I'm uhhhh writing a book about Paramore
I'm uhhhh writing a book about Paramore
Thoughts on Unnamed Paramore Book and why I'm writing it
I’ve been thinking a lot about my Paramore book this week.
(And actually writing it. I’ve done a bit of that too. But mostly thinking.)
I’ve been recalibrating. Trying to recapture the clarity I had in June when I just all of a sudden KNEW that it was time for me to write the book about Paramore. Often, in the last 6 months, I’ve been egged on by the competitive drive to do this before anyone else does. And honestly, I think it’s fine for that to be most of my motivation. I’m not a purist. But ultimately, there needs to be one little deeper nugget of purpose that’s wholly my own, not tied to anyone else. What’s in my soul that needs to be on a page?
To be honest, my confidence about this book wavered after going to that OKC concert. I am not The Biggest Paramore Fan, I discovered. I mean, I knew that! I’m not a stan. But did I know that? It just kind of shook me to feel like one in a thousand. Do I really have something important to say about this band? In a very literal way, I will always be just a face in the crowd compared to other mega-fans.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, I have recently discovered/remembered that I’m not a music journalist. I’m just not. I could be, if I wanted to quit my job and dust off my journalism school notes and try to compete with the full-timers (and, yes, ~*~nepo babies~*~) who have been in the field for years. But that (for some insane, unimaginable reason) isn’t suuuuuper appealing to me.
So where do I fit, as a writer, as a fan? What is it that lives inside of me that needs to be on paper, in people’s hands and on their bookshelves?
And what’s true, deep in my soul, is that Paramore have ruined my life so many times. These damn people have been in my life for fifteen years and counting. To offer up the cultural criticism of Paramore that they deserve, to codify my own fandom and personal experience with their music in the way that I deserve—I’ve put in the time, and I’m the one to do it.
To be a teenage girl, a twenty-something, a thirty-something wrecked and put back together by music, time and time again—it’s my story, it’s Hayley Williams’ story, and (I suspect) the story of a hell of a lot of other people out there, too.
Like Hayley says at every show—WE are Paramore.
My heartbreaks, family history, mental illness, downtown concerts, diner coffees, inner child work, forest-green 4Runner, local malls, and CD collection—that’s all Paramore canon, baby. And that’s the book. 2023. Let’s do the damn thing.
All love and gratitude,
Katie from Paramore*
*Hayley had/has “Hayley from Paramore” as her name on social media so a lot of fan accounts (I guess now including me) do it too
P.S. Oh also speaking of My Writing, a bunch of my published music writing is on a site that is (I learned this week) now a defunct pile of broken HTML! Fun. So I will be republishing a few of my favorites on this newsletter over the next couple weeks. TIA for being nice to my sad orphaned children.
How many days til This Is Why comes out? I’m glad you asked:
