I was hoping to have finished reading Bono’s book
Surrender, but I have not. I’ve made a good dent in it, and it is definitely a great read. Technically, this is my last U2SDAY for this project. However, I think I’ll go ahead and do one more to talk about the book. I wish I had started reading it a little earlier, but I was caught up in a couple of good books that I couldn’t pull myself away from. I also didn’t have anything else really lined up for this topic. I had thought about talking about my favorite cover songs that U2 performed. Or maybe my favorite U2 songs. But the truth is, I’m not a music expert or music critic. So anything I write will invariably be reduced to “this is a cool song” and “this is also a cool song” and “oooo, this is a cool song.” I can’t even attempt to sound all smart, waxing poetic about Edge’s particular guitar playing or the influence of The Zombies on U2. (I don’t know if The Zombies influenced U2. Bono hasn’t mentioned them yet. He has mentioned The Sex Pistols quite a lot.) So, I came up with a different idea.One of the most distressing things to me is that nobody else in my house likes U2. My mother always would whine about how all she wanted was for her kids to love each other. Other parents will say they just want their kids to be happy or to be good at sports or to do their best. I don’t care about any of that; I just wanted them to like U2. That isn’t true. I wanted them to like Batman, but U2 was a close second. It isn’t just that my kids don’t like U2. Heather doesn’t like U2. This is seriously bothersome to me. She isn’t just indifferent, either. She doesn’t like them. I mean, she should be entitled to her opinion, but clearly it is stupid. Okay, okay. That’s extreme. I don’t like the Beatles, and she likes them. So maybe this is fair turnabout. (Truth is, I don’t HATE the Beatles. I really like some of their stuff. Like “Revolution” - that is a cool song. But I have to have something to retaliate about the U2 thing with, so I officially don’t like the Beatles.) One of the things that I read in the book is that Edge has said before that “Nobody dislikes U2. If they say they do, they aren’t trying hard enough.” The comment is played off as a joke, but I can totally see Edge saying that and kind of believing it. He is a bit of a goofball. Oh, one of the coolest things I’ve discovered in the book so far is that all four members of the band are … kind of dorks. Like they were seriously not cool growing up. Maybe that’s why I like them. Ok, I digress, and I’m spoiling next week’s post.
So Heather doesn’t like U2. I’ve given up trying to convince the children. They are from a different century. The boys are not big-time music fans. They have some favorites, which I mostly agree with. My daughter is a music weirdo - she gloms onto bands I’ve never heard of and gets all excited about them. Then she’ll play them for me, and I’ll not understand what the big deal is. Probably like she feels when I play her U2. But Heather - my wife, my soulmate (I don’t think we’ve ever called each other soulmates. Not big fans of that term.) The person who is going to be stuck with me when I’m the only person in the nursing home rocking. I’ve tried to convince her, to no avail. At one point, she said maybe she just hadn’t listened to the right stuff. She asked me to put together a playlist for her of songs that I thought she might like. I seized the challenge. I took hours and hours to pick the perfect songs. I separated them by theme. I wrote up a big accompanying document with lyrics and explanations. And I made up the playlist and entitled it “Can You Too Love U2?” She said she listened to a couple of songs and didn’t like it. So that was that. U2 is going to be starting a residency in Vegas this Fall, and we are talking about going out there - possibly timed to my 50th birthday next Spring. (If the concerts are still going on then.) I’ve told her she isn’t allowed to go to the concert because she would be a fake fan. But then I wouldn’t have anyone to go with, so that backfired.
What I am going to share here is that playlist, with a couple of tweaks. If you are trying to figure out why I like the band so much, listen to the playlist. This also would show you most of my favorite songs, which is why I didn’t have to write that entry. Now for Heather, I put all of the lyrics for each song into the document also. That alone would be over 8,000 words. So I’m going to just list the songs and expand the explanations part. I think 2,000 words is much better.
ENCOURAGEMENT
These are songs that are good to hear when things are tough. They acknowledge that there are times when life sucks, but that there are still good things to celebrate. And things won’t stay bad forever. “Walk On” was very popular after the 9/11 attacks. There is a second version on the new album about Ukraine - which is also very good. “Stuck in a Moment” was written about Michael Hutchins, lead singer of INXS. He was close friends with U2, and he committed suicide a few years before the song came out. They always had hoped he would find his way out of the mess.
- Beautiful Day
- Walk On
- Stuck in a Moment
- In a Little While
- Grace
RELIGIOUS
The band has always embraced religious themes. Larry, Bono, and Edge are all very devout. Adam isn’t as religious, but he still likes dealing with spiritual concepts. They all grew up in Ireland when the Protestant / Catholic animosity was at an all-time high. They have definitely seen some terrible things done in the name of religion, and they continue to be bothered with how often that still happens. “Yahweh” is an incredible song that is a prayer I pray for myself. “Lights of Home” was written after Bono had a health scare and nearly died. It was about his faith and his desire to live to be with his family.
- Yahweh
- “40”
- Magnificent
- Lights of Home
- If God Will Send His Angels
FRUSTRATION
This is the flip-side of the Encouragement songs. These are where the band is expressing its frustration with things in the world. U2 has always been very vocal politically - from AIDS to Africa’s famine to poverty to gun control. They also have been very frustrated with how the Church operates - as I mentioned earlier. “Crumbs From Your Table” is a devastating song about the First World and Church falling down on the job of helping the rest of the world. “Get Out of Your Own Way” and “American Soul” are a sandwich on Songs of Experience with Kendrick Lamar reciting some lines that bridge the two songs. “Peace on Earth” is not what it seems - it actually carries bitterness over the cost of “peace.”
- Crumbs From Your Table
- Bullet the Blue Sky
- Get Out of Your Own Way
- American Soul
- Peace on Earth
LOVE
These cover the gamut of love. Love starting, love struggling, love fighting, love failing, love persevering. I appreciate how they don’t always paint an overly positive or easy love. “Electrical Storm” is a powerful song about a couple on the verge of breaking up - mirrored in a brewing storm outside. “Every Breaking Wave” is one of my favorite songs. It’s another song of a couple on the verge of walking away from each other because staying together seems too hard. Listen to it acoustic for maximum gut-wrenching action. “Love is Bigger than Anything in Its Way” is another of my favorite songs. I appreciate its message more and more each year. And “One” is one of the best song ever by anyone.
- Love Is Blindness
- One
- Love is Bigger than Anything in Its Way
- All I Want Is You
- Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
- Electrical Storm
- You’re The Best Thing About Me
- The Little Things That Give You Away
- Every Breaking Wave
FAMILY
U2 definitely understands how difficult family can be. They started off as teenagers who felt they were misunderstood by their parents. Now they are parents whose kids are heading out on their own. “Iris” is about Bono’s mom, who died when he was fourteen from a brain aneurysm. Also notice the lines at the end that later end up in “Lights of Home,” when he thought he was dying. He had a blister on his heart that could have ruptured and killed him. “Sometimes You Can’t Make It” was about his dad - who was an opera singer. They never got along well. “Song for Someone” was when Bono met his wife, Ali. “13” is a companion song for his kids. “Kite” is about a parent realizing their kids are about to fly away.
- Iris
- Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own
- Song for Someone
- 13 (There is a Light)
- Kite
AWESOME FOURSOME
These four all played back to back on Rattle and Hum - their classic live album. This is just a tremendous flow of songs. I was going to recommend three of these songs when I realized that they were all together on the album. “Pride” is just an awesome, even if it can be overplayed. It is the one that almost got Bono shot at a concert. “Angel of Harlem” just sounds cool. “Love Rescue Me” is co-written and co-performed with Bob Dylan and is about … love … rescuing… Awesome song, awesome message. “When Love Comes to Town” is preformed with BB King. What is really kind of funny is that U2 talks about how at the beginning of their career, they actively avoided the Gospel and Black-music influences that were so prevalent in rock music at that time. They were - in their minds - a punk band. They didn’t actually start embracing the blues / gospel influences until Joshua Tree, which was when they hit the stratosphere in popularity. Rattle and Hum came right after that. The last three of these songs would never exist without them making the decision to actually incorporate those influences. I’m glad they did.
- Pride (In the Name of Love)
- Angel of Harlem
- Love Rescue Me
- When Love Comes to Town
COVERS
I went ahead and listed the covers that U2 has done that I really like. Overall, they've done around 30 covers. They’ve never released one as a single, though. Mostly they are found on live albums, EPs, and B-Sides. I put the album they came from, as well as the original artist. They are a fun group of songs.
- Everlasting Love - (The Best of 1980-1990s: The B-Sides) - Robert Knight
- All Along the Watchtower (Rattle and Hum) - Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix
- Can’t Help Falling in Love - (Honeymoon in Vegas Soundtrack) - Elvis Presley
- Unchained Melody - (The Best of 1980-1990s: The B-Sides) - Righteous Brothers
- Paint it Black (Achtung Baby - B Sides) - Rolling Stones
- Helter Skelter (Rattle and Hum) - The Beatles
- Lady with a Spinning Head (Achtung Baby - B Sides) - Lou Reed
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - A Very Special Christmas - Darlene Love
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