Watch a teenage Paramore busking on the street before they were famous

(Image credit: YouTube)

Despite being signed to Atlantic Records since she was 13 years old, Hayley Williams didn't make it to the big time until after she joined forces with the Farro brothers - Zack and Josh - to form Paramore.

At the time, the label were adamant on marketing Williams as a pop singer, rather than the fiery emo/rock vocalist she grew to be years later. But from their earliest days, Paramore have continually proved that Williams was destined to front a rock band rather than becoming the pop princess that her label envisioned, with a constant stream of hits that would see them lauded as linchpins of the mid noughties emo scene, and, as per their later career, irreplaceable genre-bending, indie rock pioneers.

Back in 2005, just one year after their formation, Paramore took to the streets to busk and perform a handful of their earliest songs, including Emergency, Pressure and Here We Go Again, which all feature on their debut album All We Know Is Falling, released that same year via Fuelled By Ramen.

A video directed by Punk Video Guys which you can watch below, captures the moment, showcasing the trio in their rawest original form; with Williams' youthfully high vocals, and her bandmates' sweeping emo fringes. Together, they deliver three emotive, angst-drenched acoustic performances, each in a new location.

Following their first performance, they discuss the meaning behind the song, with Williams explaining: "Emergency has a lot to do about the way people nowadays treat love; it's not important and doesn't seem to me as it used to be. A lot of it has to do with divorce, two of us are part of broken families and it just sucks, and you always feel the effects of it.

"So when we were writing the song, that must have been something that was bugging me that day and I just started writing poetry about it, and it came out as Emergency".

Check out the full video below:

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.