Just a heads up for Aussie U2 fans - get a hold of The Weekend Australian (newspaper...obviously!) this weekend as our boys are going to be the cover story for the Weekend Australian magazine that comes with the paper.
Only 1 month and 1 day till they play Brissie! :-)
"Beautiful Ghost" from the Joshua Tree sessions More likely to be found in your unreleased/rare compilation.
Why this song? Because it's October, duh. Not really, the track has nothing to do with Halloween, or ghosts. At least, not the white-sheet kind. Actually, the title is completely lost on me.
Despite the lack of literal ghosts, there is a very ethereal feel. When I learned this track was from 1987, it surprised me. It would be right at home on Passengers. It's experimental, as well as instrumental. But the instrument is synthetic, and sounds singular. Notes strung out, with no sense or reason. Then comes Bono.
He travels the fence between singing and speaking. He raises his pitch toward the end, but through the rest his voice barely varies over a few notes. He starts low and guttural, and eventually becomes, well, I'm gonna say exalted, with the last few lines. It certainly isn't the exaltation of belting out "Streets" in a stadium or arena, but compared to where he started, it's definitely raised to another level.
I left out the fact that Bono refrains the last line 3 more times. Because these words are not Bono's, they are William Blake's. This is the Introduction to Songs from Experience. At the end of the French Revolution, Blake was distressed with the state of the world. He wrote two volumes, Songs of Innocence, and Songs of Experience. Innocence and Experience obviously being two opposing states of being. Blake published Innocence on his own, but posthumoulsy, the two volumes are always published together.
And that, my pals, is your history and literature lesson for the day.
Does anyone agree with me that "When I Look At The World" is an absolutely incredible vocal performance by Bono? I was just listening to it, and I really freaked out over the bridge:
I can't wait any longer I can't wait till I'm stronger I can't wait any longer To see what you see When I look at the world
The note on the "strong" of "stronger" really blows my mind.
This upcoming new album features a rather bizarre-sounding new version of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, mixing Bono's original vocals with those of Cuban singer Coco Freeman. You can listen to a 34 second clip on the website (it's the sixth track in the player).
