Anticipating U2 Live

Tomorrow, i'm off to see a U2 concert. This will be my 4th time to experience the high-energy of U2 playing live before an audience of devoted fans. i've been a fan of U2 since the early '80's when i first saw the video for their song 'Gloria' during the birth of MTV. when i saw those 4 young Irish lads on a barge at Dublin Harbor rocking out in that video something sparked inside of me and i just knew they had something special.
I first saw U2 live in Tampa, Florida during the 'PopMart' tour... won tickets in a local radio contest... and that was when i came to know what a great live act is U2. such incredible energy they project to the audience. Then, i saw them twice on their 'Elevation' tour... attended the tour's opening show at Fort Lauderdale, Florida (it was touted as Miami, but Miami is actually long way from Fort Lauderdale which is distinctly a whole other city) and, again, the next-to-last show of the 'Elevation' tour in Tampa, Florida. the Tampa 'Elevation' show was very exciting because i was one of the lucky ones to obtain a General Admission ticket and was right up front of the heart-shaped runway that jutted out into the audience where Bono and The Edge spent so much time performing. it was so cool for me, a huge fan of Bono, to be so close to him during that evening's performance. dang, i can still close my eyes and see him singing and sweating and dancing in that weirdly awkward, yet cool, way of his hoping to make eye contact with him even if only for a second. i was mesmerized that evening. Bono surely does possess a unique charisma. i find him to be a rather inspirational person, too.
Even though, i have become less avid in my fanhood due to U2's recent over-blown commercialism (i blame the biz machine that surrounds U2), i still admire the 4 lifelong friends who comprise the rock band called U2. i think they are men who have struggled with finding 'who they are' as humans and have a lot of integrity... something not easily held onto when so successful.
i, also, find U2's music to be inspirational. when i am feeling a bit depressed or down on myself for not accomplishing all that i dream or want to do, i listen to my favorite U2 songs and am lifted out of my blue mood.


So, now, as i anticipate another evening of rocking out to the live sounds of a very special band, i've got U2 cranked on the stereo as i prepare for my early morning departure, heading off to the U.S.A.'s upper midwest region.

Here are the lyrics to a couple of my fav songs from the most recent U2 album, 'How To Disable An Atomic Bomb'....


The first, 'All Because Of You' Bono wrote about himself, to himself and is about recognizing and appreciating that we are the result of our experiences/ideas/dreams and that we should not doubt our selves nor our self worth.

All Because Of You

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am… I am

I like the sound of my own voice
I didn’t give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train

Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I’m not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am… I am

I’m alive
I’m being born
I just arrived, I’m at the door
Of the place I started out from
And I want back inside

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am

(Bono)

The second, A Man And A Woman', a beautiful song Bono wrote to his wife, his childhood sweetheart, which somehow manages to further confirm my belief that fairy tales really do exist :)

A Man and A Woman

Little sister don’t you worry about a thing today
Take the heat from the sun
Little sister
I know that everything is not ok
But you’re like honey on my tongue

True love never can be rent
But only true love can keep beauty innocent

I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman
No I could never take a chance
‘Cos I could never understand
The mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

You can run from love
And if it’s really love it will find you
Catch you by the heel
But you can’t be numb for love
The only pain is to feel nothing at all
How can I hurt when I’m holding you?

I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

And you’re the one, there’s no-one else
You make me want to lose myself
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

Brown eyed girl across the street
On rue Saint Divine
I thought this is the one for me
But she was already mine
You were already mine…

Little sister
I’ve been sleeping in the street again
Like a stray dog
Little sister
I’ve been trying to feel complete again
But you’re gone and so is God

The soul needs beauty for a soul mate
When the soul wants… the soul waits …

No I could never take a chance
On losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

For love and sex and faith and fear
And all the things that keep us here
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

How can I hurt when I’m holding you?

(Bono)