17 Times Coldplay Was The Best, So We Can Quit Being Haters Now

I feel like the world unanimously groaned when it was announced that Coldplay would be performing at the Super Bowl 50 halftime this year. And I groaned with them.

Coldplay? Really? I thought to myself.

Football is already boring enough to me, and I usually look forward to the halftime show (and the commercials) to keep me entertained. It was even better when it was a band I loved.

But then I remembered — Wait. I used to LOVE Coldplay.

Back in the day, the piano chords in "Clocks" took me to another world and made me want to learn to play an instrument. "The Scientist" would bring me to tears in my bedroom after listening on repeat. And, I even wrote a college application essay on the impact the song "Don't Panic" had on my formative years of life after seeing Garden State. (And yes, I got in. Thanks, Coldplay and Zach Braff!)

So what happened? When did Coldplay become the scapegoat of popular music? When did I fall out of love with the band I once worshipped? Did it start with the classic, "You know how I know you're gay?" scene in 40-Year-Old Virgin? Or was it that, right around the same time, everyone poked fun at lead singer Chris Martin's choice of names for his children? The band started seeming gimmicky, and even a bit basic.

Or more recently, it could have been the less than stellar Ghost Stories album of 2014, that began to eclipse all of the light from their earlier music. Pitchfork called it their "break-up" album in correlation with Martin's own (almost) divorce with Gwyneth Paltrow, but it seemed like it was a break-up between me and them, too.

Whatever the reason, it's time to clear the air. Coldplay is awesome. Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday, I'm ready for us to get back together again.

I am happy to be shaken from my anti-Coldplay spell. It wasn't you, Coldplay. It was me! And I'm sorry. You were there for me so much, and I let convoluted popular opinion defer me from my "Yellow" roots. Oh, and did I mention Beyoncé is performing with them at the halftime show now? This seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams, is very likely their last, so let's allow Coldplay to end with a bang. It's time to "Viva La Vida," y'all.

Here are 17 solid gold pieces of pure Coldplay magic to show you why it's time to let Coldplay back into your heart, and back onto your playlists.