Dear CNN:
Just this a.m. I was playing U2’s Under a Blood Red Sky
recorded live at Red Rocks and when Sunday Bloody Sunday
came on and I heard Bono declare, “There’s been too much
talk about this next song – many, many, too much talk. This
song is not a rebel song. This song is Sunday Bloody
Sunday.” And then the snare cracks in that almost military
time and Edge’s unmistakable guitar notes and Bono humming –
I got the chills again – all over again like I used to when
I was in high school listening to this album over and over
again. At 16 one of my best friends was shot in the head and
it blew out the back and he lay dead there in a puddle of
blood. I couldn’t help but feel something as 15 minutes
earlier he suggested we leave and I suggested we stay
another 15 minutes. So, I held-up in my room, in the dark,
under the gray skies of early spring down the Ohio River
from Pittsburgh, PA – listening to U2’s Under a Blood Red
Sky over and over and over again as the passion, complexity,
lyrics, music, tone all just called me and for some reason
helped ease the pain – ease my soul because I felt something
that drew me to this music.
I can recall seeing u2’s New Year’s Day on MTV for the first
time and what an impact that video, Gloria and Sunday Bloody
Sunday had on me. There was something unique about U2 that
stood out from the rest of the bands being blasted at me. I
couldn’t tell you how many times I watched Live at Red Rocks
and laughed and cried while watching Rattle and Hum.
Then there was a course of U2’s career and my life that
didn’t click – even though I had a thorough understanding of
the “Mephisto” persona in art and literature and film that
depicted the highest degree of political and social power
and the influence fame and temptations – I did like Achtung
Baby and songs like Mysterious Ways and One – but really
wasn’t into all the hype and the mission of the band from
this point on and did not get into Zooropa and Pop. This
mission didn’t resonate with me and it wasn’t the soulful
poetics of the bands past music – Of course, I wasn’t upset
or mad or anything like some crazy fan – I just explored
other music and wrapped my arms around John Lennon, Jerry
Garcia, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and
modern bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rusted Root, Uncle
Tueplo, the Jayhawks and Wilco.
Then All That You Can’t Leave Behind came and enticed me and
eventually captivated me along with Bono’s accomplishments
and his mission of “Trying to Wrap Your Arms Around the
World” one me over again. And the release of How to
Dismantle an Atomic Bomb made me smile and feel like “okay
these boys are back.” Although the music is not the same as
it was in the beginning, that’s fine – everyone needs to
“shed skin” and grow a little. I like the music and message
of U2 again. I am a fan once more.
I am grateful and thankful for Bono and U2 as musicians and
fellow human be-ings. They an example of the type of
“higher” I enjoy.
Moreover, I am grateful and thankful for the time CNN gives
to Bono within its programming and hope that it continues
and more frequently and regularly.
“What a long strange trip it’s been.”
Best of the organic Roses,
John A. Conte` Jr.
“John French” mystrawhat.com
