good to be an emo, as when they are in touch with their emotions, too much, they might do silly things such as slit their rists!
Emos quite often have a big chunky side fringe, even the boys and wear some quite gothic funky suff, with plenty of eyeliner!

Answer 4

Usually emo means when your both punk and goth. In my school emo means that and that you cut yourself so yeah.

Answer 5

Emo was a style of music created in the mid '80s. . . Two bands called Rites of Spring and Embrace took punk rock in a different direction. They had the same punk rock sound and vibe like all of the other bands, but integreated more personal lyrics and were extremely emotional during live performances raw, powerful human emotion. Rites of spring were famous for their intense live shows. Instruments were broken and out of tune, drums were ripped, and the band dripped with sweat caused by the mass amount of power they put into their music. This new style of punk rock was different enough to be classified as something other than punk. A new term was coined. Emotional Hardcore was the new term that described this new powerful subgenre of hardcore punk rock that these two bands had created. More and more punk bands started to experiment with this new genre. Over time, the term Emotional Hardcore was shortened to the term Emocore. And then, over more time, it was shortened even more to the word Emo. This is considered to be First Wave Emo. It spanned from 1984 to 1994. Yes. "Emo" was at one time a musical subgenre of hardcore punk rock.
As time progressed, there were different bands forming and trying to replicate the sound of the emo genre.Around the late '80s and early '90s, bands such as Indian Summer and Heroin formed. They weren't exactly under the punk scene as much as Rites of Spring were, but they still had that hardcore emotional performances and songs. (Indian Summer was known for building up to a climax in most of their songs; the turning point of emotion in their performances.)
Then came the second wave of emo. Many say that Sunny Day Real Estate were the pioneers of second wave emo. I would have to agree on that one. Sunny Day Real Estate was influenced by previous emo bands but played a much more melodic and somewhat depressing style of music. Unlike previous bands influenced by emo, Sunny Day Real Estates signed a deal with Sub-Pop records, the label that had success with more popular bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden. Sunny Day Real Estate was also promoted in the Rolling Stone. Sunny Day Real Estate got out into the general public more than any other band influenced by emo in the past. This is perhaps what started the corruption that is what emo is considered today. Sunny Day Real Estate got out to the people, and thus bands tried to mimic their style. Different sounds of music were played, but the sad tone was kept. Then came bands such as Thursday, Jimmy Eat World and Weezer. Jimmy Eat World was at first considered an "emo" band back when emo wasn't such a broad term. But then, with their 2001 release of "Bleed American", they pretty much took all of their emo influence out of their music and went mainstream. They changed their image and style of music, but were still considered to be an emo band. This is where the third wave comes in.

Dashboard Confessional was formed. Dashboard Confessional took the sad tones of Sunny Day Real Estate and turned it into something much more depressing and emotional. Songs most of the time about love, not being able to get a girl, etc poured a type of emotion that gave the band a whiney look. That's when bands such as Hawthorne Heights started forming. Influenced by Dashboard Confessional's pansy-like style of music, they were considered to be emo. The mainstream success of such bands is what made the term emo explode out into the world and become what it is known as today.


http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/straight-edge-faq/
the stuff on this site dates back to 1997

emo is emotional hardcore

Answer 6

emo means EMOtional its just a short way of saying they're emotional

Answer 7

emotive/ goth rock like Cursive and Eliot Smith

Answer 8

Emo-Emotional Bisexual kids!

Answer 9

Exactly Mom's Overlyprotective

It's used when your mom doesn't let you do something or go somewhere. I looked it up in the dictionary. Neat! Huh?

Answer 10

emotional. gothic like. lots of baggage... dark and depressed... usually associated with people who cut themselves.