Music plays a vital role in the emo culture. For many emo youths, music provides a creative means of self-expression. Whether they are creating their own tunes or listening to emo bands, emo youths seem to be most comfortable in the musical setting. In fact, emo has developed into its own musical genre. With roots in punk and hardcore rock, emo music varies between soft and hard, slow and fast beats.
What makes music identifiable as emo, though, is not necessarily its composition. Rather, the lyrics play an important role. Emo music features lyrics that talk about the problems and challenges faced by emo youths in their daily lives. This ranges from family fights, broken hearts, loss of friendship, depression, and much more. The first bands were referred to as “emocore” and many came out of America’s Washington, D.C. region. However, the movement has since grown and many famous bands have legions of emo fans. Some of the most notable include My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Senses Fail, and Dashboard Confessional. Despite their devoted following, many emo youths have started to move away from such famous groups. They prefer more of the local, independent music scene. Emo bands can earn quite a following, though, and greatly impact the thoughts and feelings of their listeners.