Giving Thanks to U2

It started in 2000 with a compilation album.

While listening to “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 2” on my portable CD player on shuffle, “The Sweetest Thing” by U2 came on. I had never heard of the song and vaguely remembered the band’s name (“Pride (In the Name of Love)” was the only song I knew they did). Always open to new music, I let this track about a man’s love for a woman being “like a rubber ball” play. I absorbed it then moved onto the Spice Girls and Britney Spears songs on the record.

Two years later, I was making my regular drive to high school with my best pal Jeremy in the passenger seat. We liked to have a CD to listen to as we made our way to school. I usually brought Madonna and Elton John, while he brought Michael and Janet Jackson. This day, he had U2’s “The Best of 1990-2000”. He popped it in my car’s CD player and said, “This is great. You’re really going to like it.” He skipped to track 12, “The Hands That Built America”. It was quite good. I felt the haunting nature of it, the intensity of the lyrics and the melody. Jeremy let me borrow the CD for the weekend, so I could listen to the whole thing and see what else I might like.

That weekend, “Beautiful Day” came up and I was instantly enamored. This song is AMAZING. How had I not heard it before? It spoke to me like nothing else had in such a long time. “You love this town/ Even if that doesn’t ring true/ You’ve been all over/ And its been all over you” reminded me so much of myself. And that CHORUS. “It’s a beautiful day/ Don’t let it get away”, how can something so simple be so powerful?

On Monday, I gave Jeremy back his copy and went to buy my own. This paved the way for the first greatest hits collection, where “Sunday Bloody Sunday” became an instant favorite. I then bought U2’s new record at the time “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, then literally worked backwards. I was digging around in the garage and came upon my dad’s cassette of “Achtung Baby” (my dad knew of this band and didn’t tell me how good they were?!) I got “Boy” after becoming captivated by “I Will Follow”. I got to go back in time and experience U2 in a different way. How cool is that?

In 2004, when I was a sophomore in college, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” was released and that exploded my love for U2. That album had me hooked. It was played in my car constantly for a solid month. I would listen to it on the subway going to class, especially if I had a writing class that day. If you ever took a writing class and did workshops (where your classmates critique your work), you know it’s terrifying. To have songs like “City of Blinding Lights” and “Crumbs From Your Table” playing in my head calmed me down for the nervousness that would overtake me during a workshop.

I joined the U2 fan club at this time. I remember the ticket drama for the “Vertigo” tour being an issue, when scalpers were purchasing fan club memberships to score tix and screwing the fans. I remember Larry getting on stage when U2 won at the Grammys in 2005 and commenting on it. I thought, wow he’s so damn cool for going up there at that moment to let the fans know the problem was being taken care of. Then I got an “email” from Larry via U2.com with him apologizing to the fans for the situation and that U2 were going to make sure it never happened again. I wish I still had that email.

For the promotion of “Atomic Bomb”, U2 appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”. I was so charmed by them as I watched them banter with O’Brien. My particular fascination was on Larry, whose drumming skills on “Sunday” and boldness at the Grammys I so admired was overtaken by his chiseled features and rough-and-tumble nature. I enjoyed his story about U2 being called “The Larry Mullen Band”. I enjoy him VERY much still and he remains my favorite member of U2 today because without him, there is no U2. There also wouldn’t be any hotness behind a drum kit for me to gawk at during concerts!

My first live U2 experience was May 17th 2005 during the first leg of the “Vertigo” tour. I was beyond excited as I had no idea what to expect from a live U2 show. By the end, I was in a daze. Getting to see them in front of me and performing the songs I only had the opportunity to sing in my car was enough for me to drop $300 for a seat in the 300 section of Madison Square Garden to see “Vertigo” again that October (I missed out on the second fan club presale, so I had to get the tix from StubHub). I was an intern at “W” magazine then, and I wore my “Vertigo” NYC shirt to the office. Yes, I wore that working at an upscale fashion magazine. I have seen U2 live a total of five times, with number six coming up this July!

Being out of college and looking for a legit career has consumed me since I graduated in 2007. Which brings me to “No Line on the Horizon”. If “Atomic Bomb” got me through writing workshops, this record is keeping me sane every day in my post-college life. I just recently made a job-related decision that I agonized over for some time. “Moment of Surrender” kept me in check- “My body’s now a begging bowl/ That’s begging to get back/ To my heart/ To the rhythm of my soul”. While “I Know I’ll Go Crazy” had me staying strong- “It’s not a hill/ It’s a mountain/ As you start out the climb”. Even at the U2 Conference I attended, to hear people interpret the lyrics as they heard them, it’s impossible to think that U2’s music hasn’t touched someone’s life at some point. "Beautiful Day" is my favorite U2 song ever, and as evidenced here, it's with me for LIFE.

As if the album wasn’t enough to reassure me that life isn’t really so bad, being in U2’s presence officially confirmed it. I got to meet them in March this year when they did their week-long promotion on the “Late Show with David Letterman”. While I was totally tongue-tied as I spoke to them and could only muster “thank you” as they signed autographs and posed for pictures (well, Adam did anyway!), I knew they could feel how grateful all of us fans were as we stayed in the cold to see them. To be the biggest rock stars in the world and not have one ounce of arrogance is commendable. To reduce me to tears and have me numb with emotion after the experience and feel that I can indeed conquer anything, is extraordinary.

That’s my story. This is how I became a U2 fan. Because of them, I like to think I’m a better person. I have become friends with other U2 fans this year and am so delighted to share a love of U2 with them. So for Thanksgiving this year, I am incredibly thankful to four men whose incredible talent and massive graciousness has touched my life so much, that even if they don’t know it personally, I hope they can feel it with every lyric I scream at their concerts.