Two Hearts Beat As One

Larry Lootsteen

Conestogo, Ontario, Canada​

​As so many older U2 fans will tell you, pegging down favorite tracks from the early days of the band can be difficult.  I Will Follow from Boy is mentioned by most, perhaps Gloria from October.  And from War, Sunday, Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day.

War was the album that took me over the top as a U2 fan.  I loved Sunday, Bloody Sunday but it was never my favorite track.  There are no duds on this album.  Every track works for me.  An album that, to this day, get me up and energized, even angry and moving.​

Two Hearts was a track that never left my playlist.  I LOVE this song.  Soaring in a way that ​was different.  This was a love song at rocket speed.  I can still do the move I always did from it.  Two fingers up at the end of my outstretched arm.  Bring it in to my chest as a fist and stop.  Tap my fist against my chest to the beat like a heart beat.  Stretch arm out again with one finger up.  Repeat for each chorus.  I'm an idiot.  I know!

​This song was adrenaline and passion for me.  Still is.  How do you feel about it?

Lyrics:​

I don't know
I don't know which side I'm on
I don't know my right from left
Or my right from wrong
Say I'm a fool
You say I'm not for you
But if I'm a fool for you
Oh, that's something
Two hearts beat as one
Two hearts beat as one
Two hearts...

Can't stop the dance
Honey, this is my last chance
I said, can't stop the dance
Maybe this is my last chance

Two hearts beat as one
Two hearts beat as one
Two hearts...

They beat on black, beat on white
Beat on everything don't get it right
Beat on you, beat on me, beat on love

I don't know
How to say what's got to be said
I don't know if it's black or white
There's others see it red
I don't get the answers right
I'll leave that to you
Is this love out of fashion?
Or is it the time of year?
Are these words distraction
To the words you wanna hear?

Two hearts beat as one
Two hearts beat as one

I try to spit it out
I try to explain
The way I feel
Oh, yeah
Two hearts

I can't stop the dance
Maybe this is my last chance
I said I can't stop the dance
Maybe this is my last chance
I said don't stop the dance
Maybe this is my last chance
I said can't stop the dance
Maybe this is our last chance
I said can't stop the dance
Maybe this is our last chance

​@U2

The First Time

Larry Lootsteen - Conestogo, Ontario, Canada​

Fans exist is many shapes and forms.  And times.  Do you remember the first time you heard about U2?  This is my story of U2.

My first ever exposure to U2 came on December 9, 1980. I was watching a local Toronto tv show called The New Music which always showed up and coming bands.  They had an interview with an Irish singer from a band that was playing a local Toronto club call The El Mocambo (so many bands went through this place). Bono was sitting in a coffee shop with host Jeanne Becker and he really impressed me as an intelligent, thoughtful guy so different then most of the newcomers. They showed a 30 second clip from their show of them doing I Will Follow.

For whatever reason, that hooked me. I wasn't a mad fan back then. That would
come later.. But they got me interested. A local Toronto alternative radio
station, Edge 102, gradually played more and more of their music.

I guess the change over to mad fan began with War. Sunday Bloody Sunday an obvious great song.  But it was my first U2 album buy (Boy and October purchases came soon after) and I wore the damn thing out. Two Hearts Beat As One was my overall favourite track but Seconds, Refugee, New Year's Day, 40...really every track.

If I was hooked early, The Unforgettable Fire blew me away. Homecoming, Pride, Wire, UF, Bad (yes I liked it even before the follow up version everyone loves). Joshua Tree - Red Hill Mining Town and One Tree Hill are my two favourite tracks. Achtung Baby - just such an amazing change of pace - Zoo Station, The Fly and Ultraviolet were the best! Zooropa ended up being played more then any other album...over and over front to back. The title track remains one of the most amazing pieces of music/rock/electronica to me.
The whole thing was inspired.

If Pop didn't hit home for most, I still loved it a lot. Mofo, Please and Wake Up Dead Man were the best for me. As much as I liked the next two albums they were hardly killer in the annals of U2 time for me. Walk On, Peace on Earth and Grace were my favourites (no disrespect to Beautiful Day, which is great but overplayed to death) from All That You Can't Leave Behind. Blinding Lights, Love and Peace and Yahweh were great from How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Which brings us to No Line On The Horizon, which I really, really liked.  Magnificent, Cedars of Lebanon and Unknown Caller were all favourites

​Bono / U2 360 Tour

From a live perspective, I had little luck, especially at first. 17 years in I saw my first
show...Popmart! ! Had floor seats and were near the aisle where they came through the
crowd so they were right there in front me. Just a great show and a complete
blur for my first time. Elevation was the only other tour I saw until recently and I saw two
shows. I have no luck with life, timing and money when it comes to U2 live. I am
thankful for those experiences nonetheless.  My beautiful wife surprised me with 360 tickets more recently.  Managed to get up front (outside the circle) by one of the claw legs.  A great experience all around.

We live, we laugh, we learn and we grow.  U2 fans are a community of great people
with a passion. I am thankful to be a part of it. I may question, even curse on occasion but always a fan at the end of the day.

Could U2 Survive Without

 Larry Lootsteen

Conestogo, Ontario, Canada​

I have thought about this a lot over the years.  A band that has been so together, so solid as a team​ both in business and in music, could one of them leave?  Could they potentially survive commercially?  And what would that mean?

The most obvious response from a cold, hard perspective is that Bono and Edge are so much the face of the band that either leaving could be unrecoverable.  What of Larry and Adam?  Known but lesser faces.  What if one of them left?  Is the impact much less for them?

U2 / Bono ​

Certainly Bono, without question, defines the voice and the very public face of the band.  After decades, he would be the hardest to replace the most likely to be deemed an absolute.  It has happened before.  Van Halen did with some measure of success.  What about Edge?  Could a​ new lead guitar bring about the type of change that could launch a final 10 year run at the top?  Could a serious sound change redefine U2 or would it destroy it?

​So Larry and Adam.  Both are kind of unique in their playing.  But could a change in that base of the music bring something new and potentially exciting to the soundscape of U2?  Some might argue that Larry, as founder, could never leave.  If he left voluntarily, and was willing to let them continue in name, would that be possible?  Of the four, Adam seems almost the most likely to be replaceable.  His common face is a standard part of the band but could a new bass player bring something different?  Could U2 continue as a threesome without Adam?  Interesting to ponder that.

​U2

​And Paul McGuiness.  Is he such an integral part of the unit that they could not survive without him?  He may have given them opportunity but has he been the wizard?  By all accounts decisions are made by collective.  Could they do as well without him?

​I know most of you would respond that U2 is U2 and any change would be the end.  I'm not so sure.  I'm not even sure that a change might not be good for them.  Shake things up and open some creative doors.  Adam in particular would be the most easily survived replacement.

Bottom line is that I don't think the band would continue without the four friends in place.  Losing Paul McGuiness might not spell the end​.  The bandmates, most assuredly, would end it if one of them decided it was time.  But speculating on what change would mean over ending it is interesting, potentially exciting in some ways.  Curious what everyone thinks about all that!