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April, 2024

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Emo: a definition

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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
There is no hardcore cult, so this is the best place

I'm sick of people asking what im into and saying, Indie, Ska, some punk, and emocore, and a little bit of metal.

Then they think i like dashboard.
Real emo started in 84 and is rooted from bands like television, husker du, mission of burma, and other punk and hardcore bands. Just a few bands in DC grew sick of the violence and repetiveness of their scene, and sang about their personal anguish, rather than social anguish. Emocore means emotive hardcore, if you arent hardcore, you cant be emo.

And people are not emo, as people are not genres of music





Boysetsfire, Malady, Pg. 99(grindcore but from emo scene with emo lyric style), Circle Takes The Square, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, Pygmy Lush, The birds are spys they report to the trees, A day in black and white(Their split 7inches and my heroes have always killed cowboys only), Planes mistaken for stars(fuck with fire cd), A petal Fallen, After school knife fight, On the might of princes(post-hardcore with emo roots), Antioch Arrow(brilliant hardcore), RITES OF SPRING AND EMBRACE(ian mackaye, NOT the indie band: THESE BANDS STARTED THE GENRE) INDIAN SUMMER, MOSS ICON, Gospel, La quite(italian), The Apoplexy twist orchestra, 1.6 band(converge mentions this band at shows alot), ENVY(japan), Nervous light of Sunday (japan), 1000 travels of jawaharlal(japan), An Albatross, Assfactor 4, Black Castle, Cowboys Become Folk Heroes, Saetia, Die Emperor DIE!, Four Hundered Years, The Hated, Yaphet Kotto.




These bands encompass aa wide variety of style and sound, From softer more melodic to thrashy grindcore. If you listen to ANY one of these bands, you will hoipefully find some music that is long in history, and incredibly passionate in its fan base.


BANDS THAT ARE NOT EMO: Underoath, Taking Back Sunday, Alexisonfire, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Sunny Day Real estate, etc


This is nota shot at those bands either, I have seen alexisonfire 4 times, TBS 3, and LOVE sunny day real estate.

But they are not emo
Apr 3 2006 3:12AM
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Jackpot
Posts: 4243 - Karma: 136
Wow bmxican, I kind of agree to what you're saying. But at the same time I can't, because some of the things you listed "depressing lyrics, monotonous music style where all bands sound pretty much the same" are things people have either come to love in their music, or disagree with.

But these music genre arguments have to end. People get so involved in the type/genre of music they listen to, and the image that comes with it, instead of focusing on what moves you: The music itself. Why should you try and teach a bunch of riders the definitions and types of music you listen to? Why are you getting angered that people don't understand your music? It's as if you're trying to preach a new religion to those that don't want it.

Now on the other hand, If someone called you an "emo fag" or something of the sort, you have every reason to explain to them your passion for your music, what it means to you, and what it isn't supposed to mean to them. People get so caught up in images in the media, it warps our perception of the world, entertainment and other people in general. Education is a good thing, but what we're discussing is something that is just as much opinionated as it is fact. People will always sterotype and judge, people will always carry misinformed opinions, and people will just generaly not care. Deal with it, and enjoy listening to your music.
Apr 4 2006 5:10PM
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ski8990
Posts: 5961 - Karma: 19
A simple "wrong" would have been fine...Anyway, I wasnt calling anyone dumb, and I maybe spelled one word wrong.
Apr 4 2006 5:17PM
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bangarangmules
Posts: 5065 - Karma: 84
i agree. just listen to what you like,, it doesnt matter what anyone else thinks
Apr 4 2006 6:53PM
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ductapeboy
Posts: 3328 - Karma: 11
amanda woodward
beaumont hammel
burried inside
circle takes the squaire
cobra kai
cobra noir
drive like jehu
envy
forstella ford
hiretsukan
hot cross
i spoke
indian summer
jeromes dream
Joshua Fit For Battle
karate for kids
kill maniquine
Makara
Mi Amore
Off Minor
orchid
page 99
the Red Scare
saetia
sex positions
shikari
swing kids
takenfromyou
these arms are snakes
Transistor Transistor
yourcodenameis:milo
Apr 4 2006 8:02PM
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Petecanski
Posts: 941 - Karma: 7
Musically educated? How can you possibly make that assumption? What reasoning do you have behind that. Thats like saying all kids who listen to country are great drivers. There is no logic behind that and you sound like twit for saying it.

Fake emo? If it wasn't for those bands no one would no what emo was. I know that their cheese eating fans are a poor representation of the true genre but, those bands are still emo. What do they sing about that "real emo" doesn't that would classify them to be "FEMO?"

Screamo isn't a genre? How can you say that? Of course its a genre. Are you try to say that bands that are screamo don't exist and therefor the genre doesn't exist? A genre is a simply a category, trying to group sounds together in massive super genre is dumb. grrrrreat!
Apr 4 2006 8:20PM
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scientist
Posts: 6920 - Karma: 347
To start I'd like to say that I am a big fan of the genre and most related, whether it be post hardcore, emo violence, screamo, you name it. But the bands that really revolutionalize music are the ones that do not belong to a genre. Not becasue they just have an odd sound, but because they want to push boundaries to create a new sound. By slapping a nametag on these bands it will ultimatly slow down thier progression with new stereotypes and predjudises(sp?)to deal with. Now they are once again just another fish in the sea of music. I dont think band labeling should go so deep as to combine more than 3 words. In saying this, I think Rock, Pop, Rap, Country, Classical, and occasionally Techno ect. should be about as far classification as needed. I wear tight pants, I have a slightly "emo" haircut. I don't cut my wrists, i dont cry myself to sleep. I chill to the music that satisfies me. If you want to call it emo, you can. But I like to call it music.
Apr 4 2006 8:39PM
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scarroll
Posts: 420 - Karma: 10
Good music doesnt need all those labels. Good music is different and undefienable. Bands/Artists like Beck, Cake, Animal Collective, Dave Matthew, They Might Be Giants, Butthole Surfers, and Bob Dylan are all examples are unique music. Now I'm not saying that all music with a definite Genre is bad but that music that is unique tends to be good music. At least in my opinion, everyone has different taste in music. Thats why is is so useless to argue about which band is better.
Apr 4 2006 10:26PM
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skitheslopes
Posts: 864 - Karma: 9
FUCK YO COUCH NIGGA


now that i have your attention i will put in my 2 cents.well i am sick of hearing these emo elitests say what is and what is not emo. their "real" emo sucks and is probobly the shittiest form of music i have ever heard. i think that emo never really started it was just a branch of kids who got their asses kicked by punk kids who were tired of their shit music they tried to classify as punk. if you look at emo it is just a way for kids to look cool and model after other perfect scenesters. emo has set the scene and now the other "fake" emo bands (taking back sunday, underoath, thursday, shit like that) are profiting off a social confusion that is destroying the basis of idividuality. my music of preference is traditional ska and 2 tone ska with a hint of ska punk. i like others such as calypso, soul, blues, roots, reggae, dub, and others. it could be easy for me to put in an emery cd and cut the back of my hair short and leave the front long were tight shirts and pants and be down with the scene, but that shit is fake and just all around an immature high school popularity contest. how many scene kids do you see in college, very little. and as for emo's roots, they blow, roots are what people have dedicated themselves to and has stood the test of time, not some fad for the scenesters.
Apr 4 2006 10:26PM
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skitheslopes
Posts: 864 - Karma: 9
wrong
Apr 4 2006 10:29PM
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scarroll
Posts: 420 - Karma: 10
^ Yeah it doesnt matter if you listed a bunch of bands nobody has heard of and called them "emo roots" it is still shitty music. I know I said everyone has different tase but emo is just plain bad music.
Apr 4 2006 10:31PM
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tjxdinoxsourx
Posts: 7 - Karma: 10
wow you are ignorant. kids who listen to real emo are musically educated jsut because they can tell the difference between the two.

how are you going to tell me or darkwolf that we are wrong when we base our definitions on the bands who started the genre not what mtv or your stupid little friends might say.

thats like henry rollins telling someone that black flag is hardcore and you contradicting that person.

and those bands are NOT emo. listen to darkwolf.

and i already made my argument about screamo not being a genre. read previous posts and actually check some of those bands out.
Apr 5 2006 2:25AM
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Petecanski
Posts: 941 - Karma: 7
I am ignorant? OK. I can take it. I would just like to point out the level of musical education that emo fans have then.

You say that they are musically eduated because they can tell the differnce between emo and femo.

whoop - de - doo!

I have this cat, Becca, and it can tell the differnece between emo and femo too. Cool eh?

Based upon Darkworlf's list of not emo bands I selected a band to try and get bacca to listen to and tell if it is emo or femo.

I went and put in alexisonfire and then boysetsfire for a little test of Becca's skills.

Would you guess what happened? It took a big shit, right where it was standing. To be honest, I was flabbergasted myself when I found out that the band alexisonfire used allusion and imagery just the same as boysetsfire.

Trippey eh?

Now really, the creater of this thread said that the major difference was allusion and imagery. Look at all the allusion and imagery in this song.


A dagger though the heart of st. angeles.



Plaid skirts that hide love
Walk in single file.
Ties that restrict blood... to the brain.

Passing notes in math class.
Freedom wear your scars of desire.
It's a coming of age story.
Freedom wear your scars of desire.
Conflicting impulses.
Freedom wear your scars of desire.
Cuts seem to bend the sky.
Bend (bend) the (the) sky (sky).

I've read this book before.

Anxious eyes stare out of warped glass
Waiting for the 3 o'clock bell.

Trying hard to forget that cold October day,
When Love challenged Freedom to a fist fight.
Freedom looked victorious;
But no one was expecting the outcome on that baseball diamond...
When Love reached beneath her plaid jumper,
Pulled out a switch blade,
And drove it...
Directly through the heart of St. Angeles.

Go!
Any notion of self-government
Was left by Love bleeding
On the pitcher's mound.
You're
(So you say you're scaring me)
Scaring me.
(And you won't be there to catch me.)
And bleeding on the pitcher's mound.

On the, on the...



Maybe it doesn't have enough allusion or imagery. Which makes me think about something else: are there bands that are more emo than other bands due to their use of these tools. Is there like a band who is super into allusion and imagery that they "out emo" other bands. Are they like "extremo" or "supremo."

They have Pink Floyd-esque lyrics that put them beyond all realms of true emoness.

I mean holey shit, even the weeniest teen emo band uses some of these literary tools and to boot them our of your little circle of emo friends is not fair. YOU CONTRADICTING PIRATE HOOKER!
Apr 5 2006 3:36AM
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ductapeboy
Posts: 3328 - Karma: 11
boy sets fire are not a true emo band. take a look at the list of the bands i posted up there.... there are like 50 true emo bands on there... or bands that fall right in there... for the real good stuff check out saetia, or orchid. they will give you a good idea of what true screamo should sound like.
Apr 5 2006 10:22AM
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Petecanski
Posts: 941 - Karma: 7
Supposedly screamo isn't even a genre says that dinosour girl.
Apr 5 2006 10:36AM
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andrewg
Posts: 4746 - Karma: 18
ok
Apr 5 2006 11:05AM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
These arms are snakes?????? love them but definitly not indie man, id put kill sadie on before them
Apr 5 2006 12:15PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
*These arms are snakes are indie, not emo*
Apr 5 2006 12:16PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
Bob dylan is my fav song writer man. But he is definitly definable.


Animal collective is so tight.
Apr 5 2006 12:19PM
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ductapeboy
Posts: 3328 - Karma: 11
yea they are a bit out of place on that list, but they took so many riffs from jeromes dream its hard to not see the simliarities.... deffinitely heavily screamo influenced.
Apr 5 2006 1:01PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
Well considering that they are from members of kill sadie, although kill sadie wasnt really emo. They are like pg.99 where they are integral to it. and their influence is huge.



You can really hear the emo sound in the other kill sadie runoffs; being pretty girls make graves and minus the bear


But yeah you are right, the influence is there, especially the scream to spoken word shifts(well not spoken word, but softer more seperated words at least)
Apr 5 2006 2:05PM
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ductapeboy
Posts: 3328 - Karma: 11
ahhhh... pretty girls make graves are real bad.
Apr 5 2006 2:20PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
Not if you've seen them live, and ignore all the mall punks.
Apr 5 2006 2:47PM
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J.Bass
Posts: 1642 - Karma: 24
haha emos. come out of the corner, its ok
Apr 5 2006 4:58PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
Yet another person who did not actually take the care to read the thread concerned here.
Apr 5 2006 5:03PM
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J.Bass
Posts: 1642 - Karma: 24
yea i actually did read it. emo is a genre not a person blah blah. emos are emos
Apr 5 2006 5:05PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
No, that is the point of this, that is not true.
Apr 5 2006 5:12PM
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tjxdinoxsourx
Posts: 7 - Karma: 10
my bad
im not an elitest
Apr 5 2006 5:34PM
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A_E
Posts: 15350 - Karma: 310
alright, emo may be a shitty ass genre of music, but people can definitly be emo. or fags, homos, bitches, tools, kids i want dead. alright. they cut themselves with HIV inectdknives and wear all black, periceings, never happy, died red hair, faggots, and the music is hjust awful, all they sing about is how bad theure lives suck, i swish they would all commit suicide if there life sucks so bad, and there gurlfirend dumped them.
Apr 5 2006 6:25PM
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campbell12
Posts: 396 - Karma: 10
..may i make sweet love to you?
Apr 5 2006 7:31PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
Dumbest thing i have read in my life.


Especially the hiv infected knives, they cant have hiv, if i must explain this to you i will
Apr 5 2006 8:09PM
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A_E
Posts: 15350 - Karma: 310
hahahahaha, sorry for my uneducated self, i meant to say that emo kids go to other emo friends houses, first they gather a large black pot, cut themselves, then the sacrifices begin, such as fingers and/or toes. and when they are in deep pain, and feel great becasue of this they dip knies into the blood, and kill themselves, whuikle crying, and listening to some SICk tunes.!!!!!!!!!!!
Apr 5 2006 9:20PM
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A_E
Posts: 15350 - Karma: 310
i still dont uinderstand why u guys are arguing over what "real" emo is. like u wanna out-emo eachother, thats not neccessarily a good thing, unless u wnna be known as king of emo
Apr 5 2006 9:31PM
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williams
Posts: 3083 - Karma: 9,070
hahahahahahahaha andys not emo you tardbag
Apr 5 2006 9:31PM
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lalalalaura
Posts: 6753 - Karma: 68
don't.... try... to... define.... art....
Just let the music speak for itself.
Apr 5 2006 9:46PM
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twatsickle.
Posts: 140 - Karma: 10
all the post dc hardcore is all so confusing. and like all those bands are all good but were basiclly trying to make an animal kingdom classification chart when the solution is simple. kets just realax and listen to billie joels advice for once. "its all rock n roll to me".

but whats hollywood undead classifyed as? haha
Apr 6 2006 12:52AM
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twatsickle.
Posts: 140 - Karma: 10
all the scenesters have gone metal now. that pisses me off.
Apr 6 2006 9:15AM
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JamesB
Posts: 1461 - Karma: 11
haha your still gay... bitch
Apr 6 2006 2:54PM
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Nihiriju
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 27
Thank you very much, I have been trying forever ( though not very hard) to show people how fucking stupid they are, they just heard the term emo somewhere in the media or with thier firends and pictured some little kids crying about fall out boy or some shit. it piisses the fuck out of me how every calls shit emo when they have the whole defintion entirley wrong. and then i was glad to see your list of emo bands, when people ask me what emo is now i ususally tell them to download circle takes the square.

ANYWAAAAYYS thanks very much for your post, but i wish when you listed bands who are not emo you also put in things like: fall out boy, armour for sleep, etc. all bands that mtv kids know and assume emo.

Thanks again!
Apr 6 2006 3:06PM
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skitheslopes
Posts: 864 - Karma: 9
musically tallented people are like bethoven, louis armstrong, and thomas kalnocky. people who can compose music for a large range of instuments and make it complex, buetiful, and musical. some dumbshit with crappy hair cuts who can play a few chanlenging lics on the guitar bass and drums are not musically talented.
Apr 6 2006 5:52PM
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*i<3snow*
Posts: 6440 - Karma: 41
i just...hate my life so much right now *hawthorne heights blasting in background*
Apr 6 2006 6:12PM
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skitheslopes
Posts: 864 - Karma: 9
well that does not change the fact that all bands he posted that were emo sound way worse than the other. what the fuck is with that circle takes the square shit i sounded like a bunch of small chilfren banging on trash cans and a drums set with some dumbshit in the backround trying to throw down so guitar lic he thought was hard, but ended up sounding like the beginning guitar class at my school. fall out boy and hawthorne heights may not be emo, but that doesnt mean that your "real" emo doesnt suck, hardcore my ass i bet if one kid from one of those bands got in a difficult situation he would probobly break down and start crying or screaming.
Apr 6 2006 6:14PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
I was never asking you to like it, and i appreciate you listening to it.



Tastes differ and no one will ever like the same thigns as everyone else.
Apr 6 2006 7:13PM
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Nihiriju
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 27
thats cool, i also didn't ask you to like those bands, and i don't even liek them very much. Its just a matter of people having the facts straight.
Apr 6 2006 8:24PM
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scientist
Posts: 6920 - Karma: 347
What is with all these negative stereotyoes towards emo music? Last time i checked "emo" was the root word of "emotional." Happiness, Surprised, Cheerful, arent these all emotions as well?

Ill agree that many emo songs, and any other genre relating to emo, have lyrics that project depression or lost love, But I've heard even MORE emo songs about happiness and romance. It may be viewed as "gay" by todays pop culture standards, but dont rappers, jazz groups, classical bands, rock bands, R and B artists, soul artists, Reggae bands ect. all talk about those same things in thier lyrics? Perhaps You need more rap music cliche filled video to tell you that the artist are in fact hetero sexual, and are attracted to the opposite sex.

When A rapper talks about his friend getting shot in a drive by, or a girl cheating on him, isnt that just as "EMO" as someone singing (actually singing) about a failed romance? I guess its becasue all the "whiny emo kids" play an instrument, and have singing skills that make them pansy ass wrist slitters. Sorry, but im not getting it to much.
Apr 6 2006 9:56PM
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nickmcnutt
Posts: 4396 - Karma: 2,965
^ i just hate fall out boy/panic! at the disco. but i like most other emo music. i only hate them because they are essetially teh same band, and because there music is really really overplayed. but you have a good point.i actually dont mind alot of emo music, but im not what they call an "emo", eg. i dont dye my hair black and slick it ovr my one eye, and stand there bobbing my head at concerts. or slit my wrists. but thats just a bad stereotype. i know alot of people who listen to emo music, and the next song on there playlist is gangsta rap, or indie music of some king. its all personal preference.
Apr 6 2006 11:30PM
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A_E
Posts: 15350 - Karma: 310
fall out boy is definitly emo, or whatever they are,(femo) they suck dick, and i hope they all die, is this femo a term used when emo kids hate on poser emo kids? casue thats kinda funny to me
Apr 7 2006 8:20PM
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AtomicTweaker
Posts: 2341 - Karma: 16
HAHA his name is darkwolf...what a loser
Apr 7 2006 9:30PM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
It's been my name for everything since online for the last 10 years.
Apr 8 2006 12:24AM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
the term "musically educated" should never be used to describe somebody unless they are like my neighbor and have a masters from berkeley with a major in music. thats musically educated. otherwise. get over yourselves. jeeze. circle takes the square. emo. hardcore. metal. rock. fall out boy. emo. indie. pop-rock. rock. britney spears. teen pop. pop. rock. its all the same if you narrow it down enough.
Apr 8 2006 2:31AM
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lastxlight
Posts: 1611 - Karma: 10
You can speak here, as you like clit 45
Apr 8 2006 8:19PM
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