Categories help, we are consoled by the possibility of knowing in which compartment to insert someone or something, assigning them a label destined to last. Football, like music, allows us to elect a given figure as an unshakeable myth, to elevate its status and to consider it eternal, absolute. At the same time, on the opposite side, we also know how to place the stigma or the negative stamp when we think it is the case: we build a clear division between hell and heavenforgetting the path that connects them, forgetting every form of limbo or purgatory. Yet the majority resides right there, it is located halfway between the call of glory and that of oblivion or indifference: everyone’s eyes on you, in short, transform over time (not too much) into a different story, that of a stranger who annoys you by talking to you, while you have other things to do. The megaphone of fame thus turns into a silencer: numbers have an objective weight, yes, but memory doesn’t know it.
Here we find a first point of contact between Wayne Rooney hey Kaiser ChiefsIt’s not about following the cliché of genius and of debaucheryin this case, or just stir up troubled waters, appealing to vices and excesses that have emerged over the years. Above all, it is a question, as the footballer and the band taken as the object allow us, of discovering a natural and physiological form of aging, of deterioration, of gradual transition from the volcanic vigor of youth to the doubts, uncertainties and failures of maturity. The reference to vices and excesses is not linked to excesses and luxury, at least not as a starting point, but finds a fundamental relationship, a true equation between apparently distant worlds, in the forms in which a young footballer or a young band (with specific reference to leader Ricky Wilson) they find themselves reacting to fameto the management of popularity, to everything that comes from it. It’s about discovering the gap between the expectations of an audience that worships and everything that remains under the carpet, in both cases we encounter ambitions so tenacious that they lead to success, but without an instruction manual that allows you to then master it.
There are, after all, times when you throw yourself into the crowd and it supports you and makes you fly, there are others when you repeat the same gesture but all you get is a thud: the comparison between the Leeds band and the Liverpool striker transmits to us that passage, with everything that is found between the two extremes and with the path necessary to go back up (after having healed the wounds). The starting point, as often happens within this game of juxtapositions, already offers elements of contact: in short, we start from youthful successdal stamp of predestined and from the constant request to justify it, feeding it over time. In Rooney’s case, this stamp actually arrived at the dawn of his career as a footballer: his debut at 16 in the first team, with Everton, and the immediate sensation (since 2002/03) of finding himself in front of the new star of English football, the proverbial Wonder Boy.
The Kaiser Chiefs were not so young at the time of their greatest singles success, that of Ruby (2007), but reached surprising peaks even outside the UK and created what – to this day – remains their most popular song (as demonstrated by the 55 million views on YouTube and the number of streams on Spotify, far superior to that of their other best-known pieces). The period that starts from the album Employment (2004) and arrives at Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007) corresponds to what Rooney experienced at the time of his explosion, of the transition from promise to reality in English football. Ricky Wilson has explored the theme of success as a chimera and as misfortuneas a goal or as beginning of the endhe did it at Guardian emphasizing on one hand “the obsession for success that moved the Kaiser Chiefs” and placing as a counterpoint the “easy target” that one becomes in the wake of success itself, that which makes others entitled to “speak badly of you“.
A game to play, the other chapters:
In the same interview Wilson says he did not never really felt cut out to be a rockstar or to become a frontman of a successful band, in some ways a story that meets what Rooney shared (on the podcast of rugby player Rob Burrow) and that refers to a youth that was anything but oriented towards the cult of self, of self-affirmation and popularity. Rooney follows the same line as Wilson and declares, essentially, that not having been ready to handle all that pressure: “My liberation has been alcohol since I was in my early 20s. I would go home and spend a couple of days there without even going out. I would drink almost to the point of passing out.“. The topic of alcohol comes into play here, followed closely by misadventures, from the criticisms and the contribution of the tabloidsready to dive into the search for a “dark side”.
In the case of Ricky Wilson and the Kaiser Chiefs, it is emphasized, along the same lines as Rooney’s speech, how the name of the band ended up rising to prominence for issues no longer linked to musical successes (which since 2011 have become far from the glories of the past): as an example, we can cite all the dust raised by a concert at the O2 in Londona show during which Wilson appeared less than lucid (so much so that he later apologized while speaking to Sun). “The truth is I made a mistake at O2, falling back into old alcoholic habits. A mistake that has disappointed many of you and some of the people closest to me” are Wilson’s words commenting on what happened in that concert, marked by forgotten lyrics, the absence of a voice and the evident difficulty of the frontman to hold the stage.
In the case of both Rooney and the Kaiser Chiefs, there is also the need (or desire) to to change direction or change role in order to adaptin short, we can see a path of maturation accompanied by changes: referring to Rooney we can obviously mention his tactical evolution and a profile of an attacker extremely devoted to sacrifice, able to combine ballistic qualities with the generosity of a midfielder, so much so that he then completes the path by moving his range of action back and acting across the board. Similarly, although with less comforting results, the Kaiser Chiefs have begun a journey of self-discovery – of a new musical identity – to renew themselves after their first two successful albums, a path that saw them embrace “Bowie-style” sounds, sudden turns towards dance or chart pop, sporadic returns to their indie-rock origins or albums (like the latest, Easy Eight Album) characterized by a cumbersome production and sounds oriented towards funk, references to the 80s and a poorly concealed search for the hit.
Alongside the often physiological need to “change to resist” (or to continue to exist) it can be underlined how both Rooney and the frontman of the Kaiser Chiefs have undertaken, after their careers principal, different adventures (while remaining in their respective fields of action): the former United has started a coaching career which, up to now, has not yet seen him take flight (he will coach Plymouth in the Championship in 24/25); Ricky Wilson for his part has reinvented himself as vocal coach di The Voice UK and as a radio host, thus combining his career with the Kaiser Chiefs (between new albums and live performances) with a different path.
The common thread identified this time tells us about the critical management of successtells us about a popular recognition that is often only partial and peppered with ifs and buts. A vivid description of the thin line between the glory of big numbers and the risk of slipping into oblivion, into distraction – between covers and clickbait – from what truly defines the indelible value of things.
