Browsing Tag: u2

    Music

    It’s all a matter of perspective

    March 12, 2009
    u2 reviews

    So much of our success in life is about outlook and attitude. Not others’ … but yours.

    By the way, we have both of these articles on @U2:

    U2’s ‘Horizon’ premieres with sky-high sales numbers
    U2’s ‘Horizon’ sales bring band back to Earth

    The same Billboard expert is interviewed in both articles. The same sales figures appear in both articles. And yet you couldn’t find two more different headlines if you tried.

    It’s all a matter of perspective.

    Miscellany

    Please make it go away…

    January 19, 2009

    One of the crosses you carry as a U2 fan is the fact that, at any moment in time, Bono might do something really, really, really embarrassing. Like this, from today’s Oprah show:

    I really wish someone would tell him “no” once in a while. Or maybe just say, “Hey. Y’know, this thing bleeds syrup and is just a really bad song. If you do this, it’ll sit right next to that ‘New Day’ thing you did in ’99 with Wyclef as the low point of your career.”

    And jeez, did we elect a man, or did we elect a messiah? Goodness. Just watch — 3 years from now when we still have a gazillion-dollar national debt, the disciples will start in about how the expectations were unrealistic, and too much. And I’ll just point out this video and say, Who’s fault was that?

    Miscellany

    My Name on a Book Cover

    April 1, 2008
    U2, A Diary

    It’s both incredibly cool and incredibly strange to see my name on a book cover image.

    My publisher has chosen a tentative image for the cover of U2, A Diary, and that image is now available on Amazon. But, it may not be the actual image on the cover when the book is published later this year.

    For those interested in knowing why, or just interested in seeing the cover image, I explain it all on the book blog:

    Tentative Cover for U2, A Diary

    Music

    Music Tells Me I’m Getting Old

    December 26, 2007

    My son, Sean, just turned 10 and is becoming as big a music fan as I’ve been since about the age of 12. Up until recently, Sean has mainly followed Dad’s musical tastes: He loves U2 and has even been to one of their concerts; he listens to Coldplay; and he’s taken a liking to some of the CDs on my shelf like Snow Patrol and Keane.

    All of that is fine from a fatherly perspective because I know the music he’s listening to, and with only a couple exceptions, don’t mind his young ears hearing these lyrics.

    For Christmas, he put several CDs on his list from artists that I know nothing, or almost nothing about: Nickelback, The Bravery, and even Blake Lewis (the kid from American Idol).

    That’s the first sign I’m getting old: When my kids start listening to bands/artists I don’t know. A week or so ago, Sean asked me if Lupe Fiasco’s real name was Lupe Fiasco or that was a fake name? I had to confess I’d never heard of Lupe Fiasco. The shame.

    Then comes the lyrics issue. Do I worry about what these singers are saying in their songs? Of course I do!

    That’s the second sign I’m getting old: When I worry about what my kids are hearing in the music they listen to. Should I listen to every song first to make sure it’s acceptable?

    After thinking about, I decided to go ahead and buy some of these CDs even though I don’t know the artist and don’t know what they’re singing about. Here’s why:

    1. It’s not realistic to think I can listen to every song my son wants to listen to before he does, and approve or disapprove it. Who has time for that?
    2. As he gets older, and as kids grow up faster than they did when I was young, he’s going to be exposed to a lot more in the schoolyard, at his friends’ houses, etc., and I have to accept that’s just part of growing up.
    3. Most importantly, he’s a Good Kid and I have to trust the job we did as parents and trust him to adjust and mature in an appropriate way as he experiences new things.

    But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m getting old, does it? 🙂