Breaking Down Some More of My Favorites: “All Because of You” and “Original of the Species”

Two more of my favorite U2 songs are “All Because of You” and “Original of the Species” on How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. I love “All Because of You” because, well, because of the tambourine in this song. Whenever I listen to this song, my favorite lines are the chorus:

All because of you I am, I am

But, it’s the tambourine in the song that I love the most. I even picture myself on stage with U2 playing this song and my job is to keep hitting the tambourine. A girl can dream!

In “Original of the Species” though, it is all about the lyrics.

Some things you shouldn’t get too good at Like smiling, crying and celebrity Some people got way too much confidence, baby, baby

I’ll give you everything you want Except the thing that you want You are the first one of your kind

At one concert, I remember Bono dedicating this song to his daughter and to the Edge’s daughter. It made me like the song even more. I would rather hear these two songs at a U2 concert than any of the standard “go-to” songs that they feel like they need to play for their fan-base. My dream U2 concert would be one where fans could request 5-6 of the less popular songs for them to include in the show. These two songs would be at the top of my list. More of my favs next week!

 

 

 

Breaking Down Some of My Favorites: Songs about Bono’s Mother and Father

Continuing with some of my favorite U2 songs, I want to include “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) and “Iris” on Songs of Innocence because I find these songs very moving in a way that remind us all of one of the most vital connections in life – the ones with our parents.

“Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” is about Bono’s father, and quite a tribute to him in its wonderful honesty.

We fight all the time

You and I…that’s alright

We’re the same soul

I don’t need…I don’t need to hear you say

That if we weren’t so alike You’d like me a whole lot more

I remember seeing him sing this at MSG and man, he belted it out when he sang,

Can – you – hear – me – when – I –

Sing, you’re the reason I sing

You’re the reason why the opera is in me…

I got the chills. He was singing as a man walking across the LED screens and the audience truly felt that Bono was singing to his father. It was beautiful.

Fast forward to the iNNOCENCE and eXPERIENCE Tour and Bono belts out “Iris” for his mother.

You took me by the hand

I thought that I was leading you

But it was you made me your man

Machine, I dream where you are Iris standing in the hall

She tells me I can do it all

Iris wakes to my nightmares

Don’t fear the world It isn’t there

 Iris playing on the Strand She buries the boy beneath the sand

Iris says that I will be the death of her It was not me

Again, with pictures moving on an LED screen, the audience beholds Bono singing to his mother. And again, it is simply beautiful. It really is. This song ends with:

Iris, Iris She said free yourself to be yourself

If only you could see yourself

Free yourself to be yourself

If only you could see

These lines get repeated by Bono and flashed on the screens, sending a powerful and uplifting message to everyone to sing, to think about, and to put into practice. That is what U2 does. It is more than a song; it is a message. And that message is always soaked in positivity. This is why I (and countless others) can’t get enough of them.  

Breaking Down Some of My Favorites: “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight”

 

I am going talk about my favorite U2 songs in the next few post starting with a song that I love that I wrote about in a previous post about the best U2 songs to run to. “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” is on No Line on the Horizon. But, there is a 7:30 upbeat/dance/disco version of this song on iTunes and when I listen to this song while running, I know the fast paced beats make me run faster. The normal version on No Line on the Horizon is 4:13 and is still upbeat, but does not have the techno-disco vibe that the longer version has.

I know it is pretty cliché to say this, but this song really speaks to me. These are some of the lines that speak to me the most in this song:

How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?

The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear

It’s not a hill it’s a mountain As you start out the climb You see for me I’ve been shouting But we’re gonna make it all the way to the light But I know I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight

I definitely wonder about people who can stand next to the truth and not see it and I truly so believe in being ridiculous. I also want to surround myself with people that feel this way, too. I also like the chorus saying “We’re gonna make it all the way to the light.” I get very inspired and motivated by these lines. And then, “I know I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight.” Well, this part always reminds me to put everything into perspective and to relax and go crazy (whatever my own definition of crazy means…right now it means binge-watching Lost with my husband and daughter) before I really lose it and go crazy.

“I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” is the first song to make it onto my Top Ten List of Favorite U2 Songs.   More to come!

Getting U2 Tickets – Why Is It So Difficult?

So, there were a lot of issues for U2 fans, including me, to get ticket to this summer’s Joshua Tree 2017 Tour. And several articles were written about this problem. According to Billboard.com on January 23, 2017, “U2 has sold a staggering 1.1 million tickets in 24 hours for its 30th anniversary global tour of The Joshua Tree.”

Here is one article written January 17, 2017 for ATU2.com titled, “I Didn’t Get U2 Tickets. Now What?”

http://www.atu2.com/news/i-didnt-get-u2-tickets-what-now.html

Another recent article “The Joshua Trick: How (U2) Fans Are Getting Squeezed by Ticket Sellers” was written for TheRinger.com by Nathan Hubbard who was previously CEO of Ticketmaster and head of commerce and global media for Twitter. Here is the link: https://theringer.com/how-u2-fans-are-getting-squeezed-by-ticket-sellers-c049f88fabbd#.yffnoeh8m   In this article, Hubbard takes the reader through the difficulties of getting U2 tickets via each song on The Joshua Tree. I learned a few things I did not know such as this business of “speculative ticket selling.” This is a great article that every U2 fan should read.

 

I am not a U2 fan that thinks The Joshua Tree is their best album. In fact, I “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” are 2 of my least favorite U2 songs. Actually, if I am being honest, these are two songs I would rather see not make the Set List at concerts in favor of so many others. However, two of my favorite songs on this album are “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “Running to Stand Still.” Oh, and I love “Exit” too!

If I had to choose a favorite U2 album (which I would not want to do), I think I would go with Achtung Baby. Dare I say it? Maybe in 2021, U2 celebrates 30 years after the release of Achtung Baby with an Achtung Baby Tour? I don’t think they will have a problem selling tickets. And maybe by then better legislation will be in place to help fans actually get tickets to a concert before ticket resellers. A girl can dream.

But, as we are all about to sit and watch the Superbowl and await Lady Gaga’s halftime show, let’s take a moment to remember U2’s performance at Superbowl XXXVI (2002) where they played “Beautiful Day,” “MLK,” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” and paid tribute to the 9/11 victims. It’s tough to believe that it has been 15 years from that moving Superbowl halftime show, but I guess maybe not as tough as believing it’s been 30 years since The Joshua Tree.