unknown emo song facts music trivia fan catches
[Photos via Motion City Soundtrack/Spotify, My Chemical Romance/Spotify, The Academy Is.../Spotify, Death Cab For Cutie/Spotify]

10 things you never noticed about your favorite emo songs

A fundamental part of being an emo kid is not letting any aspects of music be unknown. That’s why we memorize song lyrics in their entirety and play them backward just in case.

But that doesn’t mean that more subtle elements can’t sneak by us from time to time. After all, with so many hits to obsess over as fans, it’s impossible to catch every last bit of trivia.

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We’ll try to make it a little bit easier on you, though. Here are 10 things you may not have noticed about your favorite emo songs.

The hookless line in My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” 

We can all effortlessly sing along to “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” but to catch every nuance is another feat entirely. We’ve got to give significant credit to My Chemical Romance for this particular subtlety. Listen discerningly to the line “To be a joke and look/Another line without a hook.” You’ll notice that, unlike the lines preceding it, there’s no background utterance of “I’m not okay.” What does that make it? A line without a hook.

The Auto-Tune glitch in Panic! At The Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”

We’re sorry in advance for this one because it hurts. Take a listen to Panic! At The Disco‘s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and pay attention around the 2:14 mark. You might notice that the word “haven’t” sounds a little bit off. That’s a result of an Auto-Tune glitch. It’s pretty hard to hear unless you’re trying to, so we won’t fault you if you missed it until now.

The line at the top of Paramore’s “Misery Business”

You’ll have to visit Paramore‘s album version of “Misery Business” for this one because the video cuts off the intro. Just before the drumline kicks in, at about 0:12, you’ll hear the vague sound of Hayley Williams‘ voice in the background. It’s extremely difficult to discern, but she’s cueing Zac Farro by saying, “Hit that. Hit that snare.”

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Patrick Stump’s backing vocals on Motion City Soundtrack’s “Everything Is Alright”

We’re always stoked to pick up on uncredited backing vocals, but the subtleness of this appearance makes it particularly noteworthy. If you listen carefully to the last half of Motion City Soundtrack‘s “Everything Is Alright,” you may notice the familiar voice of Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump. The rapid energy and overlapping lines make it a bit tricky to pick up on, but once you hear him, you’ll never miss it again.

The cryptic whisper in Fall Out Boy’s “Dance, Dance”

If you haven’t stumbled on this one yet, we’re sorry. It’s frustrating. During Fall Out Boy‘s first chorus of “Dance, Dance,” Pete Wentz utters a whisper that’s hard to distinguish. Unsurprisingly, it took fans over 15 years to work out what he’s actually saying. In the video version, he’s reportedly uttering, “We’re going into D minor.” However, isolated vocals from the studio track reveal him as saying, “Joe Trohman is lame.”

The random bee in All Time Low’s “The Beach”

You’ll never forget the bee in “The Beach” after you hear it. No, we’re not talking about a buzzing insect present in the All Time Low track. Rather, a production error resulted in the word “beach” being sliced at the end of the song’s second chorus. Listen at the 1:45 mark and you should hear it relatively easily.

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Jade Puget’s brother in AFI’s “This Time Imperfect”

Fans of AFI already know that the Puget family involvement doesn’t stop at Jade. In addition to the guitarist’s younger brother Smith working as their tour manager, his half-brother Gibson also made an appearance on “This Time Imperfect.” You can hear him performing the spoken-word portion starting at 0:18.

The Hollywood presence in the Used’s “The Bird And The Worm”

Careful not to let your jaw hit the floor because ours sure did. You know those gang vocals in the Used‘s “The Bird And The Worm“? Joe Manganiello is among them. You may know him better as Flash Thompson from Spider-Man than as a vocalist, and that’s justifiable because this is the only song he’s credited on. The actor revealed he also sings backup on “Hospital.” The contributions make sense as Manganiello was once a roadie for Goldfinger, and frontman and friend John Feldmann produced the Used’s LP.

The abrupt ending of Death Cab For Cutie’s “Pity And Fear”

There’s no missing this particular element if you’ve listened to Death Cab For Cutie‘s “Pity And Fear” in its entirety. Rather than fading off at the end, the track just cuts off immediately. But did you know that the jolting conclusion was unintentional? Reportedly, the tape machine they were recording on broke toward the end of the song. Rather than redoing it, though, they just left it as is for the stylistic effect.

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That extra screamer in the Academy Is…’ “Crowded Room”

William Beckett and Gabe Saporta‘s friendship was nothing short of iconic. So it was pretty shocking that the Cobra Starship frontman never appeared on an Academy Is… track, right? Wrong. He actually did. Take a listen to “Crowded Room” and you’ll hear an uncredited Saporta shout-singing alongside Beckett during the intro.

What are some of your favorite lesser-known bits of emo song trivia? Let us know in the comments!