Some of My Daughter’s Favorite Song Lyrics

Last weekend on a train ride into NY, I asked my daughter who is almost 14 to come up with a list of some of her favorite song lyrics.  I have a colleague who makes unique and beautiful foil prints written in calligraphy and we were trying to come up with song lyrics that he can use to make one of a kind gifts for people.  I am looking forward to having these lines from my wedding song made into a foil print:

“All the promises we make, from the cradle to the grave, when all I want is you”

A friend of mine just got married this past summer and she and her husband danced to “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac.  For them, I hope to make a print with the lyrics, “I love you, like never before.”  When I see that line from that song, it totally make me think of them as a couple.  I love the personalization and meaningfulness of this kind of gift.

But, back to my daughter’s list.  Here is what she came up with in a matter of minutes of some of her favorite song lyrics:             

• Don’t fear the world it isn’t there
• There is a light you can’t always see
• Give me love give me peace on earth 
• One life you got to do what you should 
• What you don’t have you don’t need it now                  
• Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders
• Take a sad song and make it better 
• Where the streets have no name
• You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one      
• Take the time to waste a moment 
• Take me back to the start 
• Take these broken wings and learn to fly 
• It’s times like these you learn to love again
• The more you know the less you feel 
• She’s running to stand still

 

8 on this list are from U2 songs –I am one proud mom!  I will be sure to write a follow up post to show the final products of the prints with our favorite lyrics.

For now though, here is a print he made with the Spanish saying:
“Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres” which translates to “Tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.”

 

 

 

U2’s March Madness Promo!

U2 seems to have a reputation of being everywhere at times and continuing to be in your face with their music and their ideas.  So, it should not be a surprise to see them living up to their reputation and being featured in a promo for March Madness 2018 which begins March 13, 2018.

My son and my husband were both watching the events of NBA All Star Games any chance they got this weekend and I was half-listening and getting work done from the kitchen. My work, however, was interrupted when I heard “you and I are rock and roll, we came here looking for American soul.”  I yelled, “REWIND PLEASE!!”  Here is the video:

U2 March Madness Promo

I hope they air it as many times as possible.  I love it!

 

 

More Shows Added to eXPERIENCE and iNNOCENCE Tour!

Trying to get tickets to concerts these days can be nearly impossible and usually very frustrating…even if you have a Pre-Sale Access code.  This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart having bought tickets for so many years using Ticketmaster and when I had no other choice, sites like Stub Hub.  Recently though, Ticketmaster has been trying to do a better job of getting tickets into the hands of fans instead of these re-sellers who more than double the price.

In fact, according to Ticketmaster.com, “Ticketmaster #VerifiedFan was designed to separate actual, human fans from bots and scalpers. The system aims to thwart bad actors who are in the business of taking away tickets from fans just so they can resell them. Our technology analyzes every registrant to make sure they are real people interested in going to the show.”  A few weeks ago, I was able to score 4 Orchestra seats at face value to Hamilton due to this system.  So, thank you Ticketmaster!

However, another factor that comes into play when trying to get tickets for tour is if the band adds more dates to their tour.  Usually if the band is playing only for one night in a big city, they might add another night…but you do not know if they will.  If they are already scheduled to play 2-3 nights in one city, they probably will not add another night.  But, this is exactly what U2 did!  They added a 3^rd night for New York, a 4^th night in Paris, and 2 more shows to Dublin (for a total of 4).  It is very clear that U2 wants as many of their fans to be able to see their show as possible, or maybe for some of us to see more than one show!  Thank you U2!

On behalf of fans everywhere, I really appreciate all that Ticketmaster and U2 are doing for their fans!

 

U2 at The Grammys

Amazing performance by U2 at The Grammys this past weekend.  Kendrick Lamar opened the show with a pretty politically charged performance and during one of his songs, Bono and the Edge walked out onto the stage and down some stairs singing “It’s not a place, this country is to me a sound…”

I would have loved to see them sing “American Soul” together!

For their performance, U2 sang “Get Out Of Your Own Way” on the Hudson River with The Statue of Liberty behind them.  It was pre-taped; but still amazing to see them singing in front of one of America’s most treasured structures.   Leave it to U2 to do something different and make a political statement through their music.  They censored what Bono said at the end of the song: “Blessed are the shithole countries, for they gave us the American Dream.”  Bono has not been shy about speaking out against Trump during the election and his presidency.  I am sure that the Songs of eXPERIENCE and iNNOCENCE Tour will be full of political messages and inspirational encouragement to fight for those who need our help.  It wouldn’t be a U2 concert without them!

I did read some reviews of The Grammys that mentioned there was not enough Rock this year—only U2 and a tribute to Tom Petty.  I totally agree with that!

Bono’s Writes for Time Magazine

So, back to blogging after some time off at the holidays.  And 2018 is going to be fantastic for U2 fans.  It is also turning out to be a great concert year overall with several amazing artists out on tour this year.  I still listen to Song of Experience pretty much every day.

But, I was most excited the first week of the new year to see that Bono had written a piece titled “Why Men Must Also Fight for Women and Girls” in Time magazine.  He discusses the backlash he received from being the lone man among the women in the Glamour Women of the Year awards.  He goes on to write about some conversations that occurred with his daughters and his wife.  And the online version of the article is accompanied by a black and white cartoon with Bono narrating and even designing his own character (see above).  There is a specific call to action at the end of the video:  “Tell world leaders why you think girls count” at www.one.org/count

Here is a link to the online article:  http://time.com/5087377/why-its-time-for-men-to-step-up-for-women-too/

The article appears in the January 15, 2018 issue.

U2 is Having a Busy December

With the release of Songs of Experience December 1^st, U2 has been all over the place promoting it.  If you are not a U2 fan, it must be pretty annoying.  But if you are a fan, well then, Merry Christmas!  With an appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show to celebrate World Aids Day, SNL, and Howard Stern this past week, it seems like U2 is everywhere talking about their new album.  And there is still more to look forward to!  Next week the BBC special of U2 performing with an orchestra and choir at Abbey Roads Studio will air and they have already released a trailer of “All I Want Is You” (my wedding song).  Just when you think U2 can’t sing this song any more intensely and movingly, they prove you wrong.  See for yourself here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un-rfEyPBO4

Also, the official video for “Get Out Of Your Own Way” is coming in the next few days and U2 has teamed up again with Omaze to offer a truly incredible experience to play Mini-Golf with the band.  Last year they donated a few fabulous experiences such as a private concert and joining Bono and Julia Roberts for tea.  While I did not win those, that doesn’t mean I am not going to try again!   Here is what a donation to (RED) will help:

Every day 400 babies are born with HIV, but they don’t have to be. The life-saving pills that keep an HIV+ pregnant woman alive and healthy also prevents the virus from passing to her unborn baby. These pills cost as little as 30 cents a day in sub-Saharan Africa–that’s two lives saved for just 30 cents. When you donate to win a (RED) experience, you’re supporting (SHOPATHON) RED–the annual holiday campaign to raise awareness and money to help HIV+ moms get access to lifesaving medication, bringing us closer to a world where no baby is born with HIV. Let’s end AIDS. 

Check out this and other “awesome experiences” at https://www.omaze.com/

U2 on SNL! Fantastic Performances by the Band and the Video Animation Crew!

I have been listening to Songs of Experience non-stop since last Friday!  But, let’s talk about U2’s appearance on Saturday Night Live this week – it was nothing short of phenomenal and a very concrete example that they are still incredible rock stars.  But since I teach a Creative Media class (which is also the very reason I am even keeping this blog) I wanted to extend my praise to the team that creates the graphics, video, animation, imaging, etc. that was the backdrop of their performance.  I am also wondering if this is the same team that creates similar video imaging for their concerts.  I am as equally entertained by the video as I am in the band’s performance.  The text fonts and arrangement of words are vivid, appropriate, and thoughtful.  They also are quite energizing and stimulating.  It truly makes me enjoy the songs even more than I already do.

U2 played “American Soul” which started out with great graphics for the Kendrick Lamar preachy intro and then ended with Bono holding up the megaphone he was singing into while standing in front of the Statue of Liberty.  Such a cool visual.  And so meaningful.  I love this song!  What an anthem!

They also played “Get Out of Your Own Way” which I am going to just believe that they wrote specifically for me.   No one can talk me out of this…just allow me to live in my own fantasy world please!   More on that in a later post.  No fancy video backdrop for this one, because hey, sometimes you just want to see the band play without any distractions.

My two favorite songs from The Joshua Tree 2017 were “Exit” and “Mysterious Ways” specifically because on the amazing video imaging that was the backdrop of these songs.  This video backdrop has come to be a staple for a U2 show and I would not want to have it any other way.  I want to meet the team that creates this aspect of their shows almost as much as I want to meet Bono, Larry, Adam, and The Edge.  Almost.

So excited for The Songs of Experience Tour – looking forward to what the video animation crew is going to think of for this show and hoping that some of those great graphics make their way to some concert shirts for me to buy!

 

 

“You and I are rock and roll!”

My phone greeted me on December 1^st with an alert to let me know that Songs of Experience was now available in my iTunes library!!!  And so, I have been listening to this album non-stop since.  I already knew how much I loved “You’re the Best Thing About Me” and “The Blackout” and “Get Out of Your Own Way,” but now I am also in love with “Lights of Home” and “American Soul.”

“American Soul” might just be my new favorite U2 song!  I have been listening to it over and over again.  It is an energetic song that pumps you up and makes you feel as if Bono is including you in the whole experience when he sings: “You are rock and roll, You and I are rock and roll!”  Okay, Bono, yes, you and I are rock and roll…if you say so!  This is the song I will be the most excited to see live…and I hope Bono gets as political as I would expect him to with lyrics like:

There’s a promise in the heart of every good dream
It’s a call to action, not to fantasy
The end of a dream, the start of what’s real
Let it be unity, let it be community
For refugees like you and me
A country to receive us
Will you be our sanctuary
Refu-Jesus

I have never heard the term “refu-Jesus” and I love it.

This album also has songs that refer back to song on Songs of Innocence like “13” and “Lights of Home” where we get to “continue to sing “Free yourself to be yourself, If only you could you see yourself.”  Please put those lyrics on a concert shirt for me to buy in June!

Songs of Experience was so worth waiting for!  My daughter and I already choreographed how we would love to see “The Blackout” performed in concert.  And now U2 is going to be out and about promoting this album – Bono was on The Jimmy Kimmel Show with Chris Martin and Sean Penn promoting Project (Red) and even on Good Morning Football talking about U2’s 2002 Superbowl Halftime Show, what football positions the members of U2 would be, and Tom Brady.

They will be on Saturday Night Live hosted by Saorise Ronan this week.  Here is a funny trailer for the show:  http://ew.com/tv/2017/12/01/saoirse-ronan-u2-snl-promo/

Back to listening to this incredible album…more posts about Songs of Experience to follow!

 

 

 

Getting U2 Tickets: Good News and Bad News OR Interesting New?

So, I did get tickets to U2’s eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour 2018 –YAY!  I went in with my U2.com Priority Access Group Innocence code on 11/14 and got some pretty great seats.  I was only able to get 2 tickets and will try for 1-2 more during the general sale.  Here are a few interesting things that were different with this ticket buying experience worth noting:

• There were SEVERAL levels of priority access: Experience level, Innocence level, CitiBand Card level, and many VIP level tickets (which were not entirely explained)
• There were several times presale started. I am used to tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. ET, but my code started at 1 p.m. ET – not a big deal, but a ticket buyer just had to keep these things in mind in order to be ready to get presale tickets this time
• Now, the most interesting thing I noticed for this tour was that there were EIGHT levels of pricing for tickets for the show at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. I have been buying concert tickets for decades and I have never seen this!  And the highest priced FACE VALUE TICKET was $655!   When I saw this, I was at first really shocked and dismayed that U2 would do this to their fans.  I even thought, come on Bono, are you serious – you want us to pay $1400 for a pair of tickets????  But when I thought about it a bit more, I thought maybe this is their way of undermining the resellers who beat the fans to the tickets and double/triple/quadruple the face value of these tickets.  To compare, Foo Fighters tickets were $99 – for any seat to their Prudential Center show.  But it was IMPOSSIBLE to get good seats to this show without going to resellers which I begrudgingly had to do.  The price levels for the U2 show at Prudential Center were:  $655, $475, $330, $295, $176, $111, $81, and $46.  So just as the different times presales started, this added a bit to the confusion.  When looking for a “good seat,” you also had to decide – how much am I willing to pay to see U2’s show? I would love to know the business reasons for all of this…and if it is an attempt to beat the resellers, well, let’s see if it works.  I mean, if the face value of a ticket is $655 or $475 – how much more can Stub Hub or Vivid Seats sell them for?  Maybe, it was a genius move?

I am happy with my seats – lower level, side of the stage, aisle seats – Section 18 baby!  But, since my daughter also wants to go, I need to find one more ticket on Monday – wish me luck – again!

On another note, CONGRATULATIONS to U2 for receiving the Global Icon Award at the 2017 Europe Music Awards in London.   The host Jared Leto presented the band with the ‘Global Icon’ Award and described them as “a way of life.”  He went on to say, “Their songs are prayers. Their concerts [are] a church. They challenge us. They inspire us. They remind us that every moment in our lives in an opportunity to rise above and be part of the possibilities of life rather than its problems.”

They performed “Get Out Of Your Own Way” live from Trafalgar Square – stay tuned for more on that in my next post!

Here is a link to Jared Leto presenting U2 with the award:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsmgFnFJNg

 

 

Bill Flanagan’s Written In My Soul Conversation with Bono on Sirius XM’s Volume (106), Part 2

Back to Bono’s discussion with Bill Flanagan about the meanings of some of the songs on the upcoming Songs of Experience album.  Here are several highlights of Bono’s reflections on some songs:

• For the song “The Blackout,” Bono suggests that “democracy is a mere blip in time” and this song is about an aged rock star, but also about democracy. This will definitely make me think about the line “dinosaurs wonder why” a bit differently.  When discussing this song, Bono and Flanagan go on to deliberate about how Ringo Star was born into “a very male madness” and that an antidote to this “arrives in the shape of these songsters.”  He also mentions that David Bowie and other writers at the time were writing as a “challenge to the maleness that got us into all this trouble.”  I love it. 

• For the song “The Showman,” Bono tells us to be “careful of these performers…they lie for a living.” Don’t they ever!
• In “Little Things That Give You Away,” Bono states that it is a song where our “youthful self challenges the person you’ve become.” Wow, that sounds a bit surreal! 
• He mentions that over the years he has written some personal songs a tributes to his parents. Two of my favorites are “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and “Iris” on Songs of Innocence.  I (heart) these 2 songs! 
• “Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way” is the song Bono tells us is him as a father speaking to his sons and daughters. Of this song, he says that he was thinking “if I had one thing I could say to them…I came up with the phrase ‘love is bigger than anything in its way.’”   Bono, you had me at “love.”   

I hope these little snippets have made you want to listen to this very detailed and informative conversation if you have Sirius XM.  I am so excited about this album!

Stay tuned to next week’s post to see if I and Ticketmaster Verified Presale and U2.com subscription membership are enough to put tickets to U2’s summer tour in my hands without having to deal with Stub Hub, Vivid Seats, etc.