My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way Taps Another Nail Into "Emo" Coffin

Debate over the true meaning of the term "emo" has lead to ridiculous feuds, (literally) hysterical TV news reports and naturally, more than a few hurt feelings. My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way recently agreed to an interview with the University of Maine's newspaper and fired off an angry screed about the term that is sure to yield the highest traffic The Maine Campus has ever seen. When asked about being labeled emo, Way responded:

"Basically, it's never been accurate to describe us. Emo bands were being booked while we were touring with Christian metal bands because no one would book us on tours. I think emo is fucking garbage, it's bullshit. I think there's bands that unfortunately we get lumped in with that are considered emo and by default that starts to make us emo. All I can say is anyone actually listening to the records, put the records next to each other and listen to them and there's actually no similarities." But tell us how you really feel, Gerard? "I think emo's a pile of shit." Aha. As Rock Daily learned last week, Pete Wentz's crew has a pretty good sense of humor about the word. But seriously, bands that may or may not be emo, let's just bury this semantic debate and call it a day.

Other noteable factoids from the Maine Campus Q&A (click here to read our own, 100 percent emo-free interview with the frontman): Way is a briefs man, he's pumped to open up for Bon Jovi and his advice for new bands begins with "don't be full of shit." Oh, and Way thinks being a band destroys your life: "You get in a van and never go home. You sever all ties. You're going to be homeless anyways so you sleep on people's floors. Don't worry about food; don't worry about being comfortable because it's not going to happen."

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter