Published on 12, July, 2020
Up until around 2016, I had considered myself to be a fan of Coldplay. I don't mean in a 'Superfan' kind of way, but I enjoyed listening to Coldplay and liked most of their songs. Anyway, after a friend of mine had ended up marrying the lead singer of a Coldplay tribute band, who later ended up walking out on her and their children, I went completely off Coldplay.
Whenever I heard a Coldplay song, it just automatically reminded me of my friend's former husband, what he had done, how he had done it, and the traumatic effect it had on my friend and their children.
During the early hours of this morning when I had found myself unable to sleep, I decided to listen to 'Glastonbury 2024' on BBC Sounds (via my TV), which had included Coldplay's set. Instead of grabbing my remote control to hastily select something else, I opted to stick it out and carry on listening. Instead of automatically associating every Coldplay song with my friend's former husband, I was really enjoying the music. When I heard Chris Martin belting out 'Viva La Vida', I found it impossible to stay still and was dancing around in my seated position on my sofa, with my feet tapping the floor, and my hands playing imaginary drums.
The craziest thing of all is that this had all happened whilst I'd been suffering with backache and a foul migraine. Literally minutes beforehand, I had been wearing an eye mask and holding a cold compress to my head, and had been feeling incredibly rough. It was something of a surreal experience, if I'm honest. The first time ever that I think a song has caused me to dance whilst feeling like sh*te.
Anyway, have you ever fallen out of love with a musical group/artist due to something completely unrelated to them? If so, were you able to fall back in love with their music at a later date?
I loved Coldplay. I am lucky enough to have seen them starting out (at a simple University gig), at Glastonbury (2005) and Wembley (supported by JayZ and Girls Aloud!)
I loved their first four albums and then just bought the others in the hope that they would be as good. They were ok but I don't still listen to them, whereas I still listen to the first four.
To answer your question, I don't think that I have been put off a band for unrelated reasons. The closest is The Smiths who I feel have been tainted by Morrissey's recent politics. And then I enjoyed last year's Glastonbury when Rick Astley did a Smiths gig!
I have their first four albums, and am now thinking that maybe I should check out their more recent ones to see if I like the songs on them enough to commit to purchasing them.
If I heard correctly, I believe the group's appearance at Glastonbury this year has been their fifth, which is quite an achievement in this day and age, I think.
There are so many musical artists and groups who seem to use their success to spread their political beliefs, and I think it can reach a point where it can become off-putting. Therefore, I feel I can understand why you feel Morrissey has tainted your enjoyment of The Smiths. It's rather like Bono and U2... Yes, to the music, but no to all the politics.