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My music playlist for today (May 24, 2012 edition)

If there is one band that best captures the spirit of this blog, it’s U2.

The Unforgettable Fire
The Unforgettable Fire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve listened to U2’s music for many years.  The first U2 album I picked up was “Unforgettable Fire.”  The song “Pride (In The Name of Love)” — I just had to have it in my collection.  I’ve blogged about that song all by itself here before, around the time of April 4, while making … a statement.  There’ve been a few more U2 albums added to my collection since that “Unforgettable Fire” purchase, to put it mildly.

But even going back before that time, U2’s music was stamped into my brain.  It wasn’t just the music.  It was also the message behind it, the lyrics that went with each song.  It was powerful.  It did for me exactly what music before it — the music of Stevie Wonder in his “strong message” years in the 1970s — did for me.

It gave me the desire to make statements of my own, to try not to pull punches when I believe strongly in something.

Some people tend to get upset by what they call the “preaching” that Bono does either before, during, or after his songs.  I dig it.  It takes guts to stand up on a stage in front of millions of fans around the world and “stand up” for what you believe in, to reach inside people’s thoughts and hearts, to leave a memorable imprint.

If Bono were someone who did all that preaching and didn’t practice any of it, I’d have a concern.  Instead, he’s one of the better known humanitarians in the world today.

Everyone needs to practice what they preach, as long as it’s good for mankind.  That’s the spirit.

My cowboy hat’s off to you, Bono!

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Posted on by A View From The Middle (Class)

The power of music II

I wrote back in the middle of January about a particular song that a friend and I both had in mind that fit the mood perfectly and powerfully on the subject of our first children being born.  I had a very similar powerful experience when it came to a song on Sunday, for a very different reason.

I Want to Know What Love Is
I Want to Know What Love Is (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s odd in a good way how you can sometimes just turn on the radio and the first song you hear fits your emotions right down to your soul, capable of soothing and comforting you when you need it the most, telling about your mood better than you can yourself.  For me, on Sunday afternoon, that song was Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is,” really appreciating the powerful vocals of Lou Gramm.

The only part of the song that doesn’t quite fit comes in the lyrics that say “In my life there’s been heartache and pain/I don’t know if I can face it again/Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far/To change this lonely life.”  I’m not lonely, I’ve got a lovely wife who fills my needs for a life partner.  If I were to change that last line to say “lowly life” instead, it would have fit even better.

The song may be mostly about finding someone to love deeply in your life, but it could just as well fit anyone who’s already a crucial part of your life if you’re going through a struggle with them.  It’s especially true if they’re learning themselves what real love is all about.

In my case, it’s loving someone enough that it pains you deeply when you see them going through that kind of struggle, you’re working like mad to help them through it because they mean that much to you, and there’s very strong resistance along the way.

Like the song says, it’s like a mountain you must climb.  It can feel like the world upon your shoulders.

Powerful stuff.  That’s the power of music.

Copyright 2012, Daddysangbassdude Media

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