One Big Band

One Big Band

This a very personal piece of writing for me. I’m listening to Coldplay’s Sunrise live performance … third time in a row. Sunrise is playing as I write this very word. And I can’t even begin to explain the whole feeling. Words are feeble. But let me try.

First off, I’m in tears. That’s natural: what I experienced today starting 4:30 a.m. was nothing short of perfect. I mistook the live stream to be at 5 a.m. (local time) instead of 6. So, I had an hour and a half of waiting, and … I truly enjoyed that! I made sure my friend was also awake and we chatted a bit. We both weren’t ready, but it was that good kind of fear that you feel right before something really good happens.

And then the live stream started.

I saw the band really nervous and all … I can’t find the word! But that felt … personal. It felt relatable, really. It was very human, because people tend to forget that someone who’s really good at what they do gets scared too.

Then they started walking outside, and the sky was still a bit dark, both in Jordan and here in Egypt. And then with time, the first traces of music started: Sunrise. The piece started as the sun began to rise, and I was captivated. I loved Sunrise and I loved Church. I loved the music. I love the colors. I actually consider them a single song, with Sunrise being the introductory music of Church.

I truly loved the shooting too. I loved the whole thing. And I am very glad that I got to watch that at the very same moment that it was happening. I’ve never attended a Coldplay concert, and there’s a chance that I never will. This is the closest that I might ever come, and it was … beautiful. They truly have come out of their way to do this for me. Not just me, of course, but … for me.

And then song after song played, and it was marvelous. The shift from one type of music to another; every single collaborator; the cameramen moving; the band members playing their instruments … everything was brilliant, and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves a lot. They’d been really nervous before. Now they seemed … comfortable enough, I dare say, like they were born to do that. You get so worried before something this big happens, but once it starts, you realize that the wait is a hundred times more difficult, and you think to yourself, Wow! This is actually fun! Why was I ever scared of this?

Daddy made me cry—naturally. But … I felt things, and I also felt that it was okay. A friend of mine keeps repeating a quote to me: “Stop having feelings about your feelings.” Riding the emotional roller coaster that Coldplay put me on, I felt that it was okay to feel whatever in the world I was feeling. Jumping from one emotion to the next one as I heard and watched beautiful people play their hearts out was okay. Not just okay. It was … liberating?

I can’t find the word to capture this.

And here is what baffles me: a lot of people hate Coldplay, and that’s okay, really—if the whole world agrees on something, I think the world will just explode! But really … if you find something good going on, why don’t you just … let it go on? Do you realize how many people have come out of their way to watch that one hour of something beautiful? And their day was made. The band so gracefully decided to play their album right at the times that the names indicated: sunrise and sunset. That’s really hard to pull off. And they’ve been doing so many heartwarming and caring things ever since they announced Everyday Life, if not from the very start of their career.

They really are doing their best, and they’re taking a lot of beating for it. They have power, they have a voice, but I don’t recall them ever using that voice against anyone, really. On the contrary, they’re just trying to do good to the world. And if I or you or anyone can’t relate to that, that’s OKAY. Just … let potatoes potate.

Now I realize that I have deviated a bit from the original purpose of this piece of writing, which is describing the experience of listening to Sunrise live at the same time as everyone else, as the same moment that Coldplay themselves get to experience that. And it feels like I’m trying to defend them, like they need someone to do that. They don’t. Because they’ve grown. They’ve grown beautifully. And I loved watching that gradual transformation.

It’s not just about the music. It’s about the people, really. It’s from people to people and for people.

We all go through a lot of hardships. We try to hang onto anything at all that can help us survive this cold and cruel world. So, if they’re helping people—even if it doesn’t have your approval—just let them be. Let them do whatever good they can without getting hurt for it. As someone who wears her heart on her sleeve all the time, I can tell you it hurts like hell when people are … cruel.

Just be kind. Love them or hate them, that’s completely up to you. But there’s a big difference between freedom and insolence. You’re free as long as you do no harm and bring forth no pain.

And truly, it takes a lot of courage to stop the circle of pain at your end, and let it come out the other way something else, something gentle, something powerful.

You think hating someone takes energy? Try loving them. You have no idea!

Those people believe in what they do. They believe in something that sounds odd to you, but they believe in it, and their beliefs are contagious. Beautifully.

Let change happen.

And to Coldplay … I know you’ll probably never see this, but I believe that the universe works in mysterious ways. You will get this somehow. Thank you. I know you get that a lot, along with a lot of harsh words as well. I’m sorry for that. But really … you have a beautiful and marvelous impact, and that takes a lot of courage and love and effort, and I get that. So, truly, thank you for waking me up at 4:30 a.m.

One last thing: Today is also my protagonist’s birthday. His name is Sapiens. Yes, that means “wise.” Thank you for the eternal and beautiful association. His all-time favorite Coldplay song is Everyday Life, thanks to you.

November 22nd, 2019 (8:02 a.m.)