Beth Ray Writes

I was scrolling through my TikTok feed last night when the algorithm brought me a ghost of my emo past and showed me a wedding singer called lilykerbeymusic who specialises in singing alternative wedding songs. She sings songs from My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Tenacious D, Taking Back Sunday, Evanescence, Blink 182 to name a few. Now this isn’t an ad, her videos simply reminded me how much I loved the songs she was playing and seeing the joy all of the wedding guests who must have been what is called ‘elder emos‘. The nostalgic reminder made me want to deep dive back into my old emo playlists. It reminded me of how many great bands and artists I adored growing up that were linked with the ’emo’ genre, of how back in the early noughties American films highlighted the different social groups in a high school and how this seeped into our music categories. Emo music was constantly being played on MTV and the radio as it became more and more popular with music fans.

After I saw the wedding videos I decided to do what we all used to do growing up, I made my own music playlist to remind me of my all-time favourite emo songs. Now before anyone trolls me for not being a real emo, I have become confident in my emo status as a ‘secure’ emo due to all of the TikTok videos of people saying ‘How Many Emo Songs Do You Recognise‘ which reel off a number of emo greatest hits and I can tell you that I pass with flying colours. I would say I’m probably writing more of a ‘starter pack’ for any wannabe emo’s that are out there so don’t come at me if this isn’t your definition of emo.
Before we begin I think it’s important to define what emo music is, so I copied the definition from the Urban Dictionary which states:

“Some people find it depressing, but generally emo’s listen to it because it describes something that has happened/happening to them perfectly. It’s like the band has taken their memories and found the perfect way to describe it.
NB: Just because a band isn’t very popular doesn’t mean it is emo and some emo music is very cheery and consoling.“

So sit back, play my emo recommendations and make sure to comment yours below.

Enjoy

Beth x

Fall Out Boy- I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
I LOVED the album ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ and still do. I was obsessed with how long the track names were, this track being no exception. The song starts with the stripped back vocals of Patrick Stump and the guitar before the drums, bass and everything else kicks in. This song was always a favourite to sing in the car.

Fall Out Boy- The Take Over, The Breaks Over
So I know this isn’t the most obvious or popular Fall Out Boy tracks but this is one of my favourites that is from their third album ‘Infinity On High’. It’s the drum beat, the guitar riff, it’s Patrick Stumps voice, the harmonies, the ‘don’t pretend you ever forget about meeeee‘ all of it together creates a great track.

Panic! At The Disco – But It’s Better If You Do
The debut album from Panic! At The Disco was on repeat when I grew up. I remember watching the music video for ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ being mesmerising to watch for how bizarre and weird it was compared to the clean cut pop stars of that time. I never really got into their other albums as I feel as though they mostly strayed from their original sound but I still love to play ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ and sing all the words. “But It’s Better If You Do” is one of the many great tracks on there so give it a listen.

Sum 41 – Pieces
Ah Sum 41, I feel as though Sum 41 are underrated for their great ballads. ‘Pieces’ being my choice here but if you’re feeling as though you really want to dish out the misery then I’d listen to ‘With Me’ and ‘Best Of Me’ from their album ‘Underclass Hero’. Obviously the band are known more for their upbeat tracks such as ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘In Too Deep’ but I have to say their ballads are what I enjoyed listening to most growing up.

Good Charlotte- I Just Wanna Live
After the success of their second album ‘The Young and The Hopeless’ Good Charlotte became very famous and started dating also very famous people (too much to write about that on here so go and google it instead). They made fun of the situation by releasing the track, they knew everyone was talking about their rise to mainstream music and their new found celebrity status so by releasing ‘I Just Wanna Live’ it showed they didn’t really care about what anyone else said. The lyrics are fun, the music video is fun, it references their hit track ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous’ and it’s tongue in cheek. Emo music doesn’t have to be so serious all of the time and Good Charlotte showed us that.

Avril Lavigne – Hot
Queen Avril had to have a place on here. I loved listening to Avril growing up, her debut album ‘Let Go’ was a no skip album and her third album ‘The Best Damn Thing’ was also a must play for each track. Avril oozed her confidence as a singer, songwriter and showed emo can be sexy too in this music video and the whole album. (You can also read my article about all of my favourite Avril Lavigne tracks here).

Paramore- Emergency
I have already written about my infatuation with Paramore but I had to include them when discussing my emo music growing up as Paramore was always up there on my playlists. Their second album “Riot!” was very much on repeat, especially during my teenage angst years but I wanted to include a single off their debut album and ‘Emergency’ is still one of their most known tracks.

You Me At Six- Stay With Me
Wooosh You Me At Six are a throwback and I adored this song, especially the acoustic version. There is a clip of them on Youtube singing ‘Stay With Me’ at Reading festival with Hayley Williams which is so good and I’d highly recommend watching. The band are currently playing their final ever shows on tour so if you want to go and see them live before they call it quits make sure to visit their website here.

Feeder – Just A Day
THIS MUSIC VIDEO. ARGH it’s so bladdy good. Feeder released ‘Just A Day’ back in 2001 and although this may have been before emo was a thing (and it is probably considered more of a rock track) it paved the way for showing teens singing and dancing around to music and being themselves, straying away from the usual ‘music video’ which would only feature the band. A time before it was embedded in our normal days to record ourselves singing and to post it online this music video was ahead of it’s time and I love to watch it again and again. Plus the single is an anthem, so yes it might not be emo but I feel as though it fits into the premise of going against the grain so I’m keeping it here.

Thirty Seconds To Mars- The Kill
I always felt this music video was a more eerie, scarier version of the Backstreet Boys music video for ‘Everybody (Backstreets Back)’ do you agree? Nope? Ok so…. I really loved this song growing up and the chorus is so much fun to sing. I mean the lyrics are very emo “Look at my eyes you’re killing me killing me, all I wanted was yewwwwwwwwww“. I’ll admit I still sing it even if you don’t.

Head Automatica- Beating Heart Baby
From my memory this song was quite the anthem for emo’s however I don’t remember where it appeared from. Did it suddenly appear on our ipods? Shared via infrared on our Walkman phones? Downloaded from limewire? All the other tracks I remember watching on MTV or buying the album but with Head Automatica I only remember listening to it on repeat but not knowing where it came from.

The All-American Rejects – Move Along
This music video is supreme and another one I remember watching on Youtube on repeat growing up. I first head The All-American Rejects on the first ever episode of The O.C when Seth and Ryan jump into Summer’s car. In the scene it plays “Swing, Swing” by the band and from that moment on I was hooked. “Move Along” is probably the All-American Rejects’ most famous song and it’s a great one so why not include it.

Blink 182- Not Now
Ah Blink. So many tracks to choose from but I’ve gone with ‘Not Now’ as it’s a compilation of clips in the music video and with it being a sombre song (if you can’t tell I really enjoyed the miserable tracks back in the day). It’s the ‘Please saaaaaave meeeeeeee’ at the beginning when the song really hits you in gut. It was a song I’d listen to when my msn crush never replied to my messages </3.

My Chemical Romance – I’m not Okay (I Promise)
Everyone remembers this music video surely? It’s like watching a film, I found it mesmerising to watch and the track has the guitar riffs, the big crescendo, the pause in the music and the iconic ‘trust me’. It just HAD to be included.

My Chemical Romance- Famous Last Words
I couldn’t include only one MCR song as their music was heavily played growing up and their album ‘The Black Parade’ was HUGE (it’s since gone 4x Platinum). It was one of my favourite albums and ‘Famous Last Words’ was my most played song off the tracklist. I think the last bridge in the song is why I love it so much, where the music reverts back to Gerard Way’s vocals before crescendoing back to an almighty chorus with him harmonising over it. It’s ultimate nostalgia.