I think any song would grate on me if I listened to it 20 times in less than 4 days (No matter how much I liked it).
Man, that's impressive. I really like the song and I listened to it a good few times just because it's such a mood lifter! 5 hours though?! Crazy. Reminds me of not being able to get away from Green Day's American Idiot (song) when it came out, ended up hating it for a long time!
Listening to a song five hours straight... I have no words. As someone who still loves the album as a whole I try to only listen to a single once or twice prior to release. Each to their own!
Dang. 5 hours? The landmark moment of my music-loving life was listening to Anberlin's "A Whisper & a Clamor" for 2 hours straight when I was 15. That was magical. I hope I find another song I love that much.
Yeah Cities got me through my grandmother's passing, especially "Dismantle. Repair". She passed away the day that album came out.
When Motion City Soundtrack released Disappear way back when, I listened for 2 or 3 hours straight. I get how someone can do that. If you love a new song enough, sometimes there is just nothing else that you'd rather listen to. I've listened to Hard Times a ton.
I try not to do that because i don't like wearing songs out before albums but there's a bunch that I've just failed with.
weighing in.. for me I will listen to a single maybe once or twice before an album comes out.. If its a band I love I try to avoid the singles but always fail.. occasionally I'll break and listen to a single a ton bc its all I want to listen to, this is almost always met with regret on release day as I find myself not relating to the single the same way that I do the rest of the album since it was consumed massively at a different time.. it's weird but music and time are really important to my listening process.
I totally relate to this bc it's hard to enjoy listening to it as part of the album, when you've already heard it & you just wanna get to the shiny, new songs! I've listened to it quite a bit regardless, really loving how it will undoubtedly translate live as well!
What's interesting is I used to feel that way. But I'm so big on listening to albums front to back that when an album does release it's a brand new experience listening to the "single" in context. I've listened to "Hard Times" a bunch, but listening to it on its own is going to be different than listening to it as the opening track on the record. It gives me the joy of playing the heck out of the song while it's out, but I still get to look forward to hearing how it works in tandem with the other tracks on After Laughter. Win win. :) That said, once a band releases more than two singles it does start to spoil the album listening experience if I've heard a good portion of the record before it comes out.
Okay. I really liked "Hard Times" the first few days it was out, but this week has brought me a lot of trials and I can confidently say I love "Hard Times" now. Pure catharsis. If the whole record speaks to me the way this song is speaking to me right now it'll be my favorite Paramore record. Easily.
I falsely just made the decision to drive to Alaska for this band. Edit: It has only just now occurred to me how dad-jokey this post is. But the damage is done.