Confession time: while I’m a member of the Internet community and a music blogger, I’m also a human being. That means that from time to time I like an artist or group that can’t rightfully be justified.

Ricky Martin’s “La Copa de la Vida” is the business, but I can’t really explain why I dig it so much. It’s stuff like that that I generally like to keep secret.

That said, I’ve recently become a fan of both Keane and Snow Patrol, and in an effort to fully accept that, I’ve got to go public with it.

The first time I came across Snow Patrol was with “Chasing Cars”. My then-roommate loved the track, though I was indifferent to it. I understood that it was a breakout song, but it did nothing for me.

From there, I’d heard more Snow Patrol on my weekly viewings of Grey’s Anatomy. Again, I felt nothing. But a friend had “You Could Be Happy” as her ringback and I became smitten with that song.

I don’t know what it did, but the song struck a chord with me. Maybe it’s the simplicity? Maybe it’s the “letting go” message? I can’t rightfully say, but because of that song I ended up picking up Eyes Open.

So, recently at work, songs from A Hundred Million Suns have made their way into rotation and I’ve got to say that I don’t hate them. Actually, they’re rather catchy. And I know that Snow Patrol are little more than a European Nickelback, but I can’t help that I’ve fallen for their spell.

Also getting tons of play at work songs from Keane’s Perfect Symmetry. Like most people, I first became acquainted with Keane via “Somewhere Only We Know”. The song was a bit too earnest for me and I wasn’t that fond of the video either.

I sort of wrote Keane off, just like I did with Jamie Cullen. I figured that they were sort of one-offs who’d be inconsequential in the future.

Fast-forward to 2009 and I find myself very interested in a song that I hear at work. Beatwise, it reminds me of Let’s Dance-era David Bowie, and I’ve eventually come to the conclusion that I actually like the song. That song? Keane’s “You Haven’t Told Me Anything”.

Now, because of the recession, I can’t afford to buy the artists that I’m not ashamed to support, much less those whose albums I want wrapped in a brown paper bag (in fact I’ve pretty much written off 2009 as a whole in terms of purchasing music). But I figure that even if I can’t buy their music, I can put myself out there as a fan so maybe I can either get help or join a support group of like-minded individuals so we can talk about our experiences of shame.

I’m so glad I got that off my chest.

Last 5 posts by Mathan Erhardt

• More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks: Failed Experiments - March 5th, 2010
• More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks: Slayed - February 26th, 2010
• More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks: B-Day Mix! - February 19th, 2010
• More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks: Snowed In - February 12th, 2010
• More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks: Best of 2009 - February 5th, 2010