Wednesday, August 01, 2007
With all this leisure time on my hands, I have finally been able to dig in to this massive book given to me by the Eidse' family at Christmas. I have been itching to read it and to soak up the tons of previously unseen (to me) pictures of my Irish boys. The book is a really interesting format, written like a conversation between the four, that intermittently includes cameos by heavily involved U2ers such as their manager Paul McGuinness. It is laid out chronologically and I'm at the point now in which Boy was released, they've toured outside of Ireland and England to promote it, and are heading (with intrepidation) to the studio to record what will become October. I've decided that in order to fully enjoy the book, I must play the album they're relfecting on at that time during the read. This has been essential to establish the tone and spirit of their musings. I cannot believe the journey these four have made for themselves. What I marvel at is their blatant vulnerability throughout the process of becoming not only a band but more basically, musicians. Each person is completely honest about not really knowing a thing and yet willing to step in to either screw up or be triumphant in the effort. This is a characteristic, or way of making decisions, that I admire. When I do things in that same vein, I never regret it.
I also like getting to know the strengths of each player within the band. Now reading about them from their point of view, I can see why they have lasted as a band these nearly 30 years.
I've been a U2 fan for about 20 years. I continue to struggle with their global massiveness and how that correlates to my loyalty, for some reason bristling at their popularity. That said, I get why so many fall so hard for them - they are magnetic in their approach to live life with complete abandon and they always make honest music.
# posted by tfoxfan @ 4:08 PM 
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It is a great book and I too have been in the process of reading it...and by reading your post have been reminded that I really should finish it! I read multiple books at a time and sometimes forget to finish them - goes with being a prof I guess. You are so right that it gives a fuller picture of who the bandmembers are individually. Great book to read is Bono by Michka Assayas - you really get into the head of Bono and some really cool insights.
I too have the Bono essays by Assayas. I read that book in chapter chunks and just reflect on the content for a while before digging into another chapter.
So I just had to pick one U2 song this morning to play for Ezra as his earliest introduction to the entire canon. He was fussing and squirming, but immediately calmed down and started looking around as the bassline kicked in, and stayed mellow. Any guesses?
Hmmm... Bassline... I'll throw a few Clayton specials out there such "If you Wear that Dress" or "Please" or "With or Without You" or "A Man and A Woman".
Or, because you brought it up, my favourites: 'Running to Stand Still' or 'Ultraviolet'.
Am I close? Btw, good choice for the lil' guy.
Or, because you brought it up, my favourites: 'Running to Stand Still' or 'Ultraviolet'.
Am I close? Btw, good choice for the lil' guy.
Bingo! Ultraviolet it was. I was sitting there with tears in my eyes as the lyrics took on fresh meaning with the little guy mellowing out in my lap.
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