Wicked Good Music

The one lyric.

The song starts off quiet and quickly works itself into a frenzy of layered guitars. With punk ferocity pulsing behind him, Dave Grohl softly welcomes the listener. “Hello, I’ve waited here for you…Everlong” and erupts into a ballad that will forever be part of the greatest songs ever.

When the Foo Fighters second album came out, they toured alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, making a stop in Providence, Rhode Island, where I was attending college. A local record shop announced that the Foos were going to be doing an in-store performance and I knew I had to go. My roommate and I went to the store and the line was around the building. Wristbands were given out to the first in line, and we then knew that hundreds of us were not getting in. However, the band had not yet arrived, so we still hung out in the back lot of the store for the bus to pull up. The band went inside the store, and after a short bit, the back door opened and Dave Grohl appeared with Taylor Hawkins. Dave had an acoustic guitar in hand. The legend of “Nice Guy Dave” started early.

My roommate and I were standing next to a dumpster while we had waited, and the two band members made their way towards it. Taylor opened the dumpster and pulled out an empty 5-gallon water jug. Closing the dumpster, the two jumped up on it and pulled a kid u with them. The kid was asked to hold the jug so Taylor could drum along to Dave’s songs.

I don’t know what transpired in the store during the electric set, but I knew that whatever went down in there after the 3-song dumpster acoustic set, it wasn’t as amazing as the treat we were given. They did 3 songs to a crowd of about 200 and I was there, about five feet from the dumpster.

One of the songs they played was “Everlong” and it blew me away. To this day, that song contains the one single lyric that I think is the best ever written:

“The only thing I’ll ever ask of you, you’ve got to promise no to stop when I say ‘When’”

From that acoustic performance on a dumpster to seeing them open with that song at Fenway Park in 2015 ( when Dave was recovering from the stage fall broken leg and was in his throne) this song will forever be etched in my soul.

https://youtu.be/nWSUuw0uTUw

My Anthem

I have not found a band that divides people as much as U2. There are the fans that think the band died after The Joshua Tree album, others who have never even listened to them hate them because suddenly a new U2 album appeared in their iTunes overnight without their permission, other think Bono is too self-righteous and talks too much. Me? They’ve been my favorite band since I was a kid, and I’m always finding more in their songs and music.

If you ask me what my favorite song of all time is, without hesitation, I’ll tell you it’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. No other song has resonated with me at different stages of my life like that one.

U2’s history is rooted in a mix of punk rock and religion. If you listen to Bono’s lyrics, you will find repeating themes and symbolisms, and at face value, many of their songs are about love, the struggle of relationships, and other personal issues. But…when you dissect the words, more often than not, you’ll find U2 are the biggest Christian rock band ever. They don’t get labeled as such due to hidden nature of the meanings and religious struggles they embody.

This song embodies that struggle, and it’s one I am all too familiar with. No matter how often I go to church, read the Bible, research Christ or meditate on it as a believer, I am never quite fulfilled as I wish I was.

“ I have climbed the highest mountain, I have run through the fields, only to be with you” Bono writes, and for the casual listener, it sounds like a love letter to someone that isn’t happy in a relationship, as if they have done all they can to prove their love only to not have it reciprocated. How I take it, the “you” isn’t a person, it’s God.

The part that hits me the hardest is the second verse. Bono sings, “I have spoke with the tongue of angels, I have held the hand of the devil…it was warm in a night I was cold as a stone” which to me and my life is applied as I can talk the talk, but sometimes when it’s convenient I don’t choose the right thing, I choose the easy thing. Walking the walk has always been a struggle for me.

The song took on a whole new meaning when I saw the movie “Rattle And Hum” where U2 went to Harlem to visit a choir there that was singing it as part of their worship services. And in these days of racial unrest amidst the death of George Floyd, the lyric “I believe in Kingdom Come, where all the colors bleed into one” is more relevant than ever. That is what the Black Lives Matter moment is looking for and still hasn’t found.

https://youtu.be/M8Wt3dhF4fU

Three Chords & The Truth

Anyone that knows me knows that my life of music is a big part of my life. Maybe it’s streaming satellite radio, listening to my digital collection, big venue concerts, local shows, or my personal favorite…vinyl, there is music in the background.

On May 10, 2020, my favorite songwriter, Bono, released a list of his “60 Songs That Saved My Life” to celebrate his 60th birthday. The list was a series of letters to the writers of the songs, each deeply personal and the range of the artists he addressed was similar to what I would choose. Artists such as REM, Nirvana, Billie Eilish, Public Enemy, and many other various artists were included. It is an amazing and inspiring list.

Could I narrow my list to 60 songs? 100 songs? I don’t know, because music hits me every day. I’m always hearing something that is inspiring me and amazing me. That is what this list will be. Yes I will included my favorite, most important and life changing songs, but I will also explore other songs that have impacted me in some profound way.

I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I do.