50 Emo Quotes For Anybody In Their Feelings

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published March 2, 2023

Keep on rocking with our great selection of emo quotes.

Emo has been around for several decades, yet the genre still needs a consensus definition.

Fans and artists alike have different meanings for what constitutes emo music.

What is emo music?

The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask.

Stereotypically, emo music is a genre that involves confessional lyrics, guyliner, and heartbreak.

Traditionally, Emo as a genre is a shortened word for “emotional punk” or “emotional hardcore” music.

Check out these interesting facts about emo music below:

Emo gets its roots in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s
Emo is short for emotional hardcore or emotional punk music.
Emo fashion involves dark colors, eyeliner, bangs, studded belts, and Converse.

The roots of emo music

Music fans and historians pin the origin of emo music to the 1980s.

There is one band in particular that is often credited with starting the emo scene.

Washington, D.C., has produced an assortment of musical talent.

However, many recognize the band Rites Of Spring as the first band to put emo on the map.

Many people look to their song For Want Of, citing lyrics of lead singer Guy Picciotto, who screams, “I woke up this morning with a piece of the past caught in my throat / And then I choked.”

One of the signature features of emo music is the idea of not being okay, and Picciotto’s lyrics are ripe with the energy of regret and anguish, a hallmark feature of emo music.

While fans of the genre may credit Rites Of Spring as the fathers of emo, the band sees things differently.

Oddly enough, in a 2003 interview, Picciotto noted, “I never recognized emo as a genre of music.”

His response is what makes emo so tricky to define.

The same band, the public at large, sees as the people who made the genre do not see themselves as part of it.

The definition of emo has transformed over time

What qualifies as emo music has changed over the years.

The idea of “emo” as a word has transformed as well.

Emo applies to anything in life that is expressive, with darker themes, or confessional.

People who identify with a counter-culture are mislabeled as emo.

In the 1980s, Emo was part of the hardcore punk scene, but by the early 2000s, it became pop music.

Dashboard Confessional is one of the most popular bands to ride the emo wave of the 2000s, selling millions of records and selling out tours.

Check out our emo quote selections below if you want to learn more about all things emo.

You will also enjoy our article on music quotes.

Short emo quotes to keep you smiling

These emo quotes are short and sweet.

1. “Creative.” “Dangerously emo.” — Maggie Stiefvater

2. “I just got so emo that I just fell apart!!” — Gerard Way

3. “Emo is over; you can all go home now” — Pete Wentz

4. “Unicorns are real, and emo is imaginary.” — Mikey Way

5. “I have no interest in emo. I’m all about rap metal.” — Rivers Cuomo

6. “Future’s Pluto is my favorite album of the year. It’s so emo.” — Ryan Hemsworth

7. “Now go and stake some vamps. Especially the sparkly emo ones.” — Kevin Hearne

8. “Yeah. I like Chopin. I feel like Chopin is ‘emo.’ Do you like Chopin?” ― Tao Lin, Shoplifting from American Apparel

9. “Being emo is both the best and worst thing that has happened to me” ― MEE

10. “I realize I look very hip-hop, but I’m really more emo with a definite Brazilian flavor.” — Jim Gaffigan

Emo quotes about love and betrayal in life

Emo music is all about sharing complicated feelings and vulnerability.

11. “Emo is pathetic.” — Corey Taylor

12. “I have been emo since Dashboard Confessional.” — Anonymous

13. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize they made shoes for emo ballerinas!” ― Jacqueline E. Smith, Shipwreck Girl

14. “Between the suit and the pinkish hair, he looks like an emo gangster.” ― A.G. Howard, Splintered

15. “People always try to stereotype us, but we don’t fit the emo stereotype.” — Brendon Urie

16. “Emo always meant emotional. Any kind of art or music should be emotional.” — Frank Lero

17. “Poetry is just so emo,” he said. “Oh, the pain. The pain. It always rains. In my soul.” ― John Green, Paper Towns

18. “There are bands now, and for years, that called themselves emo. I never followed that stuff.” — Jeremy Enigk

19. “Emo means different things to different people. Actually, that’s a massive understatement.” — Andy Greenwald

20. “If I’m too old to be Emo, how do you account for the very Emo and very old Edgar Allan Poe? Checkmate!” — John Green

Hilarious emo quotes by Emo Phillips and other comedians

Emo may be dark, but comedians like Emo Phillips keep us laughing.

21. “People come up to me and say, ‘Emo, do people really come up to you?’” — Emo Philips

22. “They call me Good Time Emo. Because I love a good time! And my name is Emo.” — Emo Philips

23. “My girlfriend said, Emo, I’m seeing another man. I said, Well, try rubbing your eyes or something.” — Emo Philips

24. “I’m sure there are people who say like, “I was wearing weird emo eyeliner,” but there’s something pretty embarrassing about the jazz phase.” — Nick Kroll

25. “When I was a kid, my dad would say, “Emo, do you believe in the Lord?” I’d say, “Yes!” He’d say, “Then stand up and shout Hallelujah!” So I would and I’d fall out of the roller coaster.” — Emo Philips

26. “Feast for the Fisherman, the ultimate emo band. Said to be sold with a complimentary prescription for antidepressants and a free flatiron.” — Libba Bray

27. “So people keep asking me what this badge is for? This badge makes me the sheriff, the sheriff of Emo town, so get your straight irons and eyeliner ready!” — Gerard Way

28. “When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me, “Emo, don’t go near the cellar door!” One day when they were away, I went up to the cellar door. And I pushed it and walked through and saw strange, wonderful things, things I had never seen before, like, trees. Grass. Flowers. The sun, that was nice, the sun.” — Emo Philips

29. “I was able to come up with a couple articles for the magazine. I was able to solicit help from a bunch of my friends to contribute pieces: Patton Oswalt, Seth Green, Emo Phillips, Chris Hardwick, John Hodgman, and more.” — Al Yankovic

30. “Granuaile looked terminally depressed when she emerged from the bathroom with raven hair and, as a result, rather Goth by accident. She didn’t want to get her picture taken. “Aughh!” she said miserably, looking in the vanity mirror in the truck of the cab and fingering a wavy curl near her temple. “This sucks more than anything has ever sucked before. You know what we look like? A couple of emo douchebags.” “Well, look at the bright side, Granuaile. Emo Douche Bags would be a great band name.” — Kevin Hearne

Emo quotes and sayings about moving on

Heartache is essential to emo music, but we can move on in life.

31. “Emo music is about being sad, crying in the corner, and lots of eye-liner.” — Anonymous

32. “I keep thinking about blood. I dream about it. Wake up thinking about it. Pretty soon, I’ll be writing morbid emo poetry about it.” — Cassandra Clare

33. “Emo: “A much-maligned, mocked, and misunderstood term for melodic, expressive, and confessional punk rock.” — Andy Greenwald

34. “Emo seems solely to mean different things to different people; Like pig Latin or books by Thomas Pynchon, confusion is one of its hallmark traits.” — Andy Greenwald

35. “Emo is bullshit! If people want to take it for the literal sense of the word, then yes, we’re an emotional band; we put a lot of thought into what we do.” — Brendon Urie

36. “We played in Texas about a year ago at Emo’s, the famous country and western club in Austin. And I figured, well, if I’m finally gonna die onstage, that’s where it’s going to be!” — Alan Vega

37. “No matter how much you care about a person, you have to be able to know that you can sit down at night and be happy with who you are without that person. That’s really hard when you’re a lonely emo kid.” — Justin Vernon

38. “When people hear our record, they’re not going to be able to put us into the ‘New Metal’ category or the ‘pop-punk’ category or the ‘aggressive emo’ category. I think people will be able to take it for what it is.” — Bert McCracken

39. ”They are called ‘Emos’ now, and before that, they were ‘Goths.’ They didn’t have a name for it when I was one, but I was that black-wearing teenager, and yes, I wore a little eyeliner.” — Mark Gatiss

40. “We will be whatever they need us to be. Call us emos, liars, and cheaters. Tell people how awful we are and how little talent we have. Do whatever it takes to make themselves feel better because, at the end of the day, we are strong, we can take it.” — Andy Biersack

Emo quotes about ceremony, drama, and music

Emo music allows us to get in tune with our feelings. These quotes explore the ceremony and drama of getting in your feels.

41. “Or what, you’ll bleed on me, Emo Princess of Freakdomonia?” — Monica Rachel Caine

42. “I think early on I was really into ambient music and like American original Emo.” — Matthew Healy

43. “Florida is such an unlikely place for a band unless you’re an emo or hardcore band.” — Carrie Brownstein

44. “My beats and my production aren’t dark or emo by any means; it’s basically the lyrics, I think, and the melody sometimes can be too.” — Sarah Barthel

45. “It’s got equal parts of the aggressive confidence of the Dre beats I grew up listening to, and the emotion of, like, emo music!” — The Last Skeptik

46. “My musical style changes with every song that I make. I jokingly referred to it one time as ‘emo thug,’ and I think that kind of stands.” — The Last Skeptik

47. “Once I was in the Blink-182, going to Iraq was really touching. It was kind of emo for me, going and meeting soldiers who were, like, 19 and hadn’t even met their kids.” — Mark Hoppus

48. “So, biggest pussies in Metal, I’d say a lot of these emo bands come off as pussies. They have those beards and tight jeans, and to me, they all look so fake.” — Charlie Benante

49. “I’m accountable; this sounds emo. To black American writing, Southern writing, Southern black American writing, American writing, and my people. That’s kind of what keeps me accountable.” — Kiese Laymon

50. “Speaking of people, I had to exclude: Hank Williams. Which is to say, songs are part of lyric poetry in my book, my thinking. In fact, they are the urgent element of poetry in our time. They carry the most emotion for the most people in our culture. Everyone loves poetry because we all love one form or another of rock and roll, be it folk to, emo to rap. It’s all rock and roll and all lyric poetry.” — Gregory Orr

Emo is not a fad; it is here to stay

When emo music started gaining popularity, many musical purists scoffed at the genre.

Most things have stayed the same since then.

Emo gets a bad reputation as musical fodder, music meant for middle schoolers going through their rebellious phase.

The idea that so many established and successful artists reject the title of being considered emo is cause for alarm.

What is so bad about being considered emo?

By definition, if emo just means emotions, is not all music emotional?

Bands like My Chemical Romance, Dashboard Confessional, Panic! At The Disco, and Jimmy Eat World have sold millions of records, merchandise, and tour tickets.