Welcome To My Life

15 Years of Figuring Out What it Means to be a Fan of Simple Plan and Music in General

Loving a band is not for the faint of heart. Especially not long term. It is rife with varied emotions – joy, sorrow, disappointments, excitement, anxiety, happiness, anticipation – I could go on. It is worth it, though.

Humanity has a strong affinity to music. Rhythms are everywhere in our lives so it is not hard to understand how we can get so hooked onto music. What fascinates me the most though is how we can fall in love with singular bands/artists and prefer them over others.

I never truly got that when I was younger. I went through my teenage years listening to music and enjoying each individual song for their merits. I listened to mostly pop music but was also influenced (and loved) songs that my parents played at home and in the car on the way to school. I never fell in love with bands or artists. I fell in love with songs. And though I mainly listened to pop, it would’ve been easier to say what music I didn’t enjoy when it came to genres. But, I never fell in love with any particular artist.

But, then Simple Plan happened.

I’ve explained how I became a fan many times over the past 15 years, so I will not bore you to death again with it, suffice to say that it was all because of the song Welcome To My Life.

Instead, I’m going to look at what it is about this band that keeps me coming back to them throughout the seasons of my life.

In the early noughties, aside from enjoying the music (which had a lot of pop sensibilities) it was the first time I’d ever paid attention to the individual members of a band. For me, I crushed big time on the lead singer, Pierre Bouvier. Going back through my personal journals from late 2004 onwards, to say I was fangirling over Pierre would’ve been an understatement. There were a lot of superlatives used surrounding the topic of the lead singer. And that lead to my first fan fiction. Yes, I write stories featuring Pierre and the other members of the band. I still write today, though my latest story features Marvel characters as well…but that’s a story for another time.

Another thing that my crush on Pierre lead to was a bit of fun role playing online which in someways also influenced my writing. But, back to the band and their music. Their albums became the soundtrack to my university and further adult life. No matter what artist/band/song/album became the flavour of the week, month, season, Simple Plan was never far away.

Perfect World from Still Not Getting Any is my all time favourite song, period. Not just my favourite SP song, bit of any song I’ve ever listened to. And that’s saying something. It isn’t even the best song they’ve written. But, it features in many a playlist that I create no matter the season. And after my husband passed away last year it took on even more meaning for me. But, this song highlights for me the fact that Simple Plan is the band I will always come back to.

The band write relatable lyrics. And even if the situations they sing about don’t directly relate to my immediate position in life, I can still empathise with the emotions created. The melodies they create aren’t overly complicated; they’re melodious and memorable, though and that is what I love in any song.

And live. Live is where Simple Plan proves how good they are. I’ve seen them live three times. The first time in 2005, and I don’t remember that experience as well as I do the subsequent ones. It holds a special place in my heart for being the first show anyhow. The second and third times in 2012 and 2013 were extremely memorable though. In large part due to the fact that I got to meet them both times. The guys in the band are so down-to-earth and easy to talk to and they are so grateful to their fans. And we are grateful to them.

Their live shows speak to all fans whether they are new or old fans. The band always acknowledges and plays songs from their first and second albums because they understand the love their fans have for the older material. Many artists and bands don’t do that, especially when their older material may seem drastically different to their newer material.

Though I wouldn’t be averse to the band doing a 15 year anniversary tour of Still Not Getting Any…

Fifteen years.

Who would’ve thought that I would still be so much in love with this band after almost half my life? My enjoyment of other artists have come and gone over the years. However, Simple Plan is a constant for me.

Let’s hope they’ve got another fifteen years left in them, eh?

I am eagerly awaiting their sixth album and I am going to try and see them when they come to Australia for a proper tour again. In the mean time, I’ll blast their music loud and proud in my car and on my phone.

Here’s to the best band, ever!

Simple Plan!