emo music

There is something to be said about music in the early 2000s. It has a way of getting at some of the deeper parts of you while also remaining surprisingly upbeat. If you were one of those kids that enjoyed emo music then you likely know exactly the kind of oxymoronic journey the songs can feel like. The music seems to be implying fun while the lyrics are often downtrodden filled with issues to be further examined.

But even if you weren't a scene or emo kid, you likely still blasted some Paramore, Fall Out Boy or Panic! At the Disco at some point while cruising through town. It was a genre that touched nearly every group of people in America no matter who you were, but whatever happened to those emo kids anyway?

They grew up...and some may or may not have become professors. Or at least that's the most logical conclusion, especially given the way Professor Matthew Pittman wakes his students that fall asleep in class.

Pittman teaches college classes and one of his students recorded his hijinks in class one day writing in the text overlay, "why does my professor scream emo lyrics to wake up sleeping students?" It's clearly because emo music being scream sung into your earholes will get your blood pumping quickly when you've inadvertently fallen asleep. It's science. Okay, well probably not science, but obviously a very effective tool in the professor's arsenal.

File:Blink182.jpg - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

In the video shared on Professor Pittman's page, you see the professor spot a student with his head tipped back appearing to be asleep. Pittman spots the student and seizes the opportunity to loudly serenade him with a little Secondhand Serenade's "Fall for You." Shouting the lyrics to the chorus, Pittman kneels in front of the student who immediately startles awake satisfying the professor enough to walk away...until someone else dares to close their eyes.

Pittman makes his way through the lecture hall to get to the other sleeping student but never gives away what he's about to do. He simply continues his lesson until he reaches the unsuspecting student, "the structure of the syntax are of course very important when making a compelling argument." It's at this point the sleeping target is within shouting distance prompting the likely former emo professor to test out his vocal range with Green Day's "Basket Case." While the Green Day song is from 1994 fitting solidly into the grunge era, it still works.

Green Day Venezuela: Billie Joe + Mike Dirnt | Ed Vill | Flickr www.flickr.com

At one point Pittman climbs over chairs to get to a megaphone and sing to Blink-182's "I Miss You" to a sleeping girl who wakes up laughing. The students appear to be used to the the professor's shenanigans and find it amusing. People in the comments pointed out how comfortable to students are with him.

"He’s such a safe space his student squeezes his nose for amplified affect," someone writes.

"This is the type of professor you randomly pick because you need the class and end up picking whenever you can for other classes," another person laughs.

Mothers Day Emo GIF by GIPHY Studios 2021Giphy

"Idk what’s better him pulling megaphone out of seemingly no where or the other kid reaching over to plug his nose to make the blink 182 song more authentic sounding," one person contemplates.

"Moving his hair in front of his eye too is really just the cherry on top," another chimes in.

"I love how his students are comfortable enough to pinch his nose and even push the megaphone with their feet. it's like they're with a friend," someone else shares.