Pop Culture Journals

Before Emo there was Goth and before Goth there were the moping kids in the first wave of Punk, who had been inducted from the bummed-out tatters of Glam.   Which puts the roots of recreational sadness as a way of experiencing music back into the 1970s.

There were probably gloomy kids even before then, all the way back in the 1960s, listening to sensitive folk singers in dingy, dank cellar clubs and wiping at wistful, tearing eyes.

So, given the escalating nature of youth culture, it's no wonder that Buzzfeed has spotted a trend in Misery Clubs.

Party people in Japan and England have reported nightspots where patrons gather to share "exquisite misery."

No actual physical pain is inflicted.  The atmosphere at the clubs is more like that of a wake.  An evening of mournful partying gives all the emotional release of a traumatic grief.

Without all the inconvenience of losing your best friend.

Au Revoir Simone "Sad Song"