Pride by U2: Must See on MLK Day

I had an obsession with U2 in High School, not too different than the Swifties of today. The music of the Joshua Tree album was what I needed when driving or when doing some thinking time.

I really was inspired by these Irish boyhood friends who made music about love, people and important issues.  

I would ask all my friends to watch “Rattle and Hum” with me, a film produced over two years of their rise to global fame in the 80s. I found it here on Vimeo so you can watch it.

If you do anything today on Martin Luther King Day do this:  Start around the end at 1:19:30 with Bono Talking about “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and then performing the famous song.  It’s moving because he sings this song on day of an attack in Ireland.

From Wikipedia: Hours before the second Denver performance, an IRA bomb killed eleven people at a Remembrance Day ceremony in the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen (see Remembrance Day Bombing). During a performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which appears on the film, Bono condemned the violence in a furious mid-song rant in which he yelled, "Fuck the revolution!" The performance was so powerful that the band said they were not sure the song should have been used in the film. After watching the film, they considered not playing the song on future tours.^”

Then the film ends with Bono singing Pride (In the Name of Love)…a song remembering Martin Luther King.  Watch this last song.  Show your kids.  Enjoy it while driving.  The band ends the concert and this film with a song about love and MLK.  It just hits so good that I tear up every time I watch.

Watch the audience just dance and clap…no phones.  They were present for this moment with the band.  1987 is when most of this was filmed…what a time, right before internet and cell phones of any type.

Watching this should be required in all High Schools.  Maybe I am a boomer, but I think High School should have a mandatory class to teach rock history and what was going on at the time, with required listening and maybe attending a concert as a final.

I know many of you probably saw U2 in the Sphere in Las Vegas, but how much would you pay to travel in time to see them in 1987?  Time travel required of course, someone is working on that I imagine. Maybe with Apple Vision Pro we will get to time travel.

Happy Monday Friends

SP

I ask DALL-E to put these two Heroes together walking in black and white photography