The following is an edition of Mac’s Tracks, The Mirror’s music column. All views, thoughts and opinions belong solely to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Drury Mirror. 

Was it really just a phase?

Middle school was hard for everybody. Most are happy to pretend it never happened. If there’s one thing our generation can proudly claim, it’s our undying devotion to the dark whining of bands like My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday that swept through schools nationwide. Raccoon eyeliner was rampant, as were band tees, ripped tights and red eyeshadow. For better or for worse, the fashion trends have mellowed out. What we shouldn’t do, though, is treat this era with embarrassment or disdain. You were right when you said that it wasn’t a phase – at least in some capacity.

By the age of 14, your music taste is pretty much solidified. You may grow to enjoy new genres, but nothing will hold the same effect as those songs you listened to on the bus or played melodramatically before you went to bed. This is when we’re exposed to the widest variety of styles and genres and when we’re the most open to exploring new things.

In an interview with Mic.com, Daniel J. Levitin, a psychology professor at McGill University, explains that “we’re just reaching a point in our cognitive development when we’re developing our own tastes. And musical tastes become a badge of identity.”

This holds weight, as anyone who sported heavy eyeliner and blacked-out clothes in their formative years can attest. It wasn’t just the emo kids who faced this either: think of the metalheads your freshman year of high school or the girls who knew every One Direction song by heart. We all find a part of ourselves in what we listen to, no matter what clique it becomes associated with.

Photo via Maclen Johnson.

Emo didn’t seek to change the world in the way that punk did (MTV describes the difference as “youthful heartache as opposed to disenfranchised revolution”). It follows the vein of the loud, pained grunge of the 1990s, yet it still alludes solid boundaries as pop punk was thrown into its arena with the two often treated interchangeably.

It’s no coincidence that emo is definitive of the teenage experience. The music is emotionally charged and all about working through bad relationships, problems with self-image and coming to terms with who one is as a person. Yes, it’s dramatic and over-the-top; most adolescents are too. Emo provides a forum for one to grapple with their feelings and the terror of growing up as plenty of genres have done for generations before.

Despite its mere decade reign, the divide between “emo veterans” and the younger fans (us), led to some anger with older fans disavowing their bands because it was no longer their scene. As they distanced themselves from the rise of Hot Topic emo, listeners across the board tried to shake themselves of the label. It might never have been cool to be emo, but now it was downright shameful.

Old and new voices

There’s hope for emo yet, though. The quarter-life crisis is setting in and many are looking back on these days with nostalgia. More so, the bands never stopped producing music. We just stopped listening.

There’s no reason to be ashamed of such a formative time or for genuinely enjoying something. This music spoke to us and has ingrained itself in some way in our identities. Its shockwaves are felt in today’s hits, from Twenty One Pilots to Billie Ellish to Paramore’s refusal to disappear.

So put in your Dashboard Confessional CD and remember who you are.

What are some of the songs that defined your early years? Do you see a pattern in the music you enjoy now since then? Is Panic! At the Disco emo or pop punk? Leave your thoughts below.

This week’s Mac’s Tracks Spotify playlist includes emo anthems to get you back into that angsty mindset.

Written by Maclen Johnson.