Music
I recently read an article on the popular wedding website ‘Hitched’, titled Best Wedding Songs: The 10 Most Popular Wedding Songs in the UK. The article included the top 10 choices for first dance songs, which for the most part was pretty predictable.
Of course, my girl Taylor was number 1, with her dreamy waltz ‘Lover’, which since my first listen I’ve always presumed was intentionally penned for weddings. The same goes for Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’, a blatant ballroom ballad which sits at number 4.
Then you’ve got your classics… you can’t go wrong with a bit of Elvis: ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ or ‘At Last’ by Etta James. As a 90’s country fan I’ve also always loved number seven, Shania Twain’s timeless classic: ‘You’re Still The One’.
However, the one curveball was number 10: ‘Still Into You’ by Paramore. I’m not sure why I was so shocked? Perhaps because I’ve always considered my musical tastes as an ‘Elder emo’ to be slightly alternative?
In reality, I shouldn’t have been surprised- it was actually the ‘last dance’ at my own brother and sister-in-law’s wedding almost 10 years ago. It’s full of joy and giddy imagery. You can’t help but bounce when that chorus hits. And let’s not forget their other big hit, which didn’t make it top ten, but I’m aware is very popular, ‘The Only Exception’.
I’ve been a Paramore fan since their first album ‘All We Know Is Falling’, came out in 2005, which included the first Paramore song I ever heard: ‘Emergency’, which I think I downloaded on Limewire in 2005, deeming it worthy of risking giving my computer a deadly virus.
The lyrics of ‘Emergency’ are worlds apart from ‘Still Into You’, (which includes one of my favourite lyrics of all time: ‘I should be over all the butterflies, but I’m into you’). In the ‘Emergency’ era of Paramore, the lyrics were much simpler and in true 2005 emo style- they were angsty and full of longing. ‘Cause I’ve seen love die, way too many times, when it deserved to be alive’. Not sure that one would make it to a wedding top 10.
However, it made me think about all the other emo songs which weren’t so dark, the one which actually gave us hope through the heartbreak of love in our youth (for me it was my teens and early twenties).
An example which comes to mind is ‘Hands Down’ by Dashboard Confessional. Chris Carrabba’s dulcet tones were the soundtrack to my first breakup. The album ‘The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most’ shot right to the heart, with songs like ‘Screaming Infidelities’ and ‘The Best Deceptions’ providing a narrative for my sadness and unspoken insecurities, allowing me to wallow and dramatise the loss of my first love.
But it’s 2003’s ‘Hands Down’ which I would pick as a emo alternative first dance.
From the guitar picking intro, leading to four light taps on the bell of the cymbal (my husband’s a drummer) signally the opening lyrics ‘Breathe in for luck, breathe in so deep This air is blessed, you share with me’ , to the soaring final bridge…
‘Hands down, this is the best day I can
Ever remember, I’ll always remember the sound
Of the stereo, the dim of the soft lights
The scent of your hair that you twirled in your fingers
And the time on the clock when we realized it’s so late
And this walk that we shared together
The streets were wet, and the gate was locked
So I jumped it and I let you in
And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist
And you kissed me like you meant it’
Last week, I wrote about Taylor Swift’s infamous ‘Cruel Summer’ bridge… and as much as I love Tay, this one sparks the same if not more of the same transcendent romance.
The sensory imagery is beautiful; the ‘soft lights’, the streets damp from rain, and with the clock reference, hinting that time is almost up on this perfect night, after the best day ever… it almost feels a little like an emo Cinderella story.
So, whilst the mainstream perception of emo, was ‘just a phase’ I think it’s clear that they they got some things right when it comes to capturing the realness of love.
What other songs come to mind when you think of emo first dances?
Here’s a few to get you thinking…
‘Always’ by Blink 182
‘Best of Me’ by The Starting Line
‘First Day of My Life’ by Bright Eyes
‘I’m Like a Lawyer with the Way I’m Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)’ by Fall Out Boy
‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ by Death Cab for Cutie
‘Only One’ by Yellowcard
‘Check Yes Juliet’ by We The Kings
‘The Great Escape’ by BOYS LIKE GIRLS
‘Beating Heart Baby’ by Head Automatica
This blog is taken from my Substack: https://substack.com/@martinedipaola
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