Miggy D
War Child
Hey everyone,
I'm Mike, and I'm from Northern California. I'm currently a student at UC Davis, and studying English and Film. After I graduate in June of 2005, I plan on going to film school in either New York or LA, and then, hopefully...become a successful film director. Haha...we all have to have our dreams, right? Dream out loud.
I first became introduced to U2 back in November of 2000. I was getting ready for (high) school one morning and caught the "Beautiful Day" video on VH1. I had seen snippets of it before but it had never manged to garner my attention. This time, however, was different. I stopped brushing my teeth and I was glued to the TV for 4 minutes and 4 seconds. It just hit me like a freight train. Something in that song spoke to me like no other song had before it. I had to hear more U2.
Thank you, Napster! I searched for 'U2' and an abundancy of results came up. I downloaded the songs with titles I recognized. It was a revelation. 'This is a U2 song? And this one too? And this one? And this one!?!' It all came rushing at me at once - songs that I had heard on the radio and liked in my past, but had never bothered to research any further...they all belonged to the same band.
And then I listened to 'With or Without You.'
The song started off pleasantly enough. And then, at the 1 minute, 52 second mark...
holy crap.
When The Edge came in with that chiming, reverbed guitar...it was...I can't actually even explain how I felt. Let me try.
Remember the first time you had your favorite food? And when you did, you thought to yourself, "This is what I always thought food could be?" It was like that. When I heard Edge's guitar come in at the 1:52 mark...the entire song came together for me and I realized that, musically, I had been waiting my entire life for that moment, and that band. I had had this idea of what I wanted music to be for me but I could never articulate it. I had come across bands I enjoyed, and that I liked, but this song, and for that matter, this band, hit me at my core. It connected with me on a level that I never thought music ever could. It was a natural fit. It was what I had been missing. The passionate, soaring vocals, the clear, almost magical guitar flying above but also fitting in perfectly with the drums and bass... It's something I've always tried to express to my friends and family but it's something they don't really 'get.' I figured you guys probably would.
It's music with a meaning. It's music with a purpose. It's music that's about something. These may sound like stupid, obvious statements to the people frequenting this forum...but it was a complete revelation for me back then. And then, as my love for U2 grew through the month of December, and I downloaded every song and video I could find, my appreciation only grew. Sure, in the 80s, 90s, and even today, U2 sometimes appears 'nerdy' (Edge's outfit during the Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum era...Bono's mullet and horrible, horrible dancing circa early 1980s, etc.), but that's what made them so endearing to me. They may have appeared dorky at times...but damn, they were earnest. They meant everything they sang and played, and it shone through every horrible haircut and awkward two-step. U2 had something to say, and my God, they believed in it. It simply blew me away. I have yet to see any band match it.
Anyway - I could go on and on and on and on about U2...but I'm preaching to the choir. U2 changed my life. And it's nice to finally be able to share that fact with people who understand what that really means.
Thanks for reading,
-Mike
I'm Mike, and I'm from Northern California. I'm currently a student at UC Davis, and studying English and Film. After I graduate in June of 2005, I plan on going to film school in either New York or LA, and then, hopefully...become a successful film director. Haha...we all have to have our dreams, right? Dream out loud.
I first became introduced to U2 back in November of 2000. I was getting ready for (high) school one morning and caught the "Beautiful Day" video on VH1. I had seen snippets of it before but it had never manged to garner my attention. This time, however, was different. I stopped brushing my teeth and I was glued to the TV for 4 minutes and 4 seconds. It just hit me like a freight train. Something in that song spoke to me like no other song had before it. I had to hear more U2.
Thank you, Napster! I searched for 'U2' and an abundancy of results came up. I downloaded the songs with titles I recognized. It was a revelation. 'This is a U2 song? And this one too? And this one? And this one!?!' It all came rushing at me at once - songs that I had heard on the radio and liked in my past, but had never bothered to research any further...they all belonged to the same band.
And then I listened to 'With or Without You.'
The song started off pleasantly enough. And then, at the 1 minute, 52 second mark...
holy crap.
When The Edge came in with that chiming, reverbed guitar...it was...I can't actually even explain how I felt. Let me try.
Remember the first time you had your favorite food? And when you did, you thought to yourself, "This is what I always thought food could be?" It was like that. When I heard Edge's guitar come in at the 1:52 mark...the entire song came together for me and I realized that, musically, I had been waiting my entire life for that moment, and that band. I had had this idea of what I wanted music to be for me but I could never articulate it. I had come across bands I enjoyed, and that I liked, but this song, and for that matter, this band, hit me at my core. It connected with me on a level that I never thought music ever could. It was a natural fit. It was what I had been missing. The passionate, soaring vocals, the clear, almost magical guitar flying above but also fitting in perfectly with the drums and bass... It's something I've always tried to express to my friends and family but it's something they don't really 'get.' I figured you guys probably would.
It's music with a meaning. It's music with a purpose. It's music that's about something. These may sound like stupid, obvious statements to the people frequenting this forum...but it was a complete revelation for me back then. And then, as my love for U2 grew through the month of December, and I downloaded every song and video I could find, my appreciation only grew. Sure, in the 80s, 90s, and even today, U2 sometimes appears 'nerdy' (Edge's outfit during the Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum era...Bono's mullet and horrible, horrible dancing circa early 1980s, etc.), but that's what made them so endearing to me. They may have appeared dorky at times...but damn, they were earnest. They meant everything they sang and played, and it shone through every horrible haircut and awkward two-step. U2 had something to say, and my God, they believed in it. It simply blew me away. I have yet to see any band match it.
Anyway - I could go on and on and on and on about U2...but I'm preaching to the choir. U2 changed my life. And it's nice to finally be able to share that fact with people who understand what that really means.
Thanks for reading,
-Mike
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brother!
