the folks in my job are jus bout ready to beat me upside the head with something heavy and blunt cuz ive had How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb on repeat the whole day with the possible exception fo replaying ‘Yahweh’ a few times. yeah, U2 has me singin to He.Who.Is.
nothing new to my roommate who regularly comes home to find my U2 Live in Chicago:1 bootleg in the CD player unless i have decided to change shit up and instead put U2 Live in Chicago:2 in play. hey, sometimes you feel like a nut…
this, of course, is in celebration of the band’s Grammy sweep last night. its crazy to think that they last won album of the year almost 20 years ago (note pic of bono in his leather vest finest and the rest of the crew lookin equally bas ass) and here they are again. even crazier is the fact that this is a band that has put out five perfect albums (War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby & All That You Can´t Leave Behind) before this one.
so while i have yet to put out anything close to “perfect” i often see myself in the same position as four dublin kids teachin themselves the art and impossibly believin that
a) rock-n-roll can change the world
b) they are that rock-n-roll
and then you can see me questioning the work that i am doing and then coming across this quote-
“I could see we were starting to look like the music we were making.” – Bono
yeah and aint that the turn of the coin when your art starts making choices for you rather than the other way around.
dont get it twisted, there are quite a few embarrasments in the U2 legacy (Pop & just about everything on stage during the PopMart tour clearly jump to mind) but thats what keeps em my musical heroes, that ability to bounce back without worrying about whether or not this album is gonna be greater than the last and jus make the best album that they can right at that moment
signing off now with the lyrics to mah favorited song on Atomic Bomb and a look at U2 during the “mullet era”
Original Of The Species
Baby slow down
The end is not as fun as the start
Please stay a child somewhere in your heartI’ll give you everything you want
Except the thing that you want
You are the first one of your kindAnd you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
And I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want the lot of what you got
And I want nothing that you’re notEverywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about itSome things you shouldn’t get too good at
Like smiling, crying and celebrity
Some people got way too much confidence babyI’ll give you everything you want
Except the thing that you want
You are the first one of your kindAnd you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want the lot of what you got
And I want nothing that you’re notEverywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about it, no
And you’ll never be alone
Come on now show your soul
You’ve been keeping your love under controlEverywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about it
Everywhere you go you shout it
Oh my myAnd you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want you some more, I want you some more…
Photos and lyrics courtesy of macphisto.net