“The Songs You Grow To Like Never Stick At First”

When Panic! At The Disco unveiled their new single Miss Jackson‘ yesterday, I was underwhelmed. One day, however, my opinion may change and I hope that it will. As their peers Fall Out Boy once sang “The songs you grow to like never stick at first”. Sometimes, your taste changes from “Turn it off!” to “Turn it up!”, and that’s just fine.

When I first heard Paramore’s ‘Still Into You‘, I was disappointed and, frankly, a little confused. Why did Hayley Williams sound like a poor man’s Taylor Swift, and why did everyone else like it? Its sickly sweet lyrics left a rancid taste in my mouth. I love pop, but I hate bad pop which is exactly what I thought it was.

However, when I fell in love with Paramore’s new album, it suddenly made sense. Its sentimentality stopped grating on me and before I knew it, my feet were tapping and the words were leaking from my mouth. Now, I even enjoy its cover versions.

Still Into You‘ is far from my favourite, but now I understand the hype.

Another song which once left me bemused was Bruno Mars’ ‘Locked Out Of Heaven’. When everyone and their mothers buzzed about it last year, I was still scratching my head. Surely, it was nothing more than a lazy rip-off of The Police. The pastiche excuse was even lazier. I lamented its excessive radio play and couldn’t wait until it disappeared.

Then it went away. And by then, I wanted it back. I’d seen Mars perform the track live on TV and was won over by how similar it sounded to the studio recording. When I learnt that Sting approved, I finally gave in to my desire to dance. So as others complained that the song was so old, it had only just become my new favourite jam.

I’ve also been guilty of snobbery towards certain artists; I still am. In fact, I think every music fan is a music snob to some extent.

The Peep Show quote “People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can’t trust people” has long been one of my favourites. I’ve always been Team Snow Patrol when it came to melancholia and rousing X Factor success soundtracks (still am). However, as time went by, Coldplay begun creeping into my subconscious. I’d get ‘Charlie Brown’ stuck in my head at random moments and as much as I tried to repress the earworm, it never worked. Their performance at the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony was when they fully won me over. Admittedly my perception was blurred by British pride and Olympic euphoria, and I still wouldn’t call myself a “fan”, but I finally understand their appeal.

There are many signs that you’re growing up, and admitting to liking a Coldplay song is one of them.

I hope that ‘Miss Jackson’ grows on me, but it might not. There are songs that I’ve listened to 100 times out of loyalty to the artist in the hope that I’ll like it out. That attitude is just as bad as dismissing a song on first listen. So, I will listen to ‘Miss Jackson’ again and I do hope that I find something in it that I enjoy but if I don’t, that’s also ok.

What songs have you grown to like?