U2 countdown: today is the day. day #1. ONE.

where do i begin?  simply put, it's the greatest song ever written.  it's a song that transcends musical genres, cultures, decades and the differences between people.  it's the epitome of a song that is a life philosophy rather than just a song.  what begins as a break-up song ("you act like you never had love and you want me to go without, well it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light... you gave me nothing now it's all i got") turns into something much more, much deeper, in the realization that we are all human and all in this mess together.  the lyrics about the devastating heartbreak that we have all felt are somehow less sad than the unification sung at the end.  what's more, is that this song was actually written about bono's relationship with father, which makes the heartbreak that much more real.  it's not some lost love - it's the struggle within a family that we have all felt.  it's not being able to put the hurt of the past out of your mind to move forward with people who are essentially the same as you.  but in the end, we all need to "carry each other."  


one love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
one life with each other: sisters, brothers.
one life, but we're not the same.
we get to carry each other, carry each other.
one, one


this is easily the philosophy of my life.  it's the lesson i've learned and continue to learn with every new person i encounter and every new heartache i become a part of.  and it's not just because this love of U2 and this song was somehow genetically passed to me by my father... it's because this is the decent thing that humans feel for each other.  no one's problems or heartaches are worse than the next person's.  no one has gotten through something that you won't be able to get through.  and even better - there are people who know what you are going through, have gone through, and people who will be there with you. 


if you think it's just me and my obsession... you're wrong.  it's popularity is indisputable.  voted #1 by Q magazine in it's list of "1001 best songs ever." voted #36 in rolling stone's list of "the 500 greatest songs of all time."  the UK voted bono's lyric "one life, with each other, sisters, brothers" the #1 lyric.  and it's been played at every U2 show since the song's debut in 1992.  the way the song's devastating and graceful lyrics are mixed with the edge's "crying guitar" at the end of the song makes for the perfect mix.  and the fact of the matter is that if the rapture really does happen today, there is nowhere i would rather be than at this U2 show with two of my favorite people in the world.


this is one, from 1991's achtung baby.


is it getting better, or do you feel the same?
will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?
you say one love, one life, when it's one need in the night.
one love, we get to share it
leaves you baby if you don't care for it.

did i disappoint you or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
you act like you never had love and you want me to go without.
well, it's too late tonight to drag the past out into the light.
we're one, but we're not the same.
we get to carry each other, carry each other... one

have you come here for forgiveness,
have you come to raise the dead
have you come here to play jesus to the lepers in your head
did i ask too much, more than a lot
you gave me nothing, now it's all i got.
we're one, but we're not the same.
Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again.

you say love is a temple, love a higher law
love is a temple, love the higher law.
you ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
and i can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt.

one love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
one life with each other: sisters, brothers.
one life, but we're not the same.
we get to carry each other, carry each other.
one, one.

U2 countdown day 2: where the streets have no name

like i said yesterday, we are really into the good stuff now.  yesterday i talked about U2's songs being almost more like life philosophies, but today it's more about writing a feeling.  anyone who has ever written... well, you know how hard it is to explain one certain, intense emotion.  that's what this song is.  this song was written in reference to a section of belfast, northern ireland where your the street where you lived was determined by your income and religious background.  this song became about transcendence, about a place where there are no such boundaries, about being truly free.  this is the song that is usually playing in my car when i fantasize about skipping my exit on the highway and just keep on driving... i know we've all had that feeling sometime.  "i'll show you a place, high in the desert plain, where the streets have no name."  it's a beautiful idea.  to me, this song is about escaping the constraints of your life, whatever they are -- social, religious, political, or just things in your own personal life you want to break free of.  it's a beautiful, simple idea. if you get the chance to listen to this one, definitely do it -- the end of the song (listen to the long version!) is pure bliss.  


this is where the streets have no name, from 1987's the joshua tree.


i wanna run, i want to hide
i wanna tear down the walls
that hold me inside.
i wanna reach out
and touch the flame
where the streets have no name.

i wanna feel sunlight on my face.
i see the dust-cloud
disappear without a trace.
i wanna take shelter
from the poison rain
where the streets have no name
where the streets have no name
where the streets have no name.

we're still building and burning down love
burning down love.
and when i go there
i go there with you
(it's all i can do).

the city's a flood, and our love turns to rust.
we're beaten and blown by the wind
trampled in dust.
i'll show you a place
high on a desert plain
where the streets have no name
where the streets have no name
where the streets have no name.

we're still building and burning down love
burning down love.
and when i go there
i go there with you
(it's all i can do).

U2 countdown day 3: pride

so it depends on my mood, sometimes this and #4 switch places.  but lately, i'm thinking this is my #3 for sure.  now we are getting into the really good stuff.  and when i say that, i mean #378 on the list of the 500 greatest songs of all time by rolling stone.  it's beyond epic.  this is sone of those songs that you turn up super loud, and before you know it you're singing at the top of your lungs with your eyes closed.  or at least i do.  the song is written about martin luther king jr, which makes it all the more inspirational.  to me, this begins the progression of songs that are more than songs - they are life philosophies.  it's all in the name of love - fighting for what you believe in, fighting against injustice everywhere... whatever it is, it's all in the name of love. 


this is pride (in the name of love), from 1984's the unforgettable fire.


one man come in the name of love
one man come and go.
one man come he to justify
one man to overthrow.

in the name of love
what more in the name of love.
in the name of love
what more in the name of love.

one man caught on a barbed wire fence
one man he resist
one man washed up on an empty beach
one man betrayed with a kiss.

in the name of love
what more in the name of love.
in the name of love
what more in the name of love.

early morning, april four
shot rings out in the memphis sky.
free at last, they took your life
they could not take your pride.

in the name of love
what more in the name of love.
in the name of love
what more in the name of love.

in the name of love
what more in the name of love.
in the name of love
what more in the name of love.

U2 countdown day 4: walk on

philip hates this song so much.  but as my dad and i will tell you, it's easily one of U2's best.  to me, this song is about loss -- whether it's death, a break up, or something different all together -- and the strength to get through it.  the part that speaks to me the most is, "i know it aches and your heart it breaks, and you can only take so much, walk on, leave it behind, you've got to leave it behind."  it reminds me of some other great songs i know... mostly florence and the machine's dog days are over ("leave all your love and your lonely behind you can't carry it with you if you want to survive, but the dog days are over, the dog days are gone.") that are really about moving on.  and moving on despite not know where you are moving to, and not quite being ready to move away from the things you can't leave.


this is walk on, from 2001's all that you can't leave behind. (a lyric from this song actually.)


and love is not the easy thing
the only baggage you can bring...
and love is not the easy thing....
the only baggage you can bring
is all that you can't leave behind

and if the darkness is to keep us apart
and if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
and if your glass heart should crack
and for a second you turn back
oh no, be strong

walk on, walk on
what you got they can't steal it
no they can't even feel it
walk on, walk on...
stay safe tonight

you're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
a place that has to be believed to be seen
you could have flown away
a singing bird in an open cage
who will only fly, only fly for freedom

walk on, walk on
what you've got they can't deny it
can't sell it, can't buy it
walk on, walk on
stay safe tonight

and i know it aches
and your heart it breaks
and you can only take so much
walk on, walk on

home, hard to know what it is if you've never had one
home, i can't say where it is but i know i'm going home
that's where the hurt is

i know it aches
how your heart it breaks
and you can only take so much
walk on, walk on

leave it behind
you've got to leave it behind
all that you fashion
all that you make
all that you build
all that you break
all that you measure
all that you steal
all this you can leave behind
all that you reason
all that you sense
all that you speak
all you dress up
all that you scheme
all that you create
all that you plan.

U2 countdown day 5: sometimes you can't make it on your own

some of the best songs bono has written are about his relationship with this father.  this is one that everyone can relate to in one capacity or another.  i don't even know if i could possibly pick out a favorite lyric, but it would probably be, "and it's you when i look in the mirror, and it's you whenever i pick up the phone, sometimes you can't make it on your own." this lyric had very special meaning to me when i listened to it right after my grandfather's death on my 21st birthday, who called me incessantly (i loved it) and had sent me flower for my birthday - which arrived after he died.  but the other best lyric would be, "you don't have to put up a fight, you don't have to always be right, let me take some of the punches for you tonight."  it's so beautiful and selfless to have a love like this for someone.  and i think we all have those people in our lives - that we are so close to yet there's that distance that sometimes seems uncrossable.  this is for those people. 


this is sometimes you can't make it in your own, from 2004's how to dismantle an atomic bomb.


tough, you think you've got the stuff
you're telling me and anyone
you're hard enough

you don't have to put up a fight
you don't have to always be right
let me take some of the punches
for you tonight

listen to me now
i need to let you know
you don't have to go it alone

and it's you when i look in the mirror
and it's you when i don't pick up the phone
sometimes you can't make it on your own

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

listen to me now
i need to let you know
you don't have to go it alone

and it's you when I look in the mirror
and it's you when I don't pick up the phone
sometimes you can't make it on your own

i know that we don't talk
i'm sick of it all 
can - you - hear - me - when - i -
sing, you're the reason i sing
you're the reason why the opera is in me

where are we now?
i've got to let you know
a house still doesn't make a home
don't leave me here alone...

and it's you when i look in the mirror
and it's you that makes it hard to let go 
sometimes you can't make it on your own
sometimes you can't make it 
the best you can do is to fake it
sometimes you can't make it on your own

U2 countdown day 6: with or without you

obviously.  one of the best U2 songs ever (that's why it's on here).  this one sounds amazing, but it's really the words that speak to those who love this song most.  "my hands are tied, my body bruised, she's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose." the anguish in his voice is something we can all relate to.


this is with or without you, from 1987's the joshua tree.


see the stone set in your eyes
see the thorn twist in your side.
i wait for you.

sleight of hand and twist of fate
on a bed of nails she makes me wait
and i'll wait without you

with or without you
with or without you.

through the storm, we reach the shore
you gave it all but i want more
and i'm waiting for you

with or without you
with or without you.
i can't live with or without you.

and you give yourself away
and you give yourself away
and you give, and you give
and you give yourself away.

my hands are tied, my body bruised
she got me with nothing to win
and nothing else to lose.

and you give yourself away
and you give yourself away
and you give, and you give
and you give yourself away.

with or without you
with or without you
i can't live
with or without you.

with or without you
with or without you
i can't live
with or without you
with or without you

U2 countdown day 7: city of blinding lights

this is an easy pick for me.  this song is largely inspired by bono's first trip to new york after 9/11, and the loss of innocence felt by all.  it's stunning, especially when you know what he's writing about.  for all those affected by 9/11, this was something truly uplifting when the song was released a few years after the tragedy.


this is city of blinding lights, from 2004's how to dismantle an atomic bomb.


the more you see the less you know
the less you find out as you go
i knew much more then than i do now

neon heart dayglo eyes 
a city lit by fireflies
they're advertising in the skies
for people like us

and i miss you when you're not around
i'm getting ready to leave the ground.

oh you look so beautiful tonight
in the city of blinding lights

don't look before you laugh
look ugly in a photograph
flash bulbs purple irises
the camera can't see

i've seen you walk unafraid
i've seen you in the clothes you made
can you see the beauty inside of me?
what happened to the beauty i had inside of me

and i miss you when you're not around
i'm getting ready to leave the ground

oh you look so beautiful tonight
in the city of blinding lights

U2 countdown day 8: sunday bloody sunday

everyone knows this song, i'm sure of it. it's more than just a poem or a song, this is an anthem to an actual historical event.  "bloody sunday," as it was nicknamed afterwards, was supposed to be a peaceful civil rights rally in northern ireland, 1972.  but members of the british army shot 26 unarmed protesters, killing 17.  


this is sunday bloody sunday from 1983's under a blood red sky.


i can't believe the news today
i can't close my eyes and make it go away.
how long, how long must we sing this song?
how long, how long?
'cos tonight
we can be as one, tonight.

broken bottles under children's feet
bodies strewn across the dead-end street.
but i won't heed the battle call
it puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall.

sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.
oh, let's go.

and the battle's just begun
there's many lost, but tell me who has won?
the trenches dug within our hearts
and mothers, children, brothers, sisters
torn apart.

sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.

how long, how long must we sing this song?
how long, how long?
'sos tonight
we can be as one, tonight.
sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.

wipe the tears from your eyes
wipe your tears away.
i'll wipe your tears away.
i'll wipe your tears away.
i'll wipe your bloodshot eyes.
sunday, bloody sunday.
sunday, bloody sunday.

and it's true we are immune
when fact is fiction and TV reality.
and today the millions cry
we eat and drink while tomorrow they die.

the real battle just begun
to claim the victory jesus won
on...

sunday, bloody sunday
sunday, bloody sunday..