Fix Me
There are certain moments in a friendship that brings two guys closer together. Standing next to one another surrounded by nothing but couples during a Coldplay concert just so happens to be one of them.
Let me explain. To start, my friend Dan and I did not attend this concert alone. We actually pregamed in the parking lot with ten other people, all of whom we planned on sitting with when we walked into the PNC Bank Arts Center on Saturday night. However, with the lawn completely full, and with several people immediately getting lost thanks to beer runs and bathroom breaks, we decided our best bet to enjoy the show was to sit in our ticketed seats. We didn't think it would be that big of a deal if the two of us watched the show on our own-- it's a concert, it's loud, it's exciting; we'd be fine.
We were wrong.
And here's why. It was a COLDPLAY concert. Now don't read that the wrong way. I know your first instinct is to jump on the "Coldplay is gay" bandwagon and make jokes about our sexuality that would offend Kanye West, but that's not what I'm talking about. Things were weird because, well, I dated Coldplay in college. And so did Dan. And if you're in your early 20's and listen to rock music, chances are you did too. So you know what I'm talking about.
Coldplay was my college girlfriend, much in the same way that R.E.M was my high school girlfriend and Green Day was the new girl in the 9th grade that confused me and made me think crazy thoughts about women for the first time. I'd keep on going back in time, but it starts getting really awkward when SWV was this girl Lisa I had a crush on in the 7th grade, so let's just stop now. Hey, what can I say, the Sistahs with Voices really spoke to me back then.
On Saturday night it was Coldplay speaking to me. And Dan. And every other guy in the audience who had a girlfriend five years ago. "Parachutes" came out in 2000 when I was a junior in college, and everybody I knew-- particularly every girl I knew-- loved it. Especially girlfriends. If you had a girlfriend and you made her a mix CD in 2000, or if you were stubborn like me and made her a good old fashioned mix tape, chances are it probably contained a song from Parachutes. Probably "Sparks." Or if you weren't that creative, probably "Yellow." Either way, Chris Martin was going to be responsible for either the first, third, or sixth track, depending on how much effort you put into pacing.
I graduated college a couple of months before "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" came out, so it wouldn't make sense if that album evoked the same memories as the first. But it does. More than you would think. Because remember those first few months after college? Sure you were scared and you were nervous about starting out on this new path in life, but you knew you were going to be. You were warned about that. You saw "Reality Bites," you knew what was up. However, one thing that nobody ever told you was that aside from fear there's something else you're going to be experiencing: absolute depression. Especially if you had a good time in college. The combination of a full time job (if you're lucky) and the realization that your time in life to fuck around is officially over is usually too much to handle for most people. You're going to miss college. You're going to miss your friends. You're going to long for a simpler time, and you're going to long for everything that came with it. Coldplay knew that. It's not a coincidence that "A Rush of Blood to the Head" came out on August 27th, right when the kids were going back to school and you weren't.
When "X&Y" came out a few months ago I was excited about it, but not in the same way I have been for Coldplay in the past. My friends made fun of me for trying to "act cool" by not listening to it at first. They would laugh and say I was only ignoring it because I was afraid of losing indie cred, and because I wasn't supposed to like it because it was too "mainstream." But that wasn't it. I think it was because I don't think about the college girlfriend anymore. And I don't miss college. That part of my life is so far behind me that I no longer yearn for it. When I finally got around to listening to "X&Y" instead of picking the album apart and using it to score specific college memories and people, like I did with "A Rush of Blood to the Head," I enjoyed it in the present. Which is probably why I don't like it nearly as much as the first two albums. It didn't come with a history.
Now here's the interesting thing about all of this. My college girlfriend and I were already kind of broken up when Parachutes came out. And we were years removed from our relationship when A Rush of Blood to the Head dropped. Neither album technically reminds me of her, and with the exception of "Green Eyes" there isn't a single Coldplay song that reminds me of her either. But somehow, Coldplay reminds me of her. Not in a longing way. More like the way in which watching kids play baseball reminds you of Little League, or like how eating popcorn reminds you of the movies. It's a much more general thing, much more universal.
I don't think I'm alone here. Maybe that's why they're one of the biggest bands in the world. And maybe that's why some people hate them. I guess it makes sense. That's the price they have to pay for writing songs with lines like "And the truth is/ I miss you," and "look at the stars/ look how they shine for you." Some people like to remember all the baggage that those lines carry with them, while for others it's the last thing they want to think about. I get it now.
And to think, it only took a live Coldplay show standing next to another dude to figure it out. If only everything in life was so easy.
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b at 5:04 PM
