Let’s face it: Tremendous songs can come from being in misery. Soul Asylum’s “Misery,” Paramore’s “Misery Business,” a bunch from Les Misérables. What’s not tremendous is the endless number of people determined to be miserable about things that they claim to love.
Cranks have always existed, as evident from the Letters to the Editor section of any old newspaper or magazine. For example, when the Cubs added lights to Wrigley Field in 1988, from the responses printed in the Chicago Tribune you’d have thought the organization had decided to kick puppies all over the Windy City. But nope; they just put up lights for night games, and thousands of people lost their minds.
This phenomenon has been magnified by two separate developments: the rise of the internet and the growing factionalism in every type of fandom. You name a hobby (sports, comics, film, knitting), and someone is going to be mad about some tiny aspect of it, and they will work their fingers to the bone typing out comments to tell you and everyone else all about it.
Why profess to love something if all it does is make you miserable? Especially if other people are enjoying it, even though you aren’t? There are identifiable strains of this notion. One is the “I now hate what I loved because other people started to like it” variety. Look at Metallica. They were popular before 1991’s self-titled “Black Album,” but that record sold over 31 million copies around the world. Some earlier fans still resent the record regardless of the fact that “Enter Sandman” is one of the most popular metal songs of all time (in fact, that it is popular may have made them hate it more).
Another variation is “This wasn’t made for me, so I must hate it.” This applies when a popular thing (say, Marvel films) introduces a new character aimed at girls, or teenagers, or horror fans. It manifests in “review bombing,” where swarms of misery aficionados post negative reviews before a show has even been released. This happens a lot, sadly, and it says more about the reviewers than the art or its makers.
Not everything is made for you, and it shouldn’t be. (Maybe repeat that a few times when you feel the urge to complain.) Yes, bands or brands you enjoy will try new things; that’s the nature of art and artists. No one forces you to be a fan. If you don’t like the new direction, there’s a vast world of literature, art, and music out there that you’ll never be able to take in in one lifetime. Plus, the earlier work you loved is still there for you to enjoy.
Instead of ruining it for someone else, get out there and find something new for you. Or maybe you can write a great new song about how miserable you are. Either way works.
This article is featured in the March/April 2025 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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