Simple Plan

Yesterday, I went for Simple Plan's concert here in Melbourne. There was a lot of nostalgia involved, SP being the first concert I ever went to. That was when I was 14-years-old - it's been 6 whole years since then.

They used to be my favourite band before I shifted into teeny-dark-and-emo mode and started listening to Good Charlotte more. I know right? Good Charlotte wtf haha. At the time I thought that I had 'matured' and 'graduated' from whining about my life and how no one understands me.

But after watching them perform again, so many different feelings came back. Nostalgia, of course. Also, an explicable feeling of 'everything's gonna be alright' came over me. Some time when I was about 15 or 16, I stopped listening to them because I thought it was disgraceful to listen to adults sing about struggling with loneliness and lost love.

But now I see they aren't whining at all. The lyrics appear so, but listening to their cheerful, upbeat banter and generally clean and positive attitude towards life, it's hard to remember why I imagined them as a self-pitying, emotionally immature band.

As I listened to old SP classics like 'I'm Just a Kid' and 'I'd Do Anything', old memories and feelings awakened...and I began to remember how much the songs used to speak to me when I was young and confused. I suddenly remembered feeling lost, ugly, different, lonely and rejected. I remembered playing their songs over and over on my iPod as I went to sleep and feeling comforted. It sounds ridiculous, but then, Simple Plan helped me feel not so alone.

Surprisingly, some of the seemingly simple lyrics still resounded deeply with my emotions. Now I can't help but feel a strong affection for the band, who probably helped many other sesat preteens like I once was, get through difficult patches in their lives.

I teared up when 'Perfect' came on.

Cause we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I’m sorry
I can’t be perfect
Now it’s just too late
And we can’t go back
I’m sorry
I can’t be perfect

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by memories of me fighting with my father about not trying hard enough. I was the epitome of wasted potential. Now I think about all the wasted time fighting over petty things...not wanting to study, arguing why add maths was useless and how I didn't care about failing. The arguments often ended up with him furious or tired and me slamming my door and hurting myself to 'get back at him.'

How stupid I was.

I still remember our last conversation. My dad was no longer working at the time; my mom joked about cutting off his 'allowance' if he didn't 'do his job' - which was tutoring me in add maths (which I was failing repeatedly.) I crawled to his bedside and we made a deal that I would try harder now that he had time to help me improve.

Not 4 hours later, he was gone.

I never got an A in the end. Never mind that I raised my grade from a fail to a B3...I don't know if would have made a difference even if I had gotten an A1. I always felt like I was a disappointment anyway. I'm just glad that we didn't said our last goodbye with an argument.

I would hate myself forever if I had.

In a perfect world
This could never happen
In a perfect world
You’d still be here
And it makes no sense
I could just pick up the pieces
But to you
This means nothing
Nothing at all

I'm sorry. @__@ This was supposed to be a cheerful post about a cheerful band, and it ended up with me crying over the past. :/ That just proves how deeply their music resonates with my feelings.

I'm not saying they make the best music or are the most sophisticated writers (far from it), but if you can relate to the message they are sending, they suddenly become powerful emotional catalysts, capable of making you feel happy, sad, secure...not alone.

:)

I do think they are a great inspiration for tweens and young teenagers. I don't know many other bands that can relate to us at that age, and not bring sex and drugs into the picture...much like music nowadays. They send a positive message without being preachy, whiny or inundated with self-pity, and I like that.

Sorry I don't have any good pictures of Jeff and Seb. Pierre and David stole the show with their charisma and stage presence, and I used to think Chuck was the cutest when I was a kid, so all the good pics are of them. :P

 

I've got no place to go
I've got nowhere to run.
They love to watch me fall
They think they know it all
I'm a nightmare, a disaster
That's what they always said
I'm a lost cause, not a hero
But I'll make it on my own
I've gotta prove them wrong
Me against the world

This used to be my anthem growing up. When you're constantly branded an outsider, it can be difficult to maintain your self-confidence. I used to just imagine myself as someone awesome who would grow up to pwn all the naysayers - and I believe I'm well on my way. :)

Pierre in 2005 and in 2011

Thank you Simple Plan, for being part of my life growing up. <3
Aiming for HDs all the way and making you proud, dad!

(: