I'm a little bit embarrassed to tell my story since I haven't known the band for as long as you guys. That doesn't make me any less of a fan though.
I have very specific details of the first time I listened to Coldplay, because I wrote about it in my diary.
On Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017, I heard Viva La Vida for the first time at around 2:45 PM. It was a cool autumn day, and the leaves were just starting to change color and fall. Prior to this, my only experience with Coldplay was when one of my classmates would always repeat the words, "When you try your best but you don't succeed." because Fix You was a meme at the time.
I had no idea that one day would change my life forever. That one moment caused me to dedicate my life to this band. My teacher played a four minute video that ultimately ended up causing me to spend over a thousand hours listening to Coldplay on Spotify alone this year.
Sometimes I wonder who made this video, and I wish I could tell them how much it means to me. It's terrifying to think about how different my life would be without it. This video was put into my life for a purpose. I refuse to believe that this was all just a coincidence. Every day, I feel truly blessed that this video exists. I was miserable without Coldplay, and they really changed my life.
I knew this song was much different then the American music I was used to hearing, but I didn't know why. All I knew was that it sounded good and I liked it. I didn't realize that Coldplay was British until much later on. For a while, I was truly convinced that a British country would be the right place for me to live, before I ultimately decided on another continent.
At the end of the video, the song name was displayed. On my way home, I repeated the words, "Viva La Vida. Viva La Vida." Inside my head, over and over again. I'd only heard the song once, and already knew it was my favorite. I loved it from the start, but the part that really blew my mind is when Will sang the Viva chant. Without his singing, I probably wouldn't be on this forum talking to you guys.
I listened to the song using my half broken earbuds with terrible sound quality. I wasn't much of a music fan back then. All I could do was smile like an idiot as I listened to that song five times in a row. Even with my crappy headphones turned all the way down, the song still felt too loud because of how unfamiliar Coldplay was to me.
On May 20th, 2018, I thought to myself, "I wonder if there's any songs in the world as good as Viva La Vida?" Up until that point, I'd been listening to that song three times a day, almost every day. The second Coldplay song I ever listened to was Paradise, followed by The Scientist, then Fix You, and Violet Hill. I used to be very shy about my love for Coldplay, and I kept it a secret. A few days after I started listening to Coldplay, I felt so filled with love for them that I wanted to write "Coldplay" on every surface possible. But I didn't. I drew an elephant and taped it to the wall, where it still is today with all my Coldplay posters.
I remember going to the library and seeing a librarian giving out trivia questions. One of them read, "Which band was the first band in the world to perform on all seven continents?" and one of the options was Coldplay. I remember thinking to myself, "Hey, I bet my future self would find this Coldplay reference interesting if she ever ends up becoming a big Coldplay fan." Long story short, I do.
At around June, I was staying at a hotel and needed my daily Coldplay fix. I remember being so shy about them that I was embarrassed that all the people in the other rooms would hear me listen to them on my garbage headphones even if I played the music really quietly. I really loved listening to Politik at the time, but I'd mute my phone at all the loud parts. It's a little bit irritating to think about that, because I'd love to hear it for the first time again and learn all the lyrics.
In July, I started to get into the Prospekt's March EP. I was a huge fan of Viva already, so I really loved this EP. My favorite part was at the end of Glass of Water when Chris said, "Oh what are we drinking when we're done? Glasses of water." I always used to think that it sounded like a catchy jingle from a water commercial.
In September and October, things started to decline. I started losing interest in Coldplay. Sometimes I'd force myself to go an entire day without listening to them to keep the music fresh.
November made me obsessed with the band when the AHFOD film was released. I thought Coldplay was over until that point. I became addicted to B-sides after that. You could imagine how mind blowing it must have been for me to learn about the fifth member of Coldplay and how the band formed and all these other cool things. I also got to see Jonny's ass for the first time that day
Things just kept getting better in December, and it seemed like they'd stay that way. I started listening to songs like For You and Careful Where You Stand. Back when I wasn't much of a fan, I just ignored those songs and thought, "Who listens to this crap?" I'd also been on these forums and decided to make an account on Christmas. I didn't really know how to use it, so it'd be months before I actually said anything.
In January, things got worse. I started becoming shy about Coldplay again and listened to a bunch of other songs that I wasn't really happy with. By the time the next month rolled around, I became absolutely addicted to Coldplay. I felt no shame at all about them anymore.
In March, Chris turned 42. In honor of him, I bought some red and blue gaffer's tape and started wearing it everywhere. My birthday came the day after his, and all I asked for was Coldplay stuff. Instead of having people sing happy birthday to me, I played Coldplay songs while I blew out the star shaped candles on my Coldplay cake. Back when I was little, I used to think it was the coolest thing ever that my birthday is the day after Dr. Seuss'. Now I just spend that day gushing over Chris.
On April 12th, I ended up becoming an Apparatjik fan on Guy's birthday. I'd never heard anybody talk about him singing before, so I was shocked when I listened to Electric Eye for the first time.
On May 20th, I celebrated the day I became a fan.
In the next few months, I just became more and more addicted to Coldplay. I started doing things like liking every video on the Coldplay YouTube channel and collecting all the Coldplay stuff possible.
On November 22nd, EL was released. I read every single message about EL on these forums and watched every interview. It was incredibly difficult to keep up with it all, and I starting losing a ton of sleep. I had trouble focusing on tasks because I was too busy thinking about Coldplay all the time.
On January 18th, I will be flying to LA for my first concert. The thought of seeing Jonny and Guy in real life makes me want to scream!
I can't wait to see what surprises the future holds!