May 2009. I was at the O2 academy in Sheffield. Placebo were at their peak, and even if Battle for the sun was underwhelming, I was excited to see them live. A friend of mine from the Netherlands managed to get the tickets and although we got separated after security took everyone’s mobile phone, we rendezvoused outside, walking back to our shared house in Endcliffe Village.

Moods were great and we talked for hours in the kitchen, looking at the flying lanterns in the horizon, drinking tea, and just hanging. Then she asked me one that song she didn’t recognise. She was a massive Placebo fan. I told her that it seemed familiar, and I couldn’t quite place name and artist.

A quick trip to my room for my laptop and we went online, scouring a few places. Ah, it was Nik Kershaw. The song was wouldn’t it be good? and we eventually acquired a copy of Placebo’s cover.

We eventually grew apart. Friends come and go, sometimes you just don’t see them again. Sometimes you have strong disagreements and part badly, huffing and puffing into the distance. And sometimes the language barrier can be approached, like a vertical asymptote, but never crossed.

Granted, I was Johnny come lately with Nik Kershaw, but there’s more to his catalogue than this joyful song with brutal, harsh lyrics. I fell in love with Placebo’s version, but Kershaw’s song can’t be surpassed. A cold bucket of reality, hitting like a friendship that went south.

-Sam J. Valdés López