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Tuesday, July 6
Ok so most people don’t know what the EMO genre/style is even though they listen to it non-stop. So here’s some stuff I found about it in a discussion session about song writing on ultimate-guitar.com (where I get most of my tabs and chordlature from). Keep in mind that I’ve sorted through it a bit and added my own thoughts and deleted useless information…
Well here goes:
EMO's big draw, particularly to college and older listeners is that it bleeds. It's gut wrenching in an intelligent, melodic way and it deals with issues in a very open and honest manner. Also remember that EMO likes dealing with more mature issues. eg. You won't really find any EMO songs about rebelling against authority, while most teen punk is littered with such sentiments. "Anna Begins" by the Counting Crows depicts a guy waking up at night beside his girlfriend and wondering what they're really about. Coldplay's "Yellow" touches on how a girl has everything her way and how the guy can't seem to turn her his way.
EMO singers have notoriously depressing tones. Crows, Staind, Coldplay, Lifehouse, etc the voice produces much of the feel.
Emo lyrics usually express everything you feel in a few, simple catchy phrases. This is accomplished by using those literary instruments (metaphor, allegory, analogy, onomatopeia, wordpainting, etc).
Counting Crows' "Round Here":
"Round here, we talk like lions, but we sacrifice like lambs.
Round here, it's slipping through my hands."
The sentiment of disillusionment just drips in these two lines. To achieve the same effect by using literal lyrics would take much longer, and won't have the same effect. Lyrics shouldn't be literally visual. You're not narrating a story, you should think more along the lines of imparting an emotion.
Coldplay's "Yellow":
“I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow,"
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all "Yellow."
Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know
for you I'd bleed myself dry.”
You might think these lyrics are terribly simple but the truth of the matter is that, coupled with Chris Martin's vocal style, it's very well-constructed. The repeating lines show to the urgency of his actions, the line "Oh what a thing to do" highlights the uselessness of what he's done. Then of course comes the required "thesis statement" which is, "For you I'd bleed myself dry". As you said, you can accomplish a lot with a few simple words and this song shows it.
Ok sorry, that was a bit messy. I don’t really know where you draw the line between emo, rock, pop, etc. I guess anything that you class as soft to mid rock would be emo. When I get my internet up and running again, I’ll do a search for more stuff info about the emo genre, but for the moment you’ll have to be satisfied with this info. Or you could always do your own search...
Well here goes:
EMO's big draw, particularly to college and older listeners is that it bleeds. It's gut wrenching in an intelligent, melodic way and it deals with issues in a very open and honest manner. Also remember that EMO likes dealing with more mature issues. eg. You won't really find any EMO songs about rebelling against authority, while most teen punk is littered with such sentiments. "Anna Begins" by the Counting Crows depicts a guy waking up at night beside his girlfriend and wondering what they're really about. Coldplay's "Yellow" touches on how a girl has everything her way and how the guy can't seem to turn her his way.
EMO singers have notoriously depressing tones. Crows, Staind, Coldplay, Lifehouse, etc the voice produces much of the feel.
Emo lyrics usually express everything you feel in a few, simple catchy phrases. This is accomplished by using those literary instruments (metaphor, allegory, analogy, onomatopeia, wordpainting, etc).
Counting Crows' "Round Here":
"Round here, we talk like lions, but we sacrifice like lambs.
Round here, it's slipping through my hands."
The sentiment of disillusionment just drips in these two lines. To achieve the same effect by using literal lyrics would take much longer, and won't have the same effect. Lyrics shouldn't be literally visual. You're not narrating a story, you should think more along the lines of imparting an emotion.
Coldplay's "Yellow":
“I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow,"
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all "Yellow."
Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know
for you I'd bleed myself dry.”
You might think these lyrics are terribly simple but the truth of the matter is that, coupled with Chris Martin's vocal style, it's very well-constructed. The repeating lines show to the urgency of his actions, the line "Oh what a thing to do" highlights the uselessness of what he's done. Then of course comes the required "thesis statement" which is, "For you I'd bleed myself dry". As you said, you can accomplish a lot with a few simple words and this song shows it.
Ok sorry, that was a bit messy. I don’t really know where you draw the line between emo, rock, pop, etc. I guess anything that you class as soft to mid rock would be emo. When I get my internet up and running again, I’ll do a search for more stuff info about the emo genre, but for the moment you’ll have to be satisfied with this info. Or you could always do your own search...