U2 was doing a gig in Glasgow and in between songs Bono calls for quiet. The audience settles down, and the stage goes dark except for a single spotlight on Bono. It's no secret that old boy has a humanitarian bent, and I applaud him for using his celebrity for pleading his case.
With all eyes in the stadium on him, Bono begins a slow clap. "People!" clap "There are children in Africa at this very moment clap who need your help. Every time I clap my hands, clap a child dies of hunger!" From near the front row, in a heavy Scottish brogue, someone yelled back, "Well, fookin' stop clappin', ya eevil basteerd!"
Honestly, the story is apocryphal. I just like to get his goat. We've been in a good natured feud ever since I brought attention to his pale complexion way back in Rock-tober 15, 2013. Yeah, that's right, Bono, I went there again.
Bono and the boys released The Joshua Tree in March, 1987. Four singles were released in the US, and two of those, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," both claimed the #1 spot on the US Hot 100. They remain the only U2 singles to do so.
The album stemmed from the band's interest in American music and culture and their fascination with the American dichotomy. A coworker of mine who grew up in India explained the concept. He said that the perception overseas was that American culture was more evolved or progressive than other nations. It was the shining city on top of the hill that everyone wanted to enter. However, once you arrived, you found the real America had a bit of a harder edge. Bono, while celebrating the unprecedented personal freedoms afforded by America, railed against social injustices still borne by her citizens.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was described by Bono to RollingStone as "an anthem of doubt more than faith," and the title itself reveals some quest for spiritual clarity. The somberness of the studio release has an unmistakeable hymnal feel to it while the lyrics read like a gospel song. The group magnified this in a version recorded with a Harlem church choir. Interestingly enough, the group Disturbed recorded a cover. Remember them from earlier this month? Their fifth album, Asylum, has a hidden track labeled "Ishfwilf."
Meanwhile, it's the original studio release that has a perpetual spot on my playlist.
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