The 36 Best Emo Bands Of The 2000s, Ranked

Standout Album: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)

Standout Song: “I'm Not Okay (I Promise)”

Standout Lyrics:

Forget about the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
You said you read me like a book
But the pages all are torn and frayed

Standout Album: Riot! (2007)

Standout Song: “Misery Business”

Standout Lyrics: 

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now

Standout Album: In Love and Death (2004)

Standout Song: “Take It Away”

Standout Lyrics:

I'm lying to myself and this dagger's my excuse
I'm a pawn, I should have paid up
And I left an hour late, I was laid up
I must abuse myself, I'm against all that I've made up
Set in stone, the sun will come and I hate light
You know I hate light

Standout Album: Take This to Your Grave

Standout Song: “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”

Standout Lyrics:

You need him, I could be him
I could be an accident but I'm still tryin'
And that's more than I can say for him

Standout Album: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005)

Standout Song: “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”

Standout Lyrics:

I chime in with a
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the godd*mn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

Standout Album: Bleed American (2001)

Standout Song: “The Middle”

Standout Lyrics:

Live right now
Yeah, just be yourself
It doesn't matter if it's good enough (good enough)
For someone else

Standout Album: Louder Now (2006)

Standout Song: “MakeDamnSure”

Standout Lyrics:

I just wanna break you down so badly
Well, I trip over everything you say
I just wanna break you down so badly
In the worst way

Standout Album: Fallen (2003)

Standout Song: “Bring Me to Life” 

Standout Lyrics:

How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors?
Leading you down into my core
Where I've become so numb

Standout Album: Hybrid Theory (2000)

Standout Song: “In the End”

Standout Lyrics: 

I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn't even matter

Standout Album: A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar (2003)

Standout Song: “Hands Down”

Standout Lyrics:

My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me
So won't you kill me, so I die happy?
My heart is yours to fill or burst to break or bury
Or wear as jewelry, whichever you prefer

Standout Album: The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006)

Standout Song: “Handcuffs”

Standout Lyrics:

I'd drive my car off of a bridge
If I knew that you weren't inside
With a pedal to the floor who could ask for more
A fantastic way to kill some time

Standout Album: Lonely Road (2009)

Standout Song: “Pen & Paper”

Standout Lyrics:

You set yourself up to be sold
and that's okay 'cause that's your role
Manipulation takes its toll
What will you do when nobody wants you?

Standout Album: One-X (2006)

Standout Song: “Never Too Late”

Standout Lyrics:

No one will ever see this side reflected
And if there's something wrong, who would have guessed it?
And I have left alone everything that I own
To make you feel like it's not too late, it's never too late

Standout Album: Decemberunderground (2006)

Standout Song: “Miss Murder”

Standout Lyrics:

The stars that mystified
He left them all behind
And how his children cried
He left us all behind

Standout Album: No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002)

Standout Song: “I'd Do Anything”

Standout Lyrics:

I'd do anything
Just to hold you in my arms
To try to make you laugh
'Cause somehow I can't put you in the past

Standout Album: Stand Up and Scream (2009)

Standout Song: "The Final Episode (Let's Change the Channel)"

Standout Lyrics:

Just stand up and scream
The tainted clock is counting down
You gave in to me
Would you say the nights are far too long now?

Standout Album: Homesick (2009)

Standout Song: “Have Faith in Me”

Standout Lyrics:

I said I'd never let you go, and I never did
I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant it
If you didn't have this chance then I never did
You'll always find me right there again

Standout Album: Fragile Future (2008)

Standout Song: “Rescue Me”

Standout Lyrics:

I miss your taste, I miss your smell
The past mistakes that brought you here
I'll break the fall for you my dear
I'll ask the nurse for bandages
And send me on my way

Standout Album: Ocean Avenue (2003)

Standout Song: “Ocean Avenue”

Standout Lyrics:

If I could find you now things would get better
We could leave this town and run forever
Let your waves crash down on me
And take me away, yeah

Standout Album: Still Searching (2006)

Standout Song: “Can't Be Saved”

Standout Lyrics:

I'm stuck in a coma
Stuck in a never-ending sleep
And some day I will wake up
And realize I made up everything

Standout Album: This War Is Ours (2008)

Standout Song: “The Flood” 

Standout Lyrics:

I don't think they know that I know how to swim
You're feeling numb, from all that has become
It leaves your gums, slips down your tongue
And travels fast down towards your lungs

Standout Album: …In Shallow Seas We Sail (2009)

Standout Song: “In Shallow Seas We Sail”

Standout Lyrics:

Ships don't sink if they have wind in their sails
But if the wind fails is there hope for me
I thought your love was as safe as the promise you made

Standout Album: A Lesson In Romantics (2007)

Standout Song: “Jamie All Over”

Standout Lyrics:

Hey, please don't tell me
That I'm dreaming
When all I ever wanted was to
Dream another sunset with you

Standout Album: Discovering the Waterfront (2005)

Standout Song: “Smile in Your Sleep”

Standout Lyrics: 

You lie through your teeth
You won't let me down
You lie
I deserve better then this

Standout Album: Awake (2007)

Standout Song: “Vulnerable”

Standout Lyrics:

Tell me, tell me
What makes you think that you are invincible
I can see it in your eyes that you're so sure
Please don't tell me that I'm the only one that's vulnerable

Standout Album: Voices (2006)

Standout Song: “Monsters”

Standout Lyrics:

We are
We are the shaken (shaken)
We are the monsters (monsters)
Underneath your bed

Standout Album: Hours (2005)

Standout Song: “Streetcar”

Standout Lyrics:

So goodbye to you and your life
Your new best friends
Your confidence
And I'll be here when you get home

Standout Album: Blink-182 (2003)

Standout Song: “I Miss You”

Standout Lyrics:

Where are you? And I'm so sorry
I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight
I need somebody and always
This sick, strange darkness
Comes creeping on, so haunting every time

Standout Album: Box Car Racer (2002)

Standout Song: “Watch the World”

Standout Lyrics:

If we can, we will leave a letter and this song for you
And we'll write once a day and float it through the sea to you
We'll regret all those things we thought of but didn't ever do

Standout Album: The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path (2006)

Standout Song: “Hair”

Standout Lyrics:

All I know,
Is I'm done acting,
And I'll be happy for your life,
Even if I hate it all.

Standout Album: The Ghosts Among Us (2008)

Standout Song: “Escape”

Standout Lyrics: 

So I escape, escape to where I need to be
The water's getting higher and I need to breathe
Where do we go now, I'll ask you once again
With our lungs gone, our lives are gone

Standout Album: The Possibility and the Promise (2005)

Standout Song: “Gone So Young”

Standout Lyrics:

I wasn't prepared for what's to come
A life made of memories gone so young
And now I'm regretting all I've done
But in your heart you know that I'm with you all along

Standout Album: On Letting Go (2007)

Standout Song: “The Difference Between Medicine and Poison Is in the Dose”

Standout Lyrics:

Well, don't talk about it
Write it down, but don't ask for help
I can't be honest with even myself
Did you ever wish you were somebody else?

Standout Album: Phobia (2006)

Standout Song: “The Diary of Jane”

Standout Lyrics:

Desperate, I will crawl
Waiting for so long
No love, there is no love
Die for anyone
What have I become?

Standout Album: Downtown Battle Mountain (2007)

Standout Song: “And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman”

Standout Lyrics:

I'll lay without understanding
I don't know why I feel this way
Oh, lay down, girl, take my world
I know why I can't see your face

Standout Album: Foiled (2006)

Standout Song: “Hate Me”

Standout Lyrics: 

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don’t lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach, leaving babies in my bed