But what if I like swearing in church?

Yeah!

I know damned well that I might hang for this, but I have discovered HIM.
Yeah, I know it should be rediscovered, but all those years ago it was only white noise in a cacophony of emo "we want to be metal" music that was poured over my head by various people and/or media. They hail from the early upstanding of what is now called "emo-kids".
Yeah, totally aware of the whole "emo stands for emotive and is a music style from the 70's (or 80's, can't be bothered to look it up)". You keep telling yourself that.
Thing is, it doesn't really matter what the expression has meant before. Emo these days is a synonym for a combination sort of mood, sort of like mopey-gloomy-pissy in a big mush.
That, and it's the name for a subculture of teens who are usually on the verge of anorexia (or at least they look like it). Who dye their hair black, and wear it in certain styles, generally poker-straight, with a greasy hair-gel sheen to it, and their fringe draped down the one side of their face, almost covering the eye on that side. Who wear black clothes, and usually arm-warmers or cuffs. If they only have one, that is a 100%, never failing, sign that they are cutters, and either have scars or fresh wounds on that arm. (A sure fire way to spot cutters anywhere and at any time is that covering of the one arm or wrist. Never ever fails.)
The subculture, and their music have faded somewhat out of the regular media. They are still there, but you don't hear HIM on the radio, and you don't have the "why is your child this way and how can you turn them back into your dream-child?" sort of articles in news or magazines any more.
Doesn't mean that they have gone away thou. HIM (and I am talking about the finish band here, not the American one that popped up on wikipedia when I looked up HIM) has been at it for 13 years. They released their newest album this year, the lyrics are still emo, as is their music as a whole. They seem to have tipped a little over into electronica since I heard them last, not a lot, but a little. Ville Valo still have his voice thou. It's not as good as I remembered it, but still.
I am, however, not going to embed you a new video. This is supposed to be a nostalgic post, so here I give you:

In Joy and Sorrow



Another band from this era is The Rasmus. Who are also finish (they make a lot of decent music over there^^,)
If you like Ville Valo's voice, Lauri Ylönen's voice will make you wet your panties.
That voice is made of velvet and fire. It's the kind of voice that makes angles go to hell to fornicate with the beasts. Oh Em Gee, that voice!... is not the voice I remembered....
You know how things were always better when we were young? (only true of the music in my case) That is because you were young, everything was fresh and new and you just didn't know any better.

Just for the sake of nostalgia:

In the shadows



Same with Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, Avril Lanvigne and some others. Some of them still have songs that makes me remember. I try to avoid them mostly.
So even thou their songs still make my heart weep, I will lay the new-found love HIM back beneath the black roses where it belongs.

But the song that never died. The one were their voices are they works of art that make my insides freeze and melt at the same time. The song that makes me wanna scream and cry and laugh. The one that makes my panties and eyes wet all at the same time. The song I lived on for over a month. The one perfect song from that era. The ultimate Dark Years song. Ladies and men, I give you!

Bittersweet