Top 10 U2 Songs of all time

Today we thought about something on the lite side after yesterday’s story on Bono, who would have ever thought we would get so many comments.  Our collection based on our likes, of course we welcome your thoughts too. Also remember if your looking for a gift for the holiday we have a great selection of items either in our amazon story or our music store.

U2 has been around for over 25 years which puts them in a very small class.  Making that class even smaller is the fact that the music they’re making today is often as good as the music they were making in the early to mid 80’s when they first started out. In the two decades they’ve been together, Bono and the boys ( The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, JR.) have tackld many different subjects and styles of music and that can make it pretty hard to pick ten songs as their best. For now we will leave out No Line.

We think part of what makes U2 so great to listen to is that every fan could have a different list of favorites and it would be hard to argue against any of them.  A few other AC Content producers have already published their take on the Top Ten Songs by U2.  Here are our ten favorite U2 songs along with a few brief comments on why we love them enough to put them on this list.

10. With or Without You - The Joshua Tree
This song has a great moody feel. I love the way it slowly builds and builds and builds until Bono finally cuts loose at the three minute mark. Time and cigarettes have taken a bit of a toll on Bono’s voice, but in the days of The Joshua Tree he could soar like very few vocalists can.

9. All I Want is You - Rattle and Hum
This choice is all about Bono. It’s one of my favorite vocals by him.  Most singers today seem to try and prove how talented they are by oversinging everything so it’s especially lovely to hear something as quiet and understated as this vocal performance.

8. City of Blinding Lights - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
We like Vertigo and we love Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own, but this is the song from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that I keep coming back to. It has a big, building, uplifting melody that we love. U2 does this kind of soaring song better than anyone else. Very Where the Streets Have No Nameish. We also want to point out on the 360 tour this song fits so nice with the stage and lights.

7. Pride (In the Name of Love) – Rattle and Hum
I love the lines, “Free at last/They took your life/They could not take your pride.” Plus a Jesus reference! (“One may betrayed with a kiss.”) love that U2 has never been afraid to mix the secular and the spiritual.

6. Acrobat - Achtung Baby  For a period in the 90’s, U2 moved away from their mostly hopeful, upbeat music.  This song really encompasses the darker, more cynical attitude of that time.  It’s definitely a different mood but, no surprise, a lot of the music is just as good as the material that preceded it.   “I must be an acrobat/To talk like this and act like that” is a feeling that most people have had at some point in their lives.

5. Running to Stand Still – The Joshua Tree
Another beautiful melody. I love Edge’s twanging guitar at the very beginning. Plus I’m a sucker for songs with things like “Ha La La La De Day, Ha La La La De Day” in them. Fun to sing along with. Oh, and there’s harmonicas!

4. Beautiful Day - All That You Can’t Leave Behind
The students I work with every day are 11 and 12 and I can’t believe the junk they listen to. I catch snatches of it here and there or they’ll insist on playing this “really awesome” song for me. The language is awful and the lyrics are sexist, violent, or just plain hateful. So I love that one of the biggest rock bands in the world came back from a long hiatus with a song called Beautiful Day featuring lyrics as simple and direct as, “It’s a beautiful day/Don’t let it slip away.” I love the “daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay”s in the background. This song makes me so, so happy. It has a very joyful feeling about it.

3. I Will Follow - Boy
Awwww, Bono sounds so young!  Twenty-five years later this song still sounds as fresh and energetic as it did the day it was released.

2. Until the End of the World - Achtung Baby
How can you not love a rock star who writes a song from the point of view of Judas Iscariot? Fabulous. One of my favorite songs ever. The lyrics, the tune, the sheer creativity of the idea behind it – all amazing. I don’t know if I’d say Bono has one of the greatest pure voices, but he can get to the heart and emotion of a song like very few people singing right now can. He totally delivers every time, and this is one of the best examples of that.

1. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - The Joshua Tree I  kind of feel like this is a pretty cliched song to pick as my favorite U2 song, but everyone in the world knows it for a reason: It’s a great song. I love that one of the band’s most popular songs contains some of the most direct references to Christianity (“I believe in the kingdom come/When all the colors will bleed into one/Bleed into one/But yes I’m still running/You broke the bonds/And you loosed the chains/Carried the cross and all my shame/All my shame/You know I believe it…”) As I said earlier, the combination of secular and religious ideas is one of my favorite things about U2. Their music is filled to the brim with religious references and not generic “spiritual” ideas – references that are very specific to Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus. People are so quick to separate secular and religious – one goes here, and one goes there, and never shall the two meet – and I love that U2 doesn’t do that. Even when I’m not sure I entirely agree with something they’ve expressed, it’s always thoughtful and honest and sincere, and I can’t help but appreciate that.

Of course you can download the whole collection of U2 songs direct from iTunes.

 

The 10 Commandments of Bono

The 10 commandments of Bono, now this should create some conversation. First don’t shoot the writer.

Remember we are a fan based site and because we are a fan based site sometimes people send in interesting points of view from the other side of the street.

We continue to review guest writers and have been thinking about a couple of new stories. We have yet to finish up on our selections. So if your interested and believe that your story should be shared, please send us your thoughts before writing a full article.

Today’s story is a bit long and we would say that this view is not something we would endorse, rather than not share it and throw it aside as some would suggest we thought it was more important to share a different view. This for sure will make us remember why we are fans and that at times when your at the top of your game some will throw rocks at you. Of course Bono and the boys know this by now, or else they would have tossed in the towel many years back.

The 10 Commandments of Bono

Thou Shalt Not Worship Any Gods Before Me

First and foremost, Bono demands that we adhere to this fundamental rule. Some may mock, but whether he is saving the world one continent at a time or patronising leaders of other faiths, it is clear that Paul Hewson is the earthly vessel of the Lord Bono Vox (that’s Latin for “Good Voice”, in case you were in any doubt as to the majesty of his heavenly singing).
Practising Bonoists have been following his divine teachings since the early-80s Mullet Era. But now it seems that other religions are starting to wise up and preach the word of Bono.
 

Thou Shalt Not Steal (Cowboy Hats)

In 2006 Bono taught mankind that theft is a grave sin. Even if the victim is a multi-millionaire. And the stolen item is a hat. And the perpetrator is an ex-employee. Who maintains that the hat was a gift. And the theft occurred in 1987. Even then, the principle holds, and justice must be done. Even if it makes you look petty.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery

There was much controversy last month over the (un-incriminating) photographs of Bono and two attractive, bikini-clad young ladies that were plastered all over Facebook, then subsequently (and inexplicably) all over the front page of the Mail on Sunday, then predictably (and amusingly) all over the web, and finally replicated here, just for reference.However, Bono, it should be stressed, is a committed family man. And, as just about every article that ran these pictures carefully stated, his “26-year marriage to wife Ali is famously strong”.Follow his virtuous example people. But be mindful of the dangers of social network sites.

Though Shalt Go Forth and Promote the New Gospel of Wealth

Bono’s perspective on wealth is a thorny issue for his followers due the bewildering contradictions inherent in his actions and teachings. But on careful inspection one can glean his true underlying message. For beneath the selfless anti-poverty posturing, lies a person in thrall to materialistic aspirations of wealth and fame; evinced, not only by his substantial personal fortune (estimated at well over £400m), but also by his recent acquisition of a 40% stake in Forbes Media through his private equity fund, Elevation Partners.

Thou Shalt Hypocritically Dodge Taxes

Hypocrisy is to Bonoism, as forgiveness is to Christianity. Thus, when it comes to legal obligations – such as paying taxes – Bono teaches us to exploit loopholes whilst sanctimoniously commanding others to give more money to those in need. Bono revealed this enlightened path to us poor mortals in 2006 when his band moved their music publishing company from Ireland to the Netherlands in order to avoid new Irish legislation and benefit from the lenient Dutch taxes on musicians (a common path for rock ‘n’ roll deities to follow). Some argue that this is at odds with Bono’s campaigning for increased aid and debt-relief for Africa. Which is hard to deny in light of the recent Christian Aid report which denounced tax-dodging as the “new slavery”, citing it as a major cause of child poverty and blaming it for the deaths of 1,000 children a day in developing countries (as discussed in a previous blog). Obviously, this report should be dismissed as blasphemy by true believers.

Thou Shalt Murder (Classic Songs)

Having anointed many classics with his blessed banality from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, it would appear that Bono is very much pro-murder. His re-imagining of Lou Reed’s Satellite of Love is particularly annoying.

Though Shalt Be Charitable (if it is Personally Lucrative and Counter-Productive)

As a world-famous philanthropist, Bono has dedicated his life to campaigning for charity. It should be pointed out, however, that he advocates a particular model of charity; one exemplified by his high-profile Product (RED) campaign, described on the website as “a business model designed to create awareness and a sustainable flow of money from the private sector into the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.” Sounds like Bono’s worked miracles by efficiently uniting capitalism and altruism, right? Well, not quite.

Last year Advertising Age reported on the disparity between the campaign’s advertising costs (estimated as high as $100m) and the amount raised for the Global Fund (just $18m). Elsewhere, BuyLessCrap.org and others, have taken issue with the campaign’s inference that consumerism is an effective solution to the world’s problems by calling for people to bypass (RED) and donate directly to the Global Fund. Before taking out a (RED) credit card or buying a (RED) iPod, check out the excellent collection of compelling essays concerning the counter-productiveness of the campaign and its perpetuation of African disempowerment in the current issue of the Journal of Pan African Studies.

Thou Shalt Live a Life of Hypocritical Excess

Bono’s teachings on excess are best demonstrated by the Parable of The Flying Cowboy Hat. This widely-reported and fist-clenchingly annoying story tells of the alleged thousands that he paid to fly his beloved, sweaty little hat first-class from London to Italy for a live performance. You can almost picture his benevolent face as he screamed at some lowly assistant, “screw the expense, screw the environment, I want me FECKIN’ HAT.”

Perhaps this event was intended to be allegorical – maybe it means that, in today’s world, if you’re a rich rock star, you can act like a tosspot.

Thou Shalt Sell Out to Big Politics

One of Bono’s most influential teachings is that the UK government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and the US Bush administration are the true heroes of our time. He has taught us that they are visionaries who, like himself, have selflessly dedicated themselves to making this world a better place, to provide relief from poverty and disease for the disenfranchised of the world.

In 2004, while cosying up to the British government at the Labour party’s annual conference, Bono shamelessly described Blair and Brown as the “Lennon and McCartney of global development. Two years later during his speech at the US National Prayer Breakfast Bono personally praised the President for the lives he has saved in Africa (much to the chagrin of many), despite Bush’s questionable legacy in that continent.

Many argue that it’s damaging for a man of Bono’s undeniable prominence, influence and veneration to offer partisan political support whilst also aligning himself with protest and activism. Naomi Klein, for example, argues that Bono’s actions legitimise the structures that true activism seeks to change; as she puts it: “the story of globalization is the story of inequality. What’s been lost in the Bono-ization is ability to change these power structures. There are still the winners and losers, people who are locked in to the power structures and those locked out.”

Thou Shalt Spend, Spend, Spend

A committed follower of Bonoism must also be a committed consumer. As expounded by his (RED) campaign, through consumption comes salvation. It seems iPods are especially revered objects in Bonoism (although it is unclear whether this is due to an innate quality or due to the fat paycheque Bono picks up from Apple, and now Blackberry)

 We want to hear your thoughts, post your comments -

U2 to headline UK's Glastonbury music festival

U2 to headline UK’s Glastonbury music festival

(AP) – 31 minutes ago

LONDON — Organizers say U2 will headline Glastonbury, Britain’s leading summer music festival.

Festival boss Michael Eavis said Monday that the Irish rockers will play the festival’s main stage on June 25.

It will be U2’s first appearance at the event, and comes as Glastonbury celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Eavis said he was delighted to have “the biggest band in the world” in the lineup and promised “more surprises in the pipeline.”

Glastonbury was founded in 1970 and is held on Eavis’ farm in southwest England. It is famous for its eclectic lineup — and the mud that overwhelms the site in rainy years.

Tickets for this year’s festival have sold out even though much of the lineup has yet to be announced. The festival runs June 23 to 27.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part IV)

Three Chords and the Truth (Part IV)

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

In this final trilogy of records, we find our quartet stripping back down.  Imagine the excitement of the fans!  They’ve been waiting for this since Achtung Baby.  All the buzz words and phrases were making their appearances in publications everywhere:  “back to basics”, “strip it down”, “four guys just playing music”.  Essentially, to “dream it all up again”.

All That You Can’t Leave Behind - At home, there was much going on in Bono’s life.  That can only mean one thing:  it’s all here in the record.  You’ll remember that Bono’s dad took ill and passed during this time and again, if you’ve read the accounts, you know it was hard on Bono growing up in a house full of men, without his mother.  Things were particularly hard with his dad and Bono tirelessly sought his approval throughout both of their lives.  In the studio, Flood is out, Eno and Lanois are back in, Anton Corbijn is commissioned for photos…feels like The Joshua Tree all over again…only we’re all a bit older.

Ok, first things first.  Right off the bat, you don’t even have to open the package.  Some of the albums released had a special enhancement in which the original notation of flight and gate numbers on the upper left part of the cover were airbrushed to read:  Jeremiah 33.3 (which incidentally, comes back again in the latest album No Line on the Horizon, “It was 3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face…” from “Unknown Caller”).  The biblical reference states, “Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.”  Bono calls this “God’s phone number” so it seems that the line is open again.

Bono“When I Look At the World” is the one I’d like to highlight only because it’s really speaking to me at the moment.  Without God…without God in you, you can’t see the world the way God sees the world, “I see an expression/So clear and so true/That changes the atmosphere/When you walk (in)to the room/So I try to be like you/Try to feel it like you do/But without you it’s no use/I can’t see what you see/When I look at the world”.  

The only way we can change the world and bring about peace is to truly be the peace you want to see in the world, as Mahatma Ghandi so famously stated.  Without God in your life, you can’t see what God sees, when you look at the world.  Change your thoughts, change your life.

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - At last, we are allowed a taste of the punk revival scene that served as incubator for this band back in the 70’s.  And it hits you square in the nose in the opening track, “Vertigo”:  “You give me something I can feel.”

However, three years after Bob Hewson died, Bono was still feeling the effects of the event.  The rumor is that Bono and Noel Gallagher were having a conversation as Bono’s father’s illness progressed and Bono wondered aloud if his father ever did believe in God.  Gallagher remarked that he was one step closer to knowing.

The lyrics of this song seem to illustrate various crossroads in which we are on the brink of being “one step closer to knowing” about God.  “I’m ‘round the corner from anything that’s real/I’m across the road from hope/I’m under a bridge in a rip tide/That’s taken everything I call my own”.  

LarryWhile the song echos Bono’s contemplation of his statement to Gallagher, we are reminded that life is precious and we are all “one step closer to knowing.”

I’d like to also talk about “Yaweh”, since this is probably the most transparent of prayers on any of U2’s work.  In this song, Bono prays to Yaweh (i.e. God) to help us turn this worldly existence around.  “Take these hands/Teach them what to carry/Take these hands/Don’t make a fist no/Take this mouth/So quick to criticize/Take this mouth/Give it a kiss”.  

In other words, show me the way, teach me the ways of non-violence, and help me find other ways to communicate that come from the heart; from love.  Bono hints at the endless supply of love that God has and that it is found everywhere, “the sun is coming up/The sun is coming up on the ocean/His love is like a drop in the ocean”.

No Line on the Horizon - Ok think about this.  This band has survived three decades intact.  Same core of folks since the 70’s people.  Sure the organization has grown, but all the same people have been around.  How do you think they do that?  Do you think they don’t face problems?  You couldn’t be further from the truth.  Do you think there is a higher power at work here?  Does God have something to do with it?  

My answer is, “Ya’ think?”  Now don’t misunderstand me on this; I’m not saying other bands didn’t last because they didn’t have heart, didn’t love each other as mates.  Didn’t have God in their lives.  But you have to admit there is something missing.  U2 is more alchemy than chemistry.

I’m not setting them high on the pedestal here, but you can’t deny that this band has been through some very trying times and again, if you’ve read the books, you know the stories.  Just because any one individual or any band has more money or more notoriety, doesn’t mean they don’t feel pain, despair, fear.  The difference is how you deal with it.  U2 chose to meet that challenge head-on, each and every time.  They were committed to each other like bride and groom.

When you look at the U2 body of work, you can see a complete cycle of learning.  As boys, they begin as normal adolescents with the usual problems, their worlds get clouded by a veil of organized religion that is heavy enough to split the band for a time.  

The EdgeThey sort out their faith and continue on and experience life, all the way while keeping that faith.  Then you run into a time that I’m sure some of us can relate to, being angry at God, and then surrendering to God allowing life to happen.  Essentially, letting go and letting God.  So we’ve come full circle here and there is no better testament to that letting go in “Moment of Surrender”.  Let’s look at a verse:

“I’ve been in every black hole/At the alter of the Dark star/My body’s now a begging bowl/That’s begging to get back/Begging to get back /To my heart/To the rhythm of my soul/To the rhythm of my consciousness/To the rhythm that yearns/To be released from control”  Uh…WOW.  Coming back around to what really matters.  

Allow me to suggest a way of looking at that lyric.  Bono seems to be saying, “We’ve had some dark times when we didn’t get along and now I want to get back to my faith and in believing and feeling the energy of God flow to my soul, my consciousness…

I want to think like God, and I want to be released from the ties that keep me from doing that.”  

If I wasn’t sitting down when I first heard this song, I would’ve dropped to my knees.  It brought tears to my eyes as it closed the show.  I thought, “what a FANTASTIC message to leave with”.  I found that I was in the minority of that sentiment.  But I got it.  

AdamAnd that’s what U2 has done.  If you’ve been paying attention, you can hear the messages of being one with each other.  We all want the same things, happiness and prosperity, so let’s make that happen for each other.  Let’s help each other out.  

People balk at Bono’s “self-righteous, megalomanic” existence, but perhaps that’s because they know deep down that he’s got the right stuff and they recognize that they don’t, but would like to.  I’ve always said that the people who knock this band, just aren’t giving them a chance.  

They’re minds aren’t yet open enough; open to the possibilities of love, peace, charity, compassion.  U2 is on message and if they asked me what I thought, I’d tell them to do more!  Let your spirituality fly and do a record of hope for these times.  Inspire us.

You can read the whole series from start to finish here.

Editor Note:  We hope you enjoyed the 4 part story. As you begin to think about the story and have interests in learning more we invite you to our book store to check out some of the most interesting U2 books available today. All proceeds from any sales goes to supporting keeping the website up and our crew out during tour season So we thank you for the consideration.

Of course you can always follow us via twitter, facebook, youtube or right here.

Next up: We have another guest writer that we think you will enjoy. Starting on Monday 

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part III)

Three Chords and the Truth (Part III)

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

Zooropa - From the opening crescendo of “Zooropa”, I was hooked.  Quite possibly my all time favorite.  I have goosebumps right now just listening to that opening song.  This is my fifth listen today.  No holding back, “She’s gonna dream out loud”.  I was most impressed with the fact that the band was bearing to the left at each musical fork in the road as time went on.  

We still move further away into new territory with Zooropa; we keep moving forward from Achtung Baby. Yet, the message hasn’t changed.  SOUNDS different, but  it’s the same message.  Even though this album IS about them, we still have the underlying universal message of hope where redemption and salvation are concerned.  Because Zooropa is a tale of excesses, particularly that of the media.  We need to be saved from the bombardment of media images and messages.  

Of Zooropa, Bono states that there is something in the New Testament “which says that the spirit moves and no one knows where it comes from or where it’s going.  It’s like a wind.  I’ve always felt that way about my faith.  That’s why on Zooropa I say I’ve got no religion.  Because I believe that religion is the enemy of God.  Because it denies the spontaneity of the spirit and the almost anarchistic nature of the spirit.” AMEN, Bono!  “Some days you feel like a bit of a baby/lookin’ for Jesus and his mother/some days are better than others”.

Another turn inside, to Jesus, in “Some Days Are Better Than Others”.  If Johnny Cash doesn’t convince you that he’s a preacher on “The Wanderer”, you better turn it up and listen again.  Another work born this time from The Book of Ecclesiastes about a preacher who sets off on a journey to gain experience and knowledge of whatever he encounters.  Open to the flow of life.  And if you ever listened to this record piped through headphones at a decent decibel level, the alarm at the end of the record will WAKE YOU UP.  And that’s deliberate.

Pop - This is when it got ugly with God.  The parody that began with Zooropa goes full-blown with Pop. Unlike Achtung Baby, Pop was highly regarded when first released only to quickly tarnish.  Bono once said, “It’s stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition.” So regardless of what you might think about Pop, the truth is, they continued to take risks rather than play it safe.  

In all its glitzy-ness, the message is that the glitz of the human experience isn’t enough to satisfy us. We are living in times when instant gratification and an “all we can eat” culture is exploding.  “Gone” is probably the best example of that idea.  “You get to feel so guilty/Got so much for so little/Then you find that feeling/Just won’t go away/You’re holding on to every little thing so tightly/’Til there’s nothing left for you anyway.”  

Now this album, as shrouded in metaphor as it is, yields its share of prayer, Jesus, and God.  When the prayers aren’t answered, the singer feels he’s been cut off, “God has got his phone off the hook” (“If God Will Send His Angels”).  He even goes a step further in “Wake Up, Dead Man”, which is definitely not a nice song.  You just know that Jesus isn’t answering fast enough, “Jesus, I’m waiting here boss/I know you’re looking out for us/But maybe your hands aren’t free”.  The song captures a moment in time that can yet again be incredibly relevant 12 years later.

The world’s gone crazy, and we’re all wondering where God is at the moment.  “Wake Up, Dead Man” is a call or even can be as bold as a command for God to reveal himself and take notice.

After the ups (Achtung Baby) and the downs (Pop) of the 90’s, the excesses seemed to be purging from the band.   Music IS their religion; their version of prayer.  

Up next:  the stripping down of U2 and God re-connects his phone line.

In case you have missed the first two parts tw following links can take you back to the start

• The Journey Towards Ascension, part I and part II 
• Or you can click on the top of the page search tool and review many of the storie deails

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part II)

Three Chords and the Truth (Part II)

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

The Joshua Tree - Lo and behold, three years later the union of U2 and producers Eno and Lanois produce a work that to this day, defines the band.  U2 fans, young and old, diehard and casual, can’t seem to stop comparing the new music to this one album.  It’s quite controversial in that sense.  Hardcore fans never deny the power of The Joshua Tree, yet many more casual fans can’t stop hoping for a new version to drop each time something new is released by the band.  

This is U2 at their most serious, before embarking on a journey of self-parody.  Of course the obvious one to cite from this album is “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t broach the obvious.  Let’s look at “Where the Streets Have No Name”, often interpreted to be a song about being on the road.  In churches throughout the country, it’s no doubt about heaven (“The city’s aflood/And our love turns to rust/We’re beaten and blown by the wind/Trampled in dust/I’ll show you a place/High on a desert plain/Where the streets have no name”).

This is the song that began the movement known as “U2-charist”, which sprinkled certain U2 songs throughout the service, mainly in an effort to keep the interest of the younger members, according to Deacon Charles Cannon of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Palm Beach County, Florida.  Now, U2-charist happens all over the USA, UK, and Ireland.  

Rattle and Hum - On the heels of The Joshua Tree, Americana roots start to grow deep.  This is U2’s most obvious demonstration of Christianity.  Bono’s lyrics are much more explicit as opposed to the challenges of metaphor.  The word “love” could certainly be a placeholder for “God”.  “Love rescue me/come forth and speak to me/raise me up and don’t let me fall/no man is my enemy/my own hands imprison me/love, rescue me”.  

I see myself as part of an arm-waving congregation on a beautiful Sunday morning, looking for the answers.  Salvation is at hand with the Dylan-esque song that Bono says he didn’t really write, but “remembered” the song from a dream he had in which Bob Dylan sang it.  He believed it to be a Dylan song to the extent that he asked the man himself if it was indeed his (Into The Heart: The stories behind every U2 Song, Niall Stokes).  

It should also be noted that when Bono had this dream, it was sleep induced by plenty of drink, and ended in a massive hangover. Of course after The Joshua Tree, U2 couldn’t seem to get away from the constant scrutiny of when they would put out another “Joshua Tree”.  It is also around this time, shortly after Rattle and Hum, that the boys had to “just go away and dream it all up again.

Achtung Baby - Enter Achtung Baby.  Arguably celebrated as “the second coming”.  And not alot of people liked it when it was first released.  The people who were stuck on The Joshua Tree, are now stuck on Achtung Baby.  Except me.  But I should also tell you that I’m in the minority of fans who flipped over POP and think No Line on the Horizon is right up there with The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.  For me, those three albums form sort of a “holy Trinity” of U2, if you will.  

This is historic on a couple of different levels:  the band reinvents themselves in a MAJOR way, and the Berlin Wall falls while U2 is in-state recording.  They’re in Berlin recording this album to give them a little inspiration.  Well, it worked.  Turns out the crumbling of the wall is very symbolic of U2 at this time.  It was the toughest period in the band’s life since October, only now they’re struggling with just how relevant they may or may not be.  Marital discord and other types of friction are right in front of our eyes, but again, the lyrical construction gives way to many different meanings.  Oh yeah.  And there’s a lot of sex here, too.  

Betrayal, love, morality, spirituality, and faith are all ingredients you’ll find in the Holy Scriptures, but oddly enough most of these songs could also tell a tale of infidelity, sex, and the guilt that goes with it.  It’s what I find most fascinating about Bono’s lyrics.

I hear God in every one of these songs.  Let’s choose one.  “Until the End of the World” finds Judas and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  BAM!  Betrayal.  Only this time Bono uses the illustration of the most well known case of betrayal to sum up what’s going on in the band, which is why I find it most interesting.  “We were as close together as a bride and groom/We ate the food, we drank the wine/Everybody having a good time/Except you/You were talking about the end of the world”.

Growing up Catholic, the “bride and groom” references always illustrated the connection between God and people, priest and church.  As I mentioned earlier on, the word “love” is often a substitute for God.

Look, I gotta go, I’m runnin’ outta change.  Up next, humanity gets lost in the blur of life with Zooropa.

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension

Three Chords and the Truth

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

As I write this, I’m enjoying every second of the entire U2 library.  It was time to take a look back and listen again because these songs, for many people, are worth visiting over and over again throughout time.  The timeline is clear, you get a real feeling for the evolution, and sometimes revolution, of this band.  Don’t misunderstand them.  The biggest secret is really how vulnerable they are, particularly Bono.  And just because they write about struggles doesn’t mean they have all the answers.  The Edge has said that they’re just as confused as any of us.  So essentially we are all on this journey with them.  Bono makes that possible in the way he writes lyrics.  Metaphors abound and songs take on multiple meanings.  That’s on purpose.  Bono picks apart the specifics, throws in metaphor and before you know it, by golly, that song is about YOU!

Post-punk revival + Christian rock = U2.  Although it’s evolved into a more spiritual belief system as opposed to those of an organized Christian religion.  But know this too: there are several Christian beliefs and themes within the process of Spirituality.  The journey toward ascension.  It’s largely based on morals, compassion, charity: the words of the Bible outside any organized influences.  If you’ve read the books on the band then you know how serious and important that was to half them.  

What was discovered however, which resonates significantly with me at the present time, interestingly enough, is that it’s not about the organized religion where you have to go somewhere to be heard by God, it’s about how you connect with everyone in the world, a “oneness”, the God connection.  For Bono, it’s always been about compassion and charity, so we see that result outright these days.  He believes songs are like prayers (Rolling Stone; Issue 986 Nov. 3, 2005).

You could grab a song off each album and it will deliver a spiritual journey to, from, or with God.  After all, it hasn’t all been a bed of roses with the Man Upstairs.  Let’s give it a whirl:

Boy largely the coming-of-age album that dealt more with boy trying to be man, loss of innocence and sex.  And more sex.  They were, after all, 18 years old at this time, so factor that.  There was also a lot of anger present on the record, particularly “The Electric Co.”  Otherwise, I was hard-pressed to really find any Christian overtones yet, as the Shalom Fellowship (a Christian sect in Ireland) wasn’t introduced into their lives until 1980, just after this record.  They were certainly exposed to it, but not in the way they would experience soon.

October - “Gloria” is an outright song of confusion in finding the way in the world.  “I try, I try to stand up/but I can’t find my feet/I try, I try to speak up/but only in you I’m complete”.  That record above all represents not only the moment in time, but also the degree of which God influences the band.  October was really the album with the story.  It wasn’t the hit that Boy was, but contained in it is all the confusion and religion any band could muster up in one release.  

Four naive young men set out on the adventure of a lifetime:  to become the world’s biggest rock band. Suddenly, there IS no band.  Guilt wracked 3/4 of the band who were torn between being true spiritually as well as being true to themselves and musically on their quest towards being the best rock and roll band they could be.  However, they learned that the two could NOT coexist under any circumstances as far as the Shalom Fellowship was concerned.  

Larry states in U2 by U2, that there was tremendous pressure from the Shalom Fellowship to attend all prayer meetings and to give up the band to pursue a more spiritual avenue.  The pressure was great enough that The Edge left the band.  Bono followed because as he stated in U2 by U2, he wasn’t interested in being in the band if Edge wasn’t.

There was enormous negativity coming from the people who were their friends, about being in a rock band.  While Bono and Edge exited the band, Larry gave up the Fellowship.  As this turmoil is going on, so should the work of October.  So the band did break up for about 6 months during those sessions.  

October is a fascinating work in that the band comes together to finish work on their second album.  Adam remarks that he wasn’t too convinced that a New Wave band could get away with all the God lyrics.  The band’s new manager, Paul McGuinness, finally posed the question out loud.  “Was this really what they wanted?”  With some insight from McGuinness, they resolved their issues and pressed forward.  The rest, as they say, is history.

War - By the time War came around, everyone had come to terms with where the energy would be spent and felt that God wasn’t going to condemn them for continuing their life’s work.  In the words of Steve Stockman, a Presbyterian minister in Ireland, “The God that they met and have pilgrimaged with down the amazing road is a God who is bigger then church or religious boundaries.” (Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2).  

They had started to dial in at this time.  The album is electrically charged with the politics that hurt them, their families, their people, people all over the world.  These songs became something different for me after 9/11.  After hearing “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” in Boston in Nov. 2001, I finally understood those lyrics like no way I had before.  And these guys lived with this kind of terrorism on a daily basis!  

It hit me like a ton of bricks.  But I digress.  Let’s look at “40”. And maybe you guessed it, yes, the lyrics were restyled from the Bible’s 40th Psalm.  “I waited patiently for the Lord/he inclined and heard my cry/he brought me up out of the pit/out of the mirey clay”.  It’s very calming; spiritual.  It brought the chaos of the album to a close.  It’s no wonder why this song brought the shows to a close for so many years.  That was exactly the idea!

The Unforgettable Fire - This is where the wearing of the feelings on the sleeve becomes less apparent.  Enter Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.  The spirituality that is born on this album is more reflective of the spirituality or Christianity that the band felt right with.  It dealt with some major spiritual themes: “Desperation, desolation, separation, condemnation, revelation, in temptation, isolation, desolation” (“Bad”), as any individual would face in a lifetime.  

Pick your issue, pick your song…it’s all in here.  Now writing and creating for a larger audience, you’ll fine issues from addiction (“Bad”) to the fight for civil rights, to channeling the spirits of Indian people who were massacred in Toronto (“Indian Summer Sky”).  It strikes a chord of a more metaphysical nature, more universal.  The focus on creating atmosphere a la Eno took the nakedness right out of the experience and made it more like experiencing aura.

Next up: the holy grail of U2, The Joshua Tree

(Editor Note: We will be posting the four parts over the next few day, we invite you to sign up via facebook, twitter or our website to be updated as we post)

Bono performs with Wyclef Jean

Today, the Robert F. Kennedy Center For Justice And Human Rights has honoured Bono with the 2009 Ripple Of Hope Award for his human rights advocacy. Wyclef Jean was also a recipient of this year’s award, in acknowledgement of his work for his native Haiti. The ceremony was held at Chelsea Piers in New York.

Bono and Wyclef have collaborated musically before, and it should come as little surprise that after the award-giving and speech-making, the two performed together at the end of the night’s ceremony.