While the last solid wave of emo music ended in the 2000s, that era of angsty rock music will never truly die. In fact, quite a few albums from that era are starting to get discovered by the new generation. Could an emo revival be on the horizon? I can only hope so. In the meantime, here are four essential emo anthems from the 2000s that will always be amazing!
“Helena” by My Chemical Romance
I wouldn’t be caught dead writing this list without including My Chemical Romance’s well-loved 2005 song, “Helena”. For many lifelong fans of MCR, this was the song that first introduced them to the band. Honestly, the entirety of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is an iconic album, but this opener stuck in the minds of young emo kids in the 2000s. A solid rival would be the band’s later anthem, “Welcome To The Black Parade”. But I think “Helena” deserves more love than it gets.
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“Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” by Fall Out Boy
Those nonsensical lyrics, that strange deer-centered music video… Nothing sends me back to the year 2005 quite like Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down”. This hit lead single from From Under The Cork Tree is a legendary marker of its time, and even young music enthusiasts who weren’t necessarily into emo music enjoyed this one back in the day.
“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic! At The Disco
Nothing gets more pop-punk emo than Panic! At The Disco’s famous 2006 song, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”. If you were a little emo kid in the mid-2000s, the lyrics to this song are probably forever burned into your memory. Honestly, I’ll probably be on my deathbed in my 90s and will still know every word to this song, whether I like it or not.
“I’m Just A Kid” by Simple Plan
This entry on our list of emo anthems has enjoyed a bit of a comeback recently. “I’m Just A Kid” by Simple Plan was released in 2002 on the band’s first album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls. It was a hit when it came out, an anthem for disenchanted youth who felt as if they had no power in society. Now, not much has changed. And young users on TikTok have turned this song into a bit of a trend, as did older fans of the song who used it in videos showing off photos of when they were young in the 2000s.
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(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images) A portrait photoshoot with The Police in the Kurashiki Bikan historical quarter in Japan, 30th January 1981. L-R Andy Summers, Sting, Stewart Copeland. (Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
