The 25 Best Emo Songs of All Time

Emo music means many different things to fans, from the genre’s forebearers in ‘80s D.C. to ‘90s godfathers like Jawbreaker and Cap’n Jazz, to the boom in popularity around the early-aughts Warped Tour era, to modern torch carriers like the Wonder Years and the Dangerous Summer.

Suffice to say that any list that covers this much ground — and with such, shall we say, emotional fans — is not going to please everyone. In creating this list, Variety set some parameters:

*The song had to have come out during emo’s pop culture peak: 1999-2009. The only exceptions were Sunny Day Real Estate, whose 1994 debut album “Diary” was an essential stepping stone for the bands of this era, as well as Weezer’s 1997 sophomore album “Pinkerton,” which fully shaped and influenced scores of groups to follow.

*Only one song per band.

*Although classics like the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” might have been played alongside emo on Fuse in the early aughts, they probably wouldn’t have been on the Warped Tour, which places it more in the indie rock category, which was also booming at the time.

*Although the genre was bolstered by writers whose lyrics made outsiders feel like they belong, there has been a reckoning in recent years to unearth bad behavior beneath the surface of the scene, including bands treating women badly, sexually harassing fans and a reappraisal of violent lyrics. When a song is influential enough to make the list but was made by someone with a toxic past, it’s noted in the write-up.

Thanks to high profile tours from bands like My Chemical Romance and Paramore, the reunion of Blink-182 and the upcoming emo-heavy When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas, the genre has come roaring back into the mainstream, and the nostalgia is unsurprisingly strong. Check out our list and feel free to suggest your favorites in the comments, and listen to the Spotify playlist of all the songs below by clicking here. — WE

American Football — “Never Meant”
Close your eyes and let “Never Meant’s” melodic guitar line transport you to a quiet Midwestern town where the fall leaves crunch beneath your Doc Martens and no one quite understands you. Evoking a particularly depressing type of nostalgia, American Football’s math-rock sensibilities and yearning lyrics make this song the ultimate Midwest emo anthem. The persistent repetition of the song’s chorus — “There were some things / That were said / That weren’t meant” — captures the complicated feeling of falling out of love to a tee, and is guaranteed to make you reminisce about all your failed relationships. — ES
Blink-182 — “I Miss You”
The mall punk trio went emo for this heart-wrenching ballad. The all-acoustic, melancholy song — inspired by the Cure’s “The Lovecats”— was a change of pace for the band best known for its irreverent humor. Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus wrote the song separately and later brought their two verses together. Hoppus also wrote the haunting chorus of “Don’t waste your time on me, you’re already / The voice inside my head.” The tune, which referenced Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at Travis Barker’s request, also features a cello and jazz notes. — MK
Brand New — “Sic Transit Gloria … Glory Fades”
Although the now-defunct band is mostly canceled thanks to dark allegations made against lead singer Jesse Lacey, Brand New’s influence on the scene is undeniable. In the first full song on their sweeping second album “Deja Entendu,” Lacey transports the listener into the middle of a house party and quickly into the bedroom, where a boy is losing his virginity to a more experienced girl. At the time, it was an interesting storytelling twist that made a teenage right of passage feel overwhelming (“Die young and save yourself” Lacey screams at the end of the chorus). In the wake of the allegations against the singer, lines like “He’s the lamb, she’s the slaughter” take on a far more sinister meaning. But when this song hits on a playlist, the driving bassline and charging guitars hits a Pavlovian response to sing along nonetheless. — WE
Coheed and Cambria — “A Favor House Atlantic”
Long-time Coheed and Cambria listeners know the band infamously doubles their albums as installations in a science fiction saga called “The Amory Wars,” a few of which have even been adapted into graphic novels by lead singer Claudio Sanchez. “A Favor House Atlantic,” the progressive emo group’s highest charting song, delves into this sci-fi lore with lyrics portraying an epic intergalactic battle: “Good eye, sniper / Here, I’ll shoot, you run.” Complete with an up-tempo rock beat on drums and whining guitar solos that parallel Sanchez’ vocals, the 2003 release rapidly became a gateway for ‘90s grunge lovers to explore the emo genre. — KR
Dashboard Confessional — “Screaming Infidelities”
Before lead singer Chris Carrabba was crowned king of the sad boys with a song on the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack, he was a 24-year-old living out of his van in South Florida. It was there he wrote a heart-wrenchingly personal song about a recent heartbreak, about wishing he was “anywhere, with anyone, making out.” With lovelorn lyrics like “I hope you’re as happy as you’re pretending,” “Screaming Infidelities” — Dashboard Confessional’s debut single — became an instant classic. It’s a breakup song that captures the feeling of not being able to escape an ex (and not necessarily wanting to). Beyond that, it’s shockingly fun to sing along with, especially with its hell of a kicker. Whether at karaoke, alone in your room or if you’ve been blessed to hear Carrabba and the band play it live (maybe acoustically), nothing helps a broken heart heal faster than wailing, “Your hair, it’s everywhere / Screaming infidelities, and taking its wear.” — AJ
Fall Out Boy — “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”
Every true emo kid remembers where they were the first time they heard the line “Loaded God complex, cock it and pull it.” The lead single from Fall Out Boy’s second studio album, “From Under the Cork Tree” is chock full of deliciously angsty lyricism from bassist Pete Wentz (“I’m just a notch in your bedpost, but you’re just a line in a song”), coupled with a perfectly punk vocal performance from powerhouse frontman Patrick Stump. — KS
Good Charlotte – “The Anthem”
While the more traditional choice for this list might be “Hold On,” the band’s suicide prevention song (and arguably its most emo track), it’s hard not to single out “The Anthem,” the second single from their 2003 debut album “The Young and the Hopeless.” It is pretty ballsy for a brand new band, led by wonder twins Joel and Benji Madden, to call their angsty tune “THE Anthem,” but for all intents and purposes, the song was just that. From the opening lines “It’s a new day / But it all feels old / It’s a good life / That’s what I’m told” to its main chorus “And I don’t ever wanna / I don’t ever wanna be youuuu / Don’t wanna be just like you,” the song is an ode to living the life you want to live regardless of anyone’s expectations. What could be more perfect than that? — AJ
Green Day – “Jesus of Suburbia”
Argue about whether Green Day could qualify as an emo band — it’s irrelevant. “Jesus of Suburbia” is an emo anthem. The nine-minute climax of Green Day’s rock opera “American Idiot,” “Jesus of Suburbia” is a five-part opus chronicling adolescent angst, broken homes and distrust in authority. In this “Bohemian Rhapsody” of teen rebellion, the protagonist yearns to get out of this “city of the dead,” and the words “I don’t care” are chanted about a couple dozen times — what’s more emo than that? “Jesus of Suburbia,” and “American Idiot” overall, served as a precursor to My Chemical Romance’s 2006 epic “The Black Parade” and helped introduce a would-be legacy act to a generation of mascara-laden Hot Topic kids. — ES
Hawthorne Heights — “Ohio Is for Lovers”
It’s hard to imagine more emo lyrics than “Cut my wrists and black my eyes.” In fact, the lyrics overall are the whole reason this makes the list, as it also includes “You know you do, you kill me well / You like it too and I can tell / You’ll never stop until / My final breath is gone.” The single was the first (and only) hit from the band’s 2004 debut album, “The Silence in Black and White,” and it was written about going on tour and leaving their girlfriends behind in Ohio. — EL
Jimmy Eat World — “For Me This Is Heaven”
Tears are non-negotiable when listening to Jimmy Eat World’s third studio album, specifically the song “For Me This Is Heaven,” which takes listeners along on a heart-wrenching narrative as vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins reflects on the fleetingness of an impermanent relationship. Lyrics like “Can you still feel the butterflies? / Can you still hear the last goodnight?” allow room for dual interpretations — is Adkins lamenting a relationship that already ended or foreshadowing a break-up that has yet to come? Regardless of how you perceive it, the emotions felt among listeners are the same: longing and heartache. — KR
Motion City Soundtrack — “Everything is Alright”
The band’s signature song makes a cheery addition to any mix CD or the perfect track to sad-dance to in your room, willing the optimistic lyrics to be true. Inspired by frontman Justin Pierre’s own OCD tendencies — it’s Pierre who hated “the ocean, theme parks and airplanes / Talking with strangers, waiting in line..” – this song has soothed many a fan who battles the same anxieties. And for a little bonus cred, the song (the lead single off their sophomore album, 2005’s “Commit This to Memory”) was produced by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and features backing vocals from Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. — AJ
My Chemical Romance – “Helena”
“What’s the worst that I can say? / Things are better if I stay,” My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way grovels in the 2004 classic “Helena.” But what seems like a mournful break-up song is actually a tribute beyond the grave to Way’s grandmother, who was named Elena but called Helen by friends. With this knowledge, words like “the hearse you die to get in again” take on a much darker, emotionally profound meaning that transcends edgy lyricism in this passionate, electric guitar-driven power ballad. — KR
Panic! at the Disco — “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
Haven’t you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door? Panic! at the Disco’s second single from debut album “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” exploded them into the mainstream with an inspired pairing of plucky cello and accordion with heavy rock guitar. The unforgettable music video sees vocalist Brendon Urie as a raucous ringmaster, gleefully crashing the wedding of an unfaithful bride with his crew of carnival workers in tow. — KS
Paramore – “Decode”
Nothing defines the multimedia peak of emo angst more than Paramore’s “Decode,” which folded quite seamlessly into the brooding atmosphere of 2008 vampire romantic drama “Twilight.” Crunchy guitar chords, powerful, earnest vocals from frontwoman Hayley Williams and lyrics that signal an alarming relationship impasse (“How did we get here? I used to know you so well”) accompany visuals of franchise stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart sharing lustful glances in a pairing marred by supernatural complications. “Decode” and “Twilight” was a match made in the woods of the Pacific Northwest — otherwise known as heaven for any former emo kid. — EJP
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus — “Face Down”
One of the sadder songs on the list, “Face Down” became an instant radio hit in the mid-2000s, with a very catchy beat. The lyrics, however, are a message to a man who is abusing his girlfriend. “Do you feel like a man when you push her around? / Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground?” the chorus begins. One the bridge, her response is added: “Face down in the dirt, she said, ‘This doesn’t hurt!’ / She said, ‘I finally had enough!’” The year after the release, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus headlined a tour organized for the prevention of youth suicide. — EL
Saves the Day – “Freakish”
Though they’re another band that has fallen due to lead singer Chris Conley admitting to disturbing sexual misconduct allegations, Saves the Day was a mainstay of the scene. Though many of their best-known songs are quick, punky earworms, the band slowed things down for this cuddly outsider ode about not being able to communicate. Paired with a video featuring a band of puppets singing along with the band in a cigarette-filled lounge, Conley laments, “Well, here I am / Don’t know how to say this / Only thing I know is awkward silence / Your eyelids close when you’re around me / To shut me out.” Tongue-tied rejection is a key topic in the genre, and “Freakish” spells it out for weepy fans who need stereo therapy. — WE
Say Anything — “Admit It!!!”
Say Anything mastermind Max Bemis always held an interesting place in the scene, as a massive fan of the genre whose anxiety pushed him to creative heights. The band exploded in popularity with the 2004 album “…Is a Real Boy,” which blended daring songwriting, complex musicianship and song topics that ranged from Bemis’ grandparents’ story of love during the Holocaust to meta investigations of pursuing sex while in a rock band. But the last song on “Real Boy,” the emphatically-titled “Admit It!!!,” is an all-time anti-hipster anthem, literally calling “Bullshit!” on holier-than-thou behavior which betrays actual beliefs. The best part? Taunting (“You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo”) and bragging (“’I’m proud of my life and the things that I have done”) leads to a meta-commentary at the song’s end that proves Bemis isn’t immune to the temptation to be cool (“I am shamelessly self-involved / I spend hours in front of the mirror, making my hair elegantly disheveled.”) Self-awareness is key, especially as a hipster. — WE
Something Corporate — “I Woke Up in a Car”
The piano-forward rockers’ major label debut is filled with saccharine love songs, including “Punk Rock Princes” (the perfect tune to walk down the aisle to if you’re getting married at a Hot Topic) and consent anthem “Drunk Girl.” But look no further than the second verse of lead single “I Woke Up in a Car” for some of the most thuddingly emo lyrics ever put to paper: “I met a girl who kept tattoos for homes that she had loved / If I were her, I’d paint my body until all my skin was gone.” Putting a manic pixie dream girl on a pedestal? Long distance relationships between misplaced people? Tattoo fetishization? Singer Andrew McMahon yelps through all of it with his heart open wide, creating a sad-boy karaoke classic. — WE
Sunny Day Real Estate — “In Circles”
When Seattle’s Sunny Day Real Estate released “In Circles” – by far their most popular song, from their debut album “Diary” – they weren’t yet the nouveau prog-rockers they would become with 2000’s more esoteric “Rising Tide” album. The underrated band was still under the spell of their Sub Pop labelmates Nirvana, growling grungily, “And I dream to heal your wounds but I bleed myself.” It was almost accidental that the heart-rending “In Circles” became one of the great emo songs, alongside the more melodic “Seven” from the same album. Jeremy Enigk’s searing vocals transcend the sparse, enigmatic lyrics, but the musical whole is undeniably a potent gateway drug to the emo universe. — PS
Taking Back Sunday — “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)”
While some post-hardcore bands would be focused on the dour parts of growing up, Long Island outfit Taking Back Sunday punched up the choruses and lightened the lyrics of their screamo brethren to get as close as the genre could to party music. With the band chugging along at breakneck speed, vocalist Adam Lazzara complains about a girl as dramatically as possible: “And will you tell all your friends / You’ve got your gun to my head? / This all was only wishful thinking.” Despite bringing high school angst to its most operatic levels, the song remained the blueprint for Taking Back Sunday’s best work. — WE
Thirty Seconds to Mars — “The Kill”
Before Jared Leto became a movie star, he was better known for Thirty Seconds to Mars, and “The Kill” — maybe better known as “Bury Me” — specifically. Every one of their energetic live shows devolved into a pit for this anthem, with Leto leading the crowd in the dour chorus: “Come, break me down / Bury me, bury me / I am finished with you / Look in my eyes, you’re killing me, killing me.” — EL
Thursday — “Understanding in a Car Crash“
New Jersey’s intellectual screamo kings wore their influences on their sleeve, regularly namechecking authors like Cormac McCarthy and Don Delillo, as well as bands like the Smiths and the Cure, as influencing their dark, urgent music. Their debut single, “Understanding in a Car Crash,” is a great summation of their sound, with knotty guitars swirling around singer Geoff Rickly’s vocals, yearning in the verses and bouncing against a muscular screamed call-and-response in the chorus. The dense lyrics detail the immediate aftermath of an automobile accident, tied to the angst of growing up (“These broken windows, open locks / Reminders of the youth we lost”). It’s the perfect anthem for both the mosh pit and scrawling the lyrics dramatically on notebooks during class. — WE
The Used — “The Taste of Ink”
The moment that “The Taste of Ink” begins, it’s impossible not to nod along, tap your foot and be transferred back to the early 2000s. The song put the band on the map as the first single of their debut album and still holds up today. The lyrics are pretty depressing — i.e., “The taste of ink is getting old / It’s four o’clock in the fucking morning / Each day gets more and more like the last day” — yet not singing along is not an option. — EL
Weezer — “Across the Sea”
Two years after their blockbuster 1994 debut album, Weezer took the “difficult sophomore record” assignment seriously and delivered “Pinkerton.” Full of jagged riffs and unconventional takes on pop songwriting, the album sounded modern, but frontman Rivers Cuomo’s lyrics were so heart-stabbingly honest that it toed the line between unmatched honesty and cringey perversion. Never has a famous rock singer ever complained so much about feeling alienated, from opener “Tired of Sex” to anthems about falling in love with a lesbian (“Pink Triangle”) and staggering loneliness (“No Other One”). But the album’s centerpiece remains “Across the Sea,” in which an isolated and depressed Cuomo lusts over a fan letter from Japan. Over charging guitars and a bridge that builds up the emotional core, the central confession of the chorus that “I could never touch you, I think it would be wrong / I’ve got your letter, you’ve got my song” turned self-hating desolation into an art form which would be endlessly mimicked. — WE
Yellowcard — “Ocean Avenue”
It’s hard to imagine a world without an “Ocean Avenue,” but the angsty pop-punk title track almost didn’t make it onto Yellowcard’s 2003 album. Frontman Ryan Key wanted to trash the song when he couldn’t find a chorus line that fit, but in the end, “Ocean Avenue” became synonymous with the early-mid ‘00s with the help of an electric violin and the ultimate sad boy lyric: “If I could find you now things would get better / We could leave this town and run forever.” — TG

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The 25 Best Emo Songs of All Time

American Football — “Never Meant”

Blink-182 — “I Miss You”

Brand New — “Sic Transit Gloria … Glory Fades”

Coheed and Cambria — “A Favor House Atlantic”

Dashboard Confessional — “Screaming Infidelities”

Fall Out Boy — “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”

Good Charlotte – “The Anthem”

Green Day – “Jesus of Suburbia”

Hawthorne Heights — “Ohio Is for Lovers”

Jimmy Eat World — “For Me This Is Heaven”

Motion City Soundtrack — “Everything is Alright”

My Chemical Romance – “Helena”

Panic! at the Disco — “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”

Paramore – “Decode”

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus — “Face Down”

Saves the Day – “Freakish”

Say Anything — “Admit It!!!”

Something Corporate — “I Woke Up in a Car”

Sunny Day Real Estate — “In Circles”

Taking Back Sunday — “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)”

Thirty Seconds to Mars — “The Kill”

Thursday — “Understanding in a Car Crash“

The Used — “The Taste of Ink”

Weezer — “Across the Sea”

Yellowcard — “Ocean Avenue”

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