Bohemia Bunny

Emo Songs I Secretly Love

December 8th, 2006 by lynnylchan under My Life

Everyone needs a soundtrack for wallowing in self-pity and misery. Nothing deepens an already dark mood like emo music. After a while of listening to and singing along to emo songs, you start to feel pretty silly, like “why the hell am I whining so much?” then you shut it off and turn up the Bon Jovi instead.

But there are some songs that really, truly put into words and music the pain and shitty feelings you’re going through. Every time I hear these songs, I’m reminded of sadder times, of the emotional turmoil I was going through when I first heard them and realised they applied themselves perfectly to my situation then. And because I never learn from my mistakes, history repeats itself and the songs continue to be applicable.

Garbage, No. 1 Crush

How did this song end up on the Romeo+Juliet soundtrack? Must be something about the “I would die for you” line. If you catch me listening to this track, chances are good that unrequited love is in the air again. Keep away the penknifes and razors, this song somehow makes me want to slash myself.

No Doubt, Don’t Speak

Everyone knows what this song is about. It hit the charts about the same time that I hit a patch of emotional turbulence, conditioning me to form a strong association between the emotions and the song. Every time I listen to this song, I’m reminded of what a naive, romantic idealist I was back then - and probably still am. You know what they say, a cynic is just a disappointed idealist.

Damien Rice, The Blower’s Daughter

This is my ‘generalized depression’ song. Sports team lost? Term paper got a bad grade? Stylist gave you a bad haircut? Someone stole your chocolate from the common fridge? Wallow in the puddle of misery with Damien Rice!

All Saints, Never Ever

Breaking up is hard enough, without all the unresolved issues hanging over your head. We need closure to get on with life. No, we’re not calling you to beg you to take us back. We just want to understand where it all went wrong. You know women. We’re prone to over-analyzing everything and driving ourselves nuts over it, so just answer our questions and we can all move on.

Chantal Kreviazuk, Leaving on a Jet Plane

If you’ve ever been separated from the one you loved, or been in a long-distance relationship, you’ll know why this song is on the list. Oh babe, we all hate to go.

Everclear, Wonderful

This is the perfect song for denial. Hide in your shell, and wait for everything to go back to normal. Close your eyes and count to ten, everything will be wonderful again. I wish!

James Blunt, Goodbye My Lover

Enough said.

Soul Asylum, Runaway Train

I’ve been listening to this song since I was seven. For when I need to question the purpose of my existence and the futility of continuing to strive. Man, I was a disturbed kid.

Zhou Chuan Xiong, Huang Hun

Yes, I do listen to Chinese music! This song is a classic. Something about saying farewell, driving along the highway and looking at the horizon as dusk falls. I think. The best performance I ever saw of this was on Astro’s Talent Quest. I know it was good because I wanted to cuddle the poor guy afterward, he seemed so forlorn while singing this song. You’d have to be a robot to not be moved.