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[Zingoleb]

So, the thread title is sad and pathetic. I'm on my first step to being emo.

Skip rambling: See point

Generally when I'm writing out entire songs, it's when I'm either rather agitated, depressed, or psychotic, so while I'm a generally sanguine person, most of my songs come out sounding a bit dark. Also, a break up with an ex of mine actually fueled a lot of material for me, so I have several songs focused on "I miss my ex boohoohoooooo" and not much else.

Now, personally, I rather like these songs ... well, most of them. Others I burn the lyrics to and pretend I never wrote them. But is being a primarily moody post-love songwriter an issue, do y'all think? Is it going to make me come across as some depressed emo guy who 13-year-old kids would kill themselves over?

[Jimor]

If that's what's fueling your muse, go for it and don't worry about which sub-sub genre somebody may classify it as. If you want to eventually be able to write songs when you're happy, too, focus a bit more on the mechanics of your methods during your "down" times when things are flowing so that you can try to replicate them later.

I know a lot of prose writers who have successfully shifted from only writing when "inspiration" struck (not nearly often enough, particularly with looming deadlines), to being able to sit down and write good stuff on demand because they had trained their brains to respond to external clues to trigger the writing mood.

[Zingoleb]

I just work better when stressed. When I was still in school I came fairly close to killing myself a few times just because I can't handle social interaction well, but also kept writing a lot of things out.

I mean, yeah, most of it was shit, but it was the fact I was continually working. Now I just write out a few lines every few days or so.

Man, happiness makes my music suck.

[Jimor]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, for now go with the flow -- like you say, you get a lot of good material out of it, and you at least have that sense of accomplishment to pick you up.

The main concerns are 1) that it's a hard habit to break if you don't eventually work at it, 2) that you might get into a pattern of creating stress just to get things done, whether music or other projects. This is a large component of last-second-paper syndrome -- you train your mind to react to the adrenaline rush of the looming deadline, but then it forgets how to work without that rush. The same goes for other states of mind.

Things to try. When in full emo mode, write instead the happiest dorkiest song imaginable, even if it's shit (nobody ever has to hear it). By the end you'll probably be laughing too hard to remember what got you down. Or, when you get that moment of inspiration, write down enough notes and lyrics to remember what you want and where it's going, but then put it away and come back to finish when you're in a more level state of mind. It may take a few tries before you follow through completely, but you start to learn how to work any time. This might also change their nature just enough to avoid the Morrissey Zone. 

[billiumbean]

Emo as a genre has always seemed more on the expressive side than just grief.  If it were all about grief, then the blues would count as emo.  As of right now, a blues-emo fusion is a hard concept to fathom, but this is Internet.

The only immediate example that comes to mind as a far as "emo" lyrics are Dashboard Confessional, and he's just really descriptive and emotionally articulate, but rarely sad.  And people consider him to have brought brought forth the second coming of emo, so there went that stereotype.

You write something, fine, but you shouldn't be the one classifying it.

[WriterofAllWrongs]

Now, personally, I rather like these songs ...

This is what matters.  You play what you like, you play what you feel.  The people who end up drawn to your music if you put it out in a public forum are not your concern.  It's different if you're playing a show, because a consideration should be made for entertaining people who come out to see you, but if you're just writing songs, you should be writing for yourself.

[Zingoleb]

You know what? I don't even care about the labels. I have all the right to write more downbeat music.

While recording a song of mine, the roof caved in. You can hear it on the recording, because I didn't stop recording.

I actually find this amusing as hell.

[Radical AC]

I still mostly consider emo as the hardcore punk offshoot.  I never saw the connect between that and the modern usage of the word.  It just always seemed like a misnomer turned colloquialism.

I can understand not wanting to be associated with the term due to the connotation it carries.  Most artists widely accepted as, "emo," hate the label.

[Nappuccino]

I'd actually like to hear the one with the roof caving in

[Zingoleb]

Yes, will do. I'm in the process of recording songs onto my father's computer using the built-in mic, which isn't great quality but gets the job down. It's just hard because he's in the middle of the house, and I have three roommates, so it's rare to find some quiet time for me to record.

I'll be just uploading them all to mediaf!re for people to download for free, fuck charging for it.