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.