In the Name of Love

Dr Martin Luther King

This is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. An exhibit dedicated to the civil rights leader was on display at the Chicago Peace Museum in 1983 when the band visited.

The song had been intended to be about Ronald Reagan’s pride in America’s military power but writer Bono had been influenced by Stephen B. Oates’s book Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a biography of Malcolm X.

These caused Bono to ponder the different sides of the civil rights campaigns, the violent and the non-violent.  In subsequent years, Bono has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lyrics, which he describes, along with another Unforgettable Fire song “Bad”, as being “left as simple sketches”.

He says he was swayed by The Edge and producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who played down the need to develop the lyrics as they thought the impressionistic nature was more important to the songs’ feeling, particularly when heard by non-English speakers.

Released on The Unforgettable Fire album, this song about Jesus (“one man betrayed with a kiss”) and Martin Luther King, Jr., reached number two on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. Bono gave his all recording “Pride,” shouting the lyrics from the depths of his soul.

But don’t rely on Bono for a history lesson; the lyric referring to Dr. King (“Early morning, April four/Shot rings out in the Memphis sky …”) is incorrect — King was actually killed around 6:00 p.m. Bono has since realized his mistake and now sings “Early evening, April four” in live shows.

The last song on The Unforgettable Fire is “MLK,” another tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. “MLK” is the tenth and final song from U2’s 1984 album. A lullaby to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., it is a short, pensive piece with simple lyrics. It was because of this song, along with “Pride (In the Name of Love)”, another tribute to King, that earned Bono the highest honor of the King Center, an organization founded by Coretta Scott King.

Pride

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come here to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love!
One man in the name of love
In the name of love!
What more? In the name of love!

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resists
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!
What more? In the name of love!

…nobody like you…there’s nobody like you…

Mmm…mmm…mmm…
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!
What more in the name of love…

Dr Martin Luther King

(January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated…………….

Remember the Globes tonight

As we reported before U2 was nominated for their second Golden Globe Award. The song is “Winter” from Jim Sheridan’s film Brothers. Their competition in the category includes songs by Paul McCartney; Maury Yeston; James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell and Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

U2 were last nominated in 2003 for their song “The Hands That Built America” from Gangs of New York. They won that honor.

The awards will be broadcast tonight on NBC (Jan. 17)

We will post an update later tonight - Via the site -

U2 part of Haiti charity project

Its been reported on a couple of sites and tweets around the globe that The Edge say U2 has recorded a new song as part of a Haiti Charity project being organized by Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz. 

Comments heard on Dave Fanning radio (2FM) where during part of a conversation at Edges house.  Most of the conversation was around “It might be loud”  Catch the whole interview on via this direct link.

“Last night we wrote a song … Bono got a call from a producer, Swizz. He and Jay-Z wanted to do something for Haiti. So, Bono came up with the phrase on the phone, and last night we were here, we wrote a song — finished, recorded, and send it back to them. So, that might be the next thing you hear from us!”

Remember U2TOURFANS has been collecting donations over the past week. Also we have been working with our photographer team to find some rare images we could offer up in exchange for a donation. The photos come in different sizes and of course without the watermark. When you select a image your purchase amount will include a donation.

Credits: ATU2, U2Tours, U2TOURFAN, U2TOURANS, Dave Fanning

U2TOURFANS Offers Limited Edition Images to Support Haiti

U2TOURFANS has been collecting donations over the past week. Also we have been working with our photographer team to find some rare images we could offer up in exchange for a donation. The photos come in different sizes and of course without the watermark. When you select a image your purchase amount will include a donation.

The photos we have to offer where taken during the Tampa show from the photo pit( Offical Photo Pit Area ) Dave has been a rock photorgrapher for a couple of years and has provided us wth many images. We know you will agree that they are pretty great. Consider getting the as gifts and know that your making a difference.

All the photos can be found here.

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009

KFOG Reports More Tickets

 

U2’s 360° Tour pulls into the Oakland Coliseum June 16, for what promises to be the biggest concert event of the year.  The show may still be a few months off, but we’re giving Fogheads the chance to win free tickets all next week.  

Listen to KFOG Monday 1/18 thru Friday 1/22, between 7am and 7pm, and when you hear the U2 Montage, be caller #10 to 1-800-300-KFOG and you’ll score a pair of tickets to the show.  We’ll be giving away 2 pairs of tickets a day, so stay close to your radio for your chance to win!

Oakland was quickly listed as “sold out” when tickets originally went on sale on November 2nd. Good tickets in all price levels will be released at 10am Tuesday 1/19 at LiveNation.com.

“The Unforgettable Fire”

CORPUS CHRISTI — Irish band U2 released “The Unforgettable Fire” in late 1984. At the time, Bono was developing into not only the band’s charismatic leader. The time also marked the beginning of his more outspoken diatribes against injustices. And while some of the songs on the album weren’t as fully developed as the band’s future work, that chapter in the group’s history gets an upgraded overview that’s worth revisiting on the reissue of the updated, two-disc reissue of “The Unforgettable Fire” (Island).

On earlier albums, such as “Boy” and “War,” U2 made it clear that they had no problem wearing their hearts on their sleeves and their fists in the air as they proudly exhibited youthful rebellion.

But their world view became even wider thanks to their burgeoning notoriety. Despite having success and adulation, they were more acutely aware of the wrongs they saw in their expanded world view. Bono became enthralled with Martin Luther King Jr. during this period. King’s spirit is audibly alive on the defiant “Pride (In the Name of Love),” the album’s big single, and “MLK,” one of the set’s standout tracks.

Elsewhere on the album, U2 effortlessly conjures iconic images in their focus on the Unites States and its rich history, as heard on the solemn “Elvis Presley and America” and the equally stunning “4th of July.”

“Bad,” the disc’s emotional centerpiece, now takes on an eerie, almost hypnotic air in light of the world’s increasing fragmentation, with its message continuing to resonate as dramatically as it did more than 25 years ago.

The second disc in the package will confound collectors, as it includes a generous selection of rarities and remixes, most notably live versions of “A Sort of Homecoming” and “Bad,” outtakes like “Love Comes Tumbling,” plus a magnificent remix of “Wire” that will put a smile on the face of any U2 fan.

This is the album that linked U2’s youthful restlessness to their compelling maturity, as their next album, 1987’s “The Joshua Tree,” would find them perfecting their own kind of rock ‘n’ roll that moves the body, challenges the mind and awakens the spirit.

This updated version of “The Unforgettable Fire” manages to give a deeper, fascinatingly detailed perspective of a band leaving behind its youthful restlessness and confidently maturing with purpose and grace.

U2 goes to Africa

Tribute albums are challenging because not only do the acts involved have to face the reality of knowing that their version of a well-known song will never match the original’s impact, but sometimes, participating in such a project might be more of a marketing ploy and not be such a “tribute” after all.

Neither is the case on “In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2” (Shout! Factory).

Bono has campaigned for many causes to help the people of Africa. That commitment didn’t go unnoticed by music producer Shawn Amos, an African-American who originally went to Africa to help build housing and was inspired to put together this collection as not only a way to pay tribute to U2, but also as a way to give back.

Proceeds generated from the disc’s sales will go to the Global Fund, a charity that seeks to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Third World Countries.

Amos not only shows his formidable abilities as a producer, but also as an arranger, staying true to the rhythms and essence of African music while tipping his hat to U2’s Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.

This collection comes to life thanks to several breathtaking performances, including Tony Allen’s otherworldly “Where the Streets Have No Name,” Les Nubians’ chilling “With or Without You” and a spine-tingling recasting of “Pride (In the Name of Love)” by the Soweto Gospel Choir.

The most dramatic moment may belong to Keziah Jones, who glides over the poly-rhythmic grove of “One,” and delivers warm, transcendent vocals.

Jones sounds to deeply understand the song’s plea for unity. This song is the most touching moment on the disc, one that makes it sound less like a tribute album and more like a love letter from the dry, parched plains of Africa to the cold, narrow streets of Ireland.



Evening Empire

For some reason today the following book came up for review again. A departure from the normal U2 news, we thought it might be a fun little weekend read by the fire -

“Evening’s Empire is an alternative history of the sixties generation that feels truer than what really happened. This is a funny, sad testament to the lost boys who wouldn’t grow up.”

— Bono

The Year Is 1967. In England, and around the world, rock music is exploding — the Beatles have gone psychedelic, the Stones are singing “Ruby Tuesday,” and the summer of love is approaching. For Jack Flynn, a newly minted young solicitor at a conservative firm, the rock world is of little interest — until he is asked to handle the legal affairs of Emerson Cutler, the seductive front man for an up-and-coming group of British boys with a sound that could take them all the way.

Thus begins Jack Flynn’s career with the Ravons, a forty-year journey through London in the sixties, Los Angeles in the seventies, New York in the eighties, into Eastern Europe, Africa, and across America, as Flynn tries to manage his clients through the highs of stardom, the has-been doldrums, sellouts, reunions, drug busts, bad marriages, good affairs, and all the temptations, triumphs, and vanities that complicate the businesses of music and friendship.

Spanning the decades and their shifting ideologies, from the wild abandon of the sixties to the cold realities of the twenty-first century, Evening’s Empire is filled with surprising, sharply funny, and perceptive riffs on fame, culture, and world events. A firsthand observer and remarkable storyteller, author Bill Flanagan has created an epic of rock-and-roll history that is also the life story of a generation.

BBC 'inappropriate' with U2 Album !

The BBC has admitted coverage of the launch of U2 album No Line On The Horizon last February, went too far - giving “undue prominence” to the band.

Critics said the BBC had given U2 “the sort of publicity money can’t buy”.

The corporation’s editorial complaints unit (ECU) acknowledged that radio coverage of the event, including a rooftop concert, breached guidelines.

It added the use of the slogan U2 = BBC “gave an inappropriate impression of endorsement”.

RadioCentre, the trade body for commercial radio companies, made a formal complaint over the coverage. 

The surprise concert drew crowds of onlookers in central London

Complaints over the free publicity given to the band on BBC TV, radio and online included those of Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who said it was “the sort of publicity money can’t buy”.

“Why should licence fee-payers shoulder the cost of U2’s publicity?”

The ECU admitted that a reference to the BBC being “part of launching this new album”, in an interview between Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe and U2 singer Bono, was inappropriate.

The body also upheld a complaint that it was inappropriate for the Radio 1 website to contain links to the websites of ticket agents for the band’s concerts.

‘Potentially sensitive’

“The Radio 1 leadership team have reminded executive producers and presenters about the issues to be considered in relation to judgments about undue prominence, and the distinction between the reporting of new artistic work and commercial promotion,” it said, earlier this week.

“The management of BBC Marketing, Communication and Audiences (the Division responsible for the U2 = BBC graphic) has reminded all staff of the need to consult the editorial policy team in a timely manner for advice when potentially sensitive issues such as commercial interests are involved.”

However, complaints about an edition of Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 show, and a BBC News online report of the U2 concert on the roof of Broadcasting House, were not upheld.

A crowd of around 5,000 watched the rooftop show, which capped off a day of promotion for the Irish band’s 12th studio album, with U2 appearing as special guests on Radio 1.

The band performed four tracks during the 20-minute gig, which was broadcast live on DJ Chris Evans’s BBC Radio 2 show.