Ten Emo Songs to Cry Over at Taking Back Tuesday

Break out your studded belt and that old pair of Converse signed in marker by Bert McCracken and Kenny Vasoli, because Emo Night LA is coming to Denver. On Tuesday, December 8, twenty-somethings and former scene queens can cry their eyeliner off at Taking Back Tuesday at the Marquis Theatre.

Taking Back Tuesday is a monthly dance party hosted by Emo Night LA, during which guest DJs play early to mid-2000s emo and pop punk from a computer on stage, and hundreds of people cry and slam dance and remember taking MySpace selfies with their favorite bands’ names written on the palm of their hand.

While you dig through the section of your closet that still resembles a Hot Topic store, travel back to the early 2000s with the emo jams we hope to cry over at Taking Back Tuesday.

(Disclaimer: There is no Taking Back Sunday included in this list. Come on, this is emo — we dug deep for you. Now we're bleeding. On the floor. In the rain. For YOU.)


1. I Want to Hear You Sad - The Early November

Yeah, this list is really starting out this way. The Early November may have fallen off your radar after 2007, but fingers crossed Taking Back Tuesday will revive them just for one night. Even ten years after its release, "I Want to Hear You Sad" is still the best breakup song ever.



2. Anthem of Our Dying Day - Story of the Year

Remember when Story of the Year was still Big Blue Monkey? Yeah, nobody does, but the Page Avenue album brought us a few tearjerkers, including "Anthem of Our Dying Day" and "Until the Day I Die." It’s okay to get real emo on this song, because Dan Marsala is literally pouring his heart onto these rooftops.


3. I Feel So - Box Car Racer

Get ready for all the feels. At your utmost emo, you most definitely played this while hiding out in your room, or maybe you had this as your MySpace profile song. Taking Back Tuesday is bound to play Tom DeLonge in some capacity, so let’s hope a little Box Car Racer makes the cut.



4. Back to California - Sugarcult

You weren’t emo if you didn’t have this album. Palm Trees and Power Lines fueled us through countless heartbreaks, and "Back to California" still holds its own. Get ready to cry with people you haven’t seen since high school as you take in the Sugarcult magic and analyze your current friends-with-benefits situation.



5. Miserable At Best - Mayday Parade

The best you can hope to be at an emo night is miserable, right? Mayday Parade has continued to produce music beyond the emo heyday, including the 2015 album Black Lines, but "Miserable At Best" is guaranteed to take you back to the not-so-much-simpler time that was 2007 and, for some of us, high school.



6. Existentialism on Prom Night - Straylight Run

In 2004, every band room had at least one pianist who insisted on playing this opening solo. Straylight Run spoke to the emo side of you, urging you to sing like no one’s listening (but you hope that, if they are, they can hear your pain). Hopefully the Emo Night LA organizers want a room full of people shouting the lyrics to this song.



7. I’m a Fake - The Used

The In Love and Death album was probably the soundtrack to your emo high school life. Surely you remember yelling, “Love is not like anything, especially a fucking knife” at your bedroom mirror. Maybe you’ll get to scream with a few hundred former emo kids at Taking Back Tuesday.


8. Stop the Fuckin’ Car - Circa Survive

Don’t be alarmed if you haven’t even thought of this song since some time in 2005. At one point in your emo history, though, you probably captioned a MySpace photo (where you were probably looking toward the ground and away from the camera) with, “Don’t stop talking to me, I haven’t been listening.”


9. Screaming Infidelities - Dashboard Confessional

Shout out to all the people who, when being told their hair is everywhere, respond by wailing, “Screaming infidelities.” If you’re watching this video now, you’re probably irrationally blaming yourself for breaking Chris Carrabba’s heart. It would be a crime if Taking Back Tuesday didn’t play at least one Dashboard song.



10. The Ghost of You  - My Chemical Romance

How do you make an emo list without including MCR? Gerard Way spent the first decade of the 2000s speaking to your soul. If "The Ghost of You" doesn’t make the cut at Taking Back Tuesday, you can be sure you’ll at least have the opportunity to cry-scream, “I’m not o-fucking-kay!”

If you’re still too lame (or maybe just busy) to hang out with the Emo Night LA crew at the Marquis, tune in to the live broadcast at 10:30 p.m. on idobi.com. Home of the Best National Podcast Based in Denver winner, idobi gets emo with a live broadcast from Taking Back Tuesday with Emo Night LA each month.

Tickets are still available for Taking Back Tuesday in Denver for $5, and the doors will open at 9 p.m. at the Marquis Theatre, home to your soon-to-be high school nostalgia. 

P.S. We made the Spotify playlist so you don't have to.