u2 - still relevant

i watched u2's first night on david letterman with lower expectations than what i might have had in the past. their most recent record; how to dismantle an atomic bomb, was among my least favored u2 albums and up to this point i had only heard the new single, 'get your boots on,' from the new record; no line on the horizon. however, instead of looking and sounding like a bunch of 40-somethings rocking the local pub with a cache of songs from 30 years ago, they continued their tradition of seeking the cutting edge, if not necessarily finding it every time out.



i think they got it though, this time. spot on. i watched and listened to them perform 'breathe' on the monday night david letterman show, and i was amazed though not completely sold. i remembered 'vertigo,' a bad ass, hard rocking, blitzkrieg of a tune on every level amidst a collection of otherwise nice but forgettable songs, (excepting 'sometimes you can't make it on your own.')

'breathe' is fresh air. it is artistic and shows some progression in bono's writing as it is a departure, nothing like any song lyrics he has written previously. it is an impressionist sort of song. bono is telling a story in a way, about something that happened on 16 june, a man threatens someone from a front porch but the one who answered the door cannot be frightened because he or she has already been redeemed by the almighty power of music, or...something like that. it will be interesting to discover what this song is really all about some day. but for now it is enough to have vague impressions about the powers of love and music, and the freedom to breathe.

'breathe' sounds like 'come together' collided with 'head like a hole,' then had lunch with 'rainy day woman #12 & 35.' it's not as sonically resounding as 'vertigo,' but it does have another random number inserted at the end of the first stanza. (instead of catorce it's three.) otherwise bono blurts out some of the lyrics like a stream of consciousness warning from on high, then sings and even rhymes others. the affect is of a band taking chances and doing things different long after having secured their place in the pantheon of rock immortals.

the lyrics in 'breathe,' are typically bono, which is to say refreshingly more colorful and vibrant and interesting and poignant than virtually anything else out there.

But I’m running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease

directly following that line is this one:

The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it

it is a new way of describing a frenetic run down the street, like loose electricity? perfect. it is not the first time bono has conjured the music in his head. (he conjured the opera within him on 'ultraviolet,' and on 'sometimes you can't make it on your own.') is there a roar on the other side of silence? and fear is a forest fire and denying it is probably as good a strategy as any in combating it. whether it is a metaphor or a phrase or sometimes just a word, bono is a poet of the first order. for instance, near the end of 'breathe,' when he describes a street as "sunburst." simple and yet, beyond what i have been hearing from his peers.

after watching the performance on letterman i was relieved and my curiosity was piqued. so i tuned in the next night, (way past my bedtime.) they played another track from no line on the horizon, called 'magnificent.' letterman said he felt it right in his chest and i was reminded of just how concise that guy can be, (as well as why he has that job.)

magnificent' is a rock and roll hymn. it floats and soars throughout the higher register and bono plays around with some of the notes bending them up and down and around like a snake emerging from a basket. bono plays lucifer in a way, (prior to the fall,) exclaiming his mission from the beginning, which was "to sing for you." 'magnificent' is rife with biblical imagery and references. ultimately it may be that bono is suggesting lucifer's redemption when he says "only love can heal such a scar." in any case, magnificent is well...no, i won't say that. it is a bombastic song with a great pop hook and so many parts that sum up to rock music as listenable high art. larry and adam as u2's backbone of a rhythm section pump this song along and drive it to being the rocking and bumping song that it is. edge has an understated guitar solo that fits its placement like a glove.

i am anxious to see their performances tonight, tomorrow night and friday on letterman. if they can even be in the same range as these first two nights, i will run to the store on saturday and buy the record if i have to collect aluminum cans to pay for it. (it just hasn't been worked into the budget yet otherwise.) i always planned on buying it but i was in no rush. after seeing 'breathe,' and 'magnificent," these last two nights, my sense of urgency has been substantially engorged.

lots of old bands are still playing. few remain relevant. few offer the new, the interesting, the thoughtful. springsteen recently had a super sunday but it was with old material he whipped out and just rocked the heck out of. the stones, by contrast, look like a group of undertakers trying so hard to be lively when they play, it makes my teeth hurt. sting unceremoniously entered irrelevance when he got in bed with the industry that is high fashion. how un-rock and roll can one get? meanwhile, u2 just keeps working that envelope, pushing at the boundaries of what is expected and what is possible, raging from deep within the machine all while maintaining their death grip on the lost sensibility in rock music, positivity.