Includes tour spoilers!
For as long as I’ve been seeing U2 live, they’ve used
awesome “walk on” songs – the song that plays loudly over the PA system just
before they take the stage. It’s a song
that fits the vibe of that tour, and gets the crowd excited for the amazingness
they’re about to witness. For Popmart,
they used M’s “Pop Muzik.” “All You Need
Is Love” and “Sgt. Pepper” opened Elevation.
For Vertigo, it was Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up.” Bowie’s “Space Oddity” lifted off the 360
Tour, and most recently, Patti Smith’s “People Have The Power” kicked off the
I+E Tour. I know that the U2 tour starts
tomorrow, so I might be too late to influence the walk on song, but I am making
the case that George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90” is the perfect choice. I’ve even asked some fan friends and tweeted
to the band that there’s strong support for this song.
First, we have to acknowledge that three major artists have
passed away since U2’s last tour – David Bowie – friend and idol of the band;
Prince – possibly the greatest single musician ever, and musical/vocal inspiration
for U2’s “Lemon”; and George Michael – their contemporary, a brilliant
songwriter, and my favorite male singer (sorry Bono!). I am a huge fan of all three of these
incredible men – as are many other U2 fans – and I hope that the pre-show music
heavily represents all three of them. Suggested
related songs: Bowie’s “Heroes,” and Prince’s “Emancipation,” but I could do an
entire setlist!
When George passed away on Christmas Day, Bono wrote a sweet
tribute and specifically mentioned George’s cover of “Miss Sarajevo” on his
album Songs From The Last Century.
“The tenderness of George Michael's
version of Miss Sarajevo brought this Irish tenor to his knees... no opera, no
histrionics
No Irish or Italian melancholy
needed
George Michael was a beautiful soul
made vulnerable by music
We'll miss what
was but what was next we'll miss even more”
I think they’ve been rehearsing Miss Sarajevo, certainly to
address the state of the world and Syria in particular, but also partly as a
tribute to him.
“All we have to do now is to take these lies and make them
true somehow.”
U2 has said in recent interviews that revisiting The Joshua Tree album feels right
because the political and social climate of our world seems all too close to
the world of 1987 – war, lies, all of the –isms and -phobias, and mistrust of
once-respected institutions. We’re
having a particularly difficult time with this in the U.S. Joshua
Tree’s overtly spiritual and political messages were an attempt to find
truth in 1987, the same year that George released his Faith album – his first solo album after leaving Wham! It’s worth noting that both albums won
back-to-back Grammys for Album of the Year (because of release dates, JT won in 1988, and Faith won in 1989). While
“Freedom! ‘90” isn’t obviously political, it has become a gay pride anthem, and
is the perfect theme song for anyone who wants to be truly themselves. When I had the good fortune of seeing George
live in 2008, he closed the show with the song, and the arena erupted in joy.
“Sometimes the clothes do not make the man.”
The song’s themes also focus on personal issues: what
happens to an artist when they achieve global stardom, then feel trapped by
image and expectations, and eventually destroy the old image in order to break
through to a new space and true creative revolution. For George, this meant reflecting on his
years with Wham! and during his Faith
period and declaring a new start. “Freedom!
‘90” was released in 1990, on George’s landmark Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 album. In the iconic video, he literally set on fire
his Faith-era jacket. Post-Joshua
Tree, and Rattle & Hum, U2 struggled with their earnest image. Even Frank Sinatra joked that their ragged
folky clothes were pretty cheap-looking.
This identity crisis led to the groundbreaking Achtung Baby in 1991 (a year after Listen Without Prejudice), which they called “the sound of four men
chopping down the Joshua Tree.”
“I think there’s something you should know,
I think it’s time I stopped the show,
There’s someone deep inside of me,
There’s someone else I’ve got to be.”
I recognize that this tour is meant to be a celebration of The Joshua Tree, so a song that focuses
on moving on from the past might not seem like a good fit. The
Joshua Tree is U2’s most popular and well-known album. Thirty years on, the songs are still as
powerful as ever. But this tour is not
nostalgia – U2 doesn’t do nostalgia.
Setlist spoilers have suggested that they may use the tour as a preview
of their next album – Songs of Experience.
I’m as excited to hear new music as I am to hear “In God’s Country”,
“Exit,” and “Mothers Of The Disappeared” for the first time (well, ALMOST as
excited). So we should pay tribute, but
not be beholden, to the past.
“Gotta have some faith in the sound,
It’s the one good thing that I’ve got.”
I also have to point out that “Gotta have some faith in the
sound” reminds me of the lines at the end of “Get On Your Boots”: “Let me in
the sound; meet me in the sound.” And
for the record, I also think “Boots” would make a great fit for this tour. To completely lose oneself in the music, and
the joy of a kick ass rock and roll show.
Imagine 50,000 people singing “Freedom!,” dancing to one of George’s
funkiest jams, and letting him know – wherever his spirit is – how much he is
loved and missed. How great would that
be?
