UnMotivationalPosters

The full title of this entry is “These Wounds, They Will Not Heal: A Critical Examination of Linkin Park’s ‘Crawling‘ as an Avatar of Emo Culture”

In my relatively wide-ranging internet experience, Linkin Park is the band most often scorned for being emo and the one whose name is often thrown at suspected members of openly emo culture.  The honor for most scorned individuals goes to Morrissey, who would probably cry if this were an awards ceremony.  Tears of joy or sadness?  Who can say?

Your good pal and mine, Wikipedia, tells us Emo (pronounced /EEE-moe/) is a style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive excessive, often confessional awful lyrics. What is interesting is that emo culture itself is expressive excessive and often confessional awful vomit-inducing as well.

Popular emo imagery includes tear-streaked, overly-lined eyes, slashed and bleeding wrists, cute widdle doe-eyed cuddly-wuddly creatures in various states of disrepair or just looking really, really sad, and Superboy? (Superboy is best in IE) There is also the image of the the ever-popular all-black wardrobe. This last bit could make them easily confused with Beatniks but remember, Beatniks wear berets. The general creed of emo culture seems to be that it’s not really worth it:

The world is out of my hands anyway, so why should I bother? You feel free to go out and try to make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you, yes even mine, but please do not expect me to join in your shenanigans and tomfoolery. I am better than that. I am beyond your petty and quite worldly experiences and have ascended, to a place where everything is black and dreary and depressing and my heart is crushed under the weight of the neverending sighs of my brethren (and sistren).

Based on what I’ve cobbled together from my Emo-to-English Dictionary (Funk and Wagnalls, y’all) this translates roughly to “We will whine about what we don’t like but unlike the musical movement that preceded ours, instead of attempting to incite action we will simply whine more about how nobody is doing anything and maybe inflict superficial wounds upon our bodies. This also goes for relationships.”

With this in mind, let’s look at the lyrics of “Crawling” by Linkin Park and see what they say, shall we?

crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how I fall
confusing what is real

What could this mean? Well, according to this dubious website I found, they want to ban emo in Russia because “Emo ideology encourages and justifies drug use and sexual relations among minors, according to the bill, which also lumps emos and goths together with skinheads.” (some Russian person said this) From what I know of drug use, sometimes drugs can make you have a feeling of bugs crawling in your skin (It’s literally the last line but that whole story is crazy). In addition, if one is a habitual user of such a drug, then the continual picking at imaginary bugs ensures that no, these wounds, they will not heal. Not sure about fear and falling but could fear of not getting more drugs make them fall into a life of prostitution? Perhaps. There is a certain allure to the mental image of a pale, weepy-eyed, gaunt person trolling the ho-stroll and sobbing while they turn their next trick. And confusing what is real sounds like psychosis to me, which can be a prime symptom of drug abuse.

there’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
consuming/confusing
this lack of self-control I fear is never ending
controlling/I can’t seem
to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I’m convinced that there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before
so insecure

Here we see expressed feelings of hopelessness. Not only does the lyricist feel that he is losing control of his darker, inner impulses, but he considers himself trapped, his inner battle causing him to be unsure of his own identity. This psychic conflict is causing immense strain upon him and furthermore, it appears to be cyclical. Almost how emo kids are always bipolar. Science should look into that. I shall skip the repeat of the chorus.

discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
distracting/reacting
against my will I stand beside my own reflection
it’s haunting how I can’t seem…
to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I’m convinced that there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before
so insecure

In this verse, the lyricist again feels as he did moments ago that there’s “just too much pressure” for him to deal with. He has indeed felt that way before. This time, however, the catalyst appears to be the sight of himself in a mirror to which he is summoned, seemingly supernaturally. In the context of drug abuse this is very telling. He doesn’t seem to remember wanting to go to the mirror, but he is there anyway. The supernatural theme is carried on with how he is “haunted”, perhaps by the ghosts of laughter, happiness, and a good time. Maybe cleaner days, before he was forced to hook for his hits and iTunes downloads of Dashboard Confessional. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw emo kids smile without wincing because their smile muscles are atrophied.

crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how I fall
confusing confusing what is real
there’s something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
consuming/confusing what is real
this lack of self-control I fear is never ending
controlling/confusing what is real

This final verse is extremely revealing. In this version, “confusing” is sung twice. It could be simply a typographical error but upon closer examination it seems the lyricist has realized that nobody is listening and so wants to point out that what is real is quite confusing for him. He goes on to remind us that he has something beneath his surface that is pulling at him and now possibly also consuming what is real. This goes hand-in-hand with the deep darkness which pulls at the withered, barely-beating emo heart. It is confusing what is real, and consuming what is real as the emo lives in a world where things get done by being complained about. Finally, the lack of self-control is brought up, which is now said to be controlling what is real. It is here that both the lyricist and the emo step into one spotlight, merging in the glorious emotional light of this song. Lack of self-control.

Could also be called lack of self-discipline. I can’t help myself. I can’t control it. I can’t. The defeatist attitude exhibited in this song exemplifies the emo movement. Whereas its predecessor, punk, inspired people to become speakers and writers and to try to change something, anything, emo has rested upon its laurels, encouraging only the most inward perception, which is not to be confused with introspection. Emo appears to be, essentially, about the passive self. These things happen to me. Why has this fallen upon me? Why would you/how could you do this to me? There is very little proactive ideology (if any) except as relates to a reaction, e.g. “You broke up with me and now to show you, I will cut myself.” This irritates many people to no end, who pick themselves up and carry on with their lives, without even sniveling.

In light of this, the status of “Crawling” as the anthem of choice for flamers tormenting emos they find in their midst, is a fitting and uncannily appropriate overture to the score of one tragic, defeated life after another.

(Many thanks to Goonigoogoo of Bigger than Cheeses for Superboy)