U2's MusicAnd I find that I am
more fulfilled by my writing when I am listening to live radio. Live
music works, but live radio is better.
Spurred by lunchtime conversation that briefly gravitated towards the
greatest band in the world, I took a bit of my evening to seek out video
records of Live Aid performances by Queen and U2. The internet yielded
its fruit, and I found a video of Queen belting out Radio Ga-ga
and We Are the Champions, along with commentary by
contemporaries, lauding Queen's unexpected ability to steal the
unprecedented show. Then there was a tid-bit I learned about U2, that
during their bit of the Live Aid show in Wembley Stadium (U.K.) in 1985,
a woman was being pressed by the crowd, and when Bono's gestures to
ushers went misunderstood, he moved to the crowd to try to get this
woman freed out of the masses. I've been to many U2 shows, and know that
it is tradition that Bono calls out a member of the audience during Bad,
and more recently during other songs (Velvet Dress)...I wondered if this
tradition was born out of this gesture during the Live Aid show. It is
touching live, and it was revealing to see its recording today.
As has become my custom of late, a custom I would like to change, I
was more a listener than a storyteller at lunch. The opportunity arose,
thanks to an opened door by Stew-dog. "Rob's about to explode on you,"
he said, as others in our group disputed U2's status as the greatest
band in the world. Moreover, they said that Bono's vocals were a thing
of the past. But I was quiet, listening, enjoying the bantering of young
men, and not spoiling for a fight.
In that conversation, Stewart told that I had seen U2 live in
Jo-burg, and that brought some moments back to me. There was talk about
their recent albums, and a feeling that they were lackluster. There I
did chime in, that many of their songs are designed for being played to
a live audience. An example is "Last Night on Earth." Before I
watched them play
that one in Jo-burg, I really didn't care much about that song. But when
they played that live, and dove into a dueling banjoes style slugfest
between Bono's vocals and Edge's guitar, all the while driving the
70,000 plus behind me into a frenzy of enthusiasm, underscored by the
rhythms of Clayton and Mullen, Jr., well that was a live-musical
highlight I won't soon forget. It ended with Bono leaning over
into the crowd from a stage that was one meter away from the front row
and two meters above it. He grabbed a dude by the back of the neck, a
dude that wore rose-coloured wrap-arounds in Bono fashion, and Bono bit
off a shout, a yell, into this guy's face, as if trying to scare away a
demon while making a sacrifice to the gods of Rock 'n' Roll...It was
fierce, raw, and what a moment that encapsulated live music is meant to
be.
I'll also never forget from that particular show when they played
Mysterious Ways, late at the end of the show, when they talked about the
new South Africa, how they weren't there yet, but they were moving in
the right direction. As the house lights went down, and the lighters
and cellular phones were lit, and the crowd swayed, Bono's voice cooed, It's all
right...it's all right...and I felt like despite the slow progression,
there was still progress. And that we would get there.
In keeping with the flow, here's my top ten list of U2 songs.
Remixes don't count.
1. One "Did I
disappoint you..."
This song is essential
listening for all human beings. (Click here for my own medical
school version)
2. Mysterious Ways "To
touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal. If you want to reach the sky,
boy, you got to learn how to kneel."
A love song for anyone who
appreciates the female form, both corporeal and holistic.
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday
"I can't believe the news today. I can't close my eyes and make it go
away. How long? How long must we sing this song?"
This is the protest song of
our day. It is applicable as much to AIDS as it is to the political
quandary of land ownership in Ireland, Israel, and Zimbabwe.
4. Zooropa "Eat to get
slimmer... ...And I have no purpose. And I have no map, and I have no
reasons, no reasons to get back... ...skip the subway... ...let's go,
let's go to the overground... ...Don't worry baby, it's going to be all
right."
This album is like The
Beatles' Sergeant
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - it has so many levels of
complexity that one could be stranded on a desert island with it for
years, and find continuing satisfaction.
5. The Fly "They say
the sun is eclipsed sometimes. You know I don't see you, when she walks
in the room... ...They say a secret is something you tell one other
person, so I'm telling you... ...All kill their inspiration, and sing
about their grief."
Decadence. Struggle with
Conscience. Art versus Science.
6. Until the End of the
World "Last time we met, it was a low-lit room. We were as close
together as a bride and groom."
Edge's echo-soaked guitar
tears through this like an affair through marriage. No wonder they don't
play this one live very often.
I almost have to split
this top ten list into two: one that would be live as compared with one
that is studio. There are songs like Where the Streets Have no Name
that are so awesome live, but that lyrically and in studio, are not that
compelling. Others that stand out only if you hear them live are
Until the End of the World, Gloria, and Mofo. Conversely there
are songs that have so much engineering behind them that only a studio
listening in a soundproof room will do them justice. These include
several titles from
Zooropa.
7. Miracle Drug "I
want a trip inside your head. Spend the day there...to hear the things
you haven't said... ...The songs are in your eyes. I see them when you
smile. I've had enough of romantic love. Yeah I'd give it up ... for a
miracle drug."
Science, maturity, AIDS,
solving poverty, and trading priorities to make it happen. And Edge's
guitar, again soaked in sunset echo, absolutely makes this song.
8. Vertigo "And though
your soul it can't be bought, your mind can wander... ...Girl with
crimson nails, Jesus 'round her neck... ...Just give me what I want, and
nobody gets hurt."
Just plain old 2000's rock
and roll, man. And again with Edge, playing like he has three hands, carrying the band.
9. I Will Follow "Let
me tell you all, I will FOLLOW!"
Only Gloria rivals
I Will Follow in getting a live gig
going. This jam is like it has been hard-wired into all of the
Western world, and you automatically move upon impact.
10.Sweetest Thing
"Blue-eyed boy and this brown-eyed girl... ...I'm losing you, yeah hey
heh, I'm losing you... Oh oh oh the Sweetest Thing."
Personal attachments with
this song. I just wish they hadn't made such a goofy video to it.
Here is the link to U2's web
site: http://www.u2.com/home.php
And here is the link to the
web site with all their lyrics:
http://www.u2wanderer.org/
As a footnote, I've seen U2
live in Los Angeles three or four times. I've seen 'em in Memphis, in Johannesburg,
and in Atlanta. The shows in Memphis, Jo'burg and Atlanta were front-row tickets, and
it is from these experiences that I have become spoiled; I learned that
a show worth seeing is worth seeing from the front row; anything less,
is a lesser experience.
