Most Hated Emo Cliches

I know that emo is a polarizing force in music today...this is aimed at anybody from casual listener ("Yeah, Taking Back Sunday has some cool songs") to diehard fanatic ("OMG I'm changing my last name to Oberst"). What is your most hated emo cliche? That line, that metaphor that brings up bile every time you hear it because it's so stale...List it. If you have specific songs, cite the lyrics. Even if you love emo, here's your chance to take a shot at it.

I'll start off with the whole "choking" phenomenon. For example:

Finch, Three Simple Words: "With my hands around your neck, who will stop me now?" One of the less severe examples

Brand New, Seventy Times Seven: "So don't apologize, I hope you choke and die" Getting there...

Story of the Year, Light Years Away: "Choking on the rain, we turn to flames" We have officially reached emo cliche-dom!

Now let's hear yours. I'll spark the convo with some possible ideas: Guns, bullets, roses, hearts, blood, fire. All find a warm home in many emo songs.

Roses? Hearts? Blood? Fire? Did you say emo or Johnny Cash? Or heavy metal?

The Used has lyrics that say "with my foot on your neck, i've finally got you right where i want you."

and "i'm the biggest fan i've got right now"

seems kinda emo

The truth is, you could slit my throat
and with my one last gasping breath
I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt.

~ Taking Back Sunday "You Are So Last Summer"



If I never heard that quote again, I could die happy.

So slit my wrists and black my eyes..... Hawthorn Heights - Ohio is for Lovers.

what the hell is their obsession with self harm???

Who names their band after a suburb?

stupid fringes

Because "dayinthelife..." was already taken by a much better band.

You mean through every culture period, right?
Surely "emo" isn't the first place you've come across this.

Well we wouldn't have this problem if all women weren't out to destroy my life, NOW WOULD WE?!

By subculture, do you mean the lyrics contained therein? And if so, are you referring to all of the metaphorical misogynistic references?

Wow...can't believe I resisted the urge to wiki "misogyny" versus using my brain to recall what it meant. Go me. And damn you for analyzing the topic in such a way that it stepped the overall level of intellect required to argue against you way up.

Am I wrong, or did "emo" mean something completely different when I was a teenager? The term has been around for at least ten or twelve years. The bands we now call "emo" are a fairly recent development, and nothing at all like the ones from back then. Am I the only one that's noticed this?
Shit, now I'm going to be pondering the whys and wherefores of this all day.

"Sorry I forgot to solder those resistors to the breadboard. I was decoding the mystery that is emo..."

Well, the same goes for "ska" or even "rock". Fifty years ago, "rock and roll" was a mixture of rockabilly and rhythm & blues.

Excellent point.

has ska really changed that much?

The one I always find hard to stomach is R&B, that's been distorted beyond all recognition

Don't forget the obligatory Studded belt and polo shirt combo

Desmond Dekker to Skatalites to the Specials to Reel Big Fish is quite the evolution.

I use this point almost daily in my quest against the term "emo"

I use this point almost daily in my quest to take back the term "emo." I'll be over here listening to Braid and Mineral while you suckers debate Hawthorne Heights.

P.S. I you.

P.P.S. I don't know if this is exactly what this thread is getting at, but I will say that my hatred for Dashboard fucking Confessional makes me want to listen to nothing but uber-violent death metal for, like, the rest of my life. Fuck, I hate Dashboard.

I always wondered if old school emo was named after the comedian Emo Phillips. It could be true. My cliche is "my girlfriend left me for another emo band".

word. and Texas Is The Reason.

I dont know most hated emo cliche.

They all piss me off equally.