10 Signs You Are A Former Emo
Everybody in high school either went through an emo phase, knew somebody that went through an emo phase, or never did but looked on at those who did with great confusion and, often times, hatred. Being an emo was a rite of passage for a lot of people, and the characteristics from this list that best define what kind of emo you were have played a big part in your adult life.
1. Hearing The First Note Of The Black Parade Still Makes You Emotional
My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade is a staple of emo culture and there is absolutely no way you can call yourself a former emo without having an emotional connection to this song.
2. Hearing Panic! At The Disco on the radio annoys you.
It’s been years since you listened to The Ballad of Mona Lisa, but hearing Brendon Urie’s voice on mainstream radio still annoys you because people made fun of you in school for listening to the band, and now they’re everywhere.
3. Never Shout Never seem like a fever dream, but yes, they were real. And so was Christofer Drew’s hair.
Girls were obsessed with him, boys hated him because of how obsessed girls were with him. Either way, if you were an emo, you know who Christofer Drew is.
4. Getting Kerrang! magazine weekly so you could add to your already-too-big poster wall.
You had that many posters on the wall above your bed that you had to start putting them on your ceiling, but that didn’t stop you from buying the magazine every week.
5. Being proud of yourself for being able to name the ridiculously long song titles from memory.
Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco were the usual suspects, with “I’ve Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)” and “Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off”, respectively. But there were other bands too, such as Mayday Parade and My Chemical Romance.
6. You either had a sweeping fringe, or dyed your hair a crazy colour – or both.
The men in the bands you listened to had long hair, so you wanted it too. All the girlfriends of the men in the bands you listened to had bright, dyed hair, which meant if you did it, you’d be their girlfriend soon. What were we all thinking?
6. The Twilight Saga was a big part of your childhood.
Whether you loved it, hated it or had never seen it; everybody had an opinion on Stephanie Meyer’s teen fiction phenom. Were you Team Edward or Team Jacob?
7. You were obsessed with tattoos.
You might not have any as an adult – or you may have a lot – but there was a time in your teenage years where you sat down and planned every band-related tattoo you wanted the minute you turned 18.
8. You owned at least one item of clothing that was purple.
Looking back, it’s hard to figure out just why everybody you knew owned something in this specific shade of purple. Whether it was a hoodie, or leggings, or even those knee-high converse (what a vexing time), somebody owned and wore their purple clothes on a pretty regular basis. The common one was a drawstring hoodie from American Apparel.
9. DropDead was the coolest clothing line there was and if you didn’t own something from there then you told people it was because you hated it.
Bring Me The Horizon’s front man Oli Sykes started his own clothing label in 2005, and it quickly became a staple of Emo fashion. Every boy wanted to wear it and every girl wanted every boy to wear it. The only problem was that it was quite expensive and when you’ve just spent your last £5 on this week’s issue of Kerrang!, you probably wouldn’t be owning something from there any time soon.
10. Even now, you still have a favourite song from that time in your life that you listen to regularly.
Even though most people went through their emo phase long ago, there is still one song from that time that they listen to regularly. It may be weekly, or even monthly, but when it comes on in your shuffle playlist, there will never be a day where you skip it.
