Difference Between Emo And Punk

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Just as fashion trends keep changing, music trends keep moving from time to time. However, there are some music genres that have come down from a very long time. Emo and Punk are those two genres that have rocked the world for the last few decades and are still the favorites of many music lovers.

Fact 1 Relation Between Emo And Punk

Emo and Punk are considered as subgenres of the broad rock music. There have been various discussions regarding the connotation of the term “emo”. Some are of the opinion that emo meaning “emotional” is related to general moods. Others identify it as a combination of both emotions backed by the sense of fashion. Punk also owes its origin to rock music and is considered to be excess of rock. Hence there are few similarities in sound and music between Emo and Punk. But their differences can be easily distinguished if listened closely.

Fact 2 Difference Between Emo And Punk

Emo is the short form of “emotional”. Punk is more of hard rock. In spite of using the same instruments, there are innumerable differences between the two genres regarding:

  1. Theme: All songs of this genre are not gloomy or sad. Rather, they deal with important personal issues and also relationship problems set to appealing lyrics and music. The main idea of the exponents of emo music was to express true feelings of different kinds in such a way that listeners could relate to them.

Punk is more like a new gust of wind with the sounds of rock in it. It is related to the social and political aspects of the society.

  1. Lyrics: During the 70s and 80s there was great turbulence around the world both socially and politically. Expressions of discontent and fury naturally were direct and harsh. But emo expressed rebellious thoughts in a personal and more intimate manner that could touch the hearts of all listeners. On the other hand, punk lyrics targeted social and political problems rather directly.
  2. Use of Instruments: Both Emo and Punk make use of instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars and drums. However, followers of emo music prefer to use milder instruments and so they go for acoustic guitars too. A punk rock track is characterized by guitar solos in power chords and distorted sounds.
  3. Music: Emo numbers are mellower as well as reserved in their rendition of the songs. The emotions are expressed through the songs. A section of emo tracks contain loud music and screaming and so it was later named as “screamo”. Punk music is however, upbeat and vocalists sometimes appear to shout out the lyrics especially in the hard core punk music like hard core rock genre.
  4. Nature of the songs: Emo numbers often depict emotions of depressed individuals and those who are upset for personal reasons. They also portray the feelings of people who are discontented with life. Punk, on the contrary, leans more towards political themes and social issues. Anarchism prevails in Punk music. The numbers send messages of equality especially in government matters. Hence Punk music is full of concepts of unity and peace rather than personal issues unlike Emo.
  5. Quality of music: Both the genres use guitars and drums in different ways. But the presentation and the method of playing the instruments are different. Emo music is more melodious and expressive. This is because it combines hardcore punk and indie rock as well as pop punk. Hence it often uses bass guitar, guitar and drums. Punk music is rich, faster and more aggressive in nature.

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