AM
Refugee
A typical U2 soundcheck ...
Dublin 1997
"Good, Adam!" Edge shouts over the din of the bass as Adam travels down the scale, tuning. The bass player sneers at the guitarist, who stands in the middle of the stage, conducting with a straw. Edge grins but the smile fades when he looks at his watch. "Where is everybody?" he asks. "I told them to be here early..."
"Gimme that guitar, you blockhead!" Bono shouts at Dallas as he walks onto the stage.
Dallas shakes his head. "No!" he snaps. "Not until it's tuned right!"
"I need that guitar," Bono grumbles. Larry comes in. "If you don't give me that guitar I'll tell Larry what you said about him!"
"Stop that!" Edge says. "We gotta rehearse...I think we should do Dirty Day, cos I think that one is starting to get a little weak..."
"What did you say about me, Dallas?" Larry asks, sitting behind his drums and playing with the sticks, absently.
"He said..." Bono teases.
"Bono!" Dallas bleats.
"Stop that!" Edge commands.
Adam clears his throat and Edge moves to his position at stage right.
"What did he say?" Larry asks again.
"He said..."
"QUIET!" Edge roars. "Remember, this is a mood piece. Paint a picture with music and words. And CONCENTRATE!"
Adam starts the low bass notes, while Edge tries a gentle trickling melody over them. Larry taps out time on a cymbal.
Bono stands, awkwardly, at the mic, feeling naked without the guitar Dallas guards behind Edge. He shoots glares in that direction as he sings.
"I don't know you, and you don't know the half of it...
I had a starring role, I was the bad guy who walked out...
They say be careful where you aim, because where you aim you
just might hit...
[Gimme that guitar.]
You can hold on to something so tightly you've already lost it...
Dragging me down, that's not the way it used to be.
[Dallas: "Not on your life."]
You can't even remember what I'm trying to forget.
[Larry: "If you don't tell me what he said about me I'm going to scream."]
It was a dirty day...yeah a dirty day...
[Gimme that guitar, you blockhead!]
You want explanations I don't even understand
If you need someone to blame, throw a rock in the air
You're bound to hit someone guilty...
[Gimme that guitar!]
From father to son, in one life has begun
A world that's never done
Father to son...
[Dallas: "No! Not until you promise not to tell him!"]
Love won't last kissing time
Love won't last kissing time
Get it right, there's no blood thicker than ink
[What are you trying to do, stifle my freedom of speech?]
Hear what I say, nothing is as simple as you think
Wake up, some things you can't get around
[Gimme that guitar!]
I'm in you more so when they put me in the ground...
[Dallas: "No promise no guitar!"]
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
[Larry: "What did he say about me!!!!"]
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
[Dallas: "Don't tell!"]
[He said you were an...enigma!]
The music stops, abruptly.
"An enigma?" says Edge.
"An enigma?" echoes Adam.
"An enigma?" Larry exclaims. He glares at Dallas. "Of all the...I mean...what a thing to...uh..." He looks at Bono. "That's all he said?"
"Gimme that guitar."
"No!"
Edge hangs his head and reminds himself to call Megadeth again
------------------
"The bass player's got it. The bass player's fucking got it." Bono, Boston 6-9-01
Dublin 1997
"Good, Adam!" Edge shouts over the din of the bass as Adam travels down the scale, tuning. The bass player sneers at the guitarist, who stands in the middle of the stage, conducting with a straw. Edge grins but the smile fades when he looks at his watch. "Where is everybody?" he asks. "I told them to be here early..."
"Gimme that guitar, you blockhead!" Bono shouts at Dallas as he walks onto the stage.
Dallas shakes his head. "No!" he snaps. "Not until it's tuned right!"
"I need that guitar," Bono grumbles. Larry comes in. "If you don't give me that guitar I'll tell Larry what you said about him!"
"Stop that!" Edge says. "We gotta rehearse...I think we should do Dirty Day, cos I think that one is starting to get a little weak..."
"What did you say about me, Dallas?" Larry asks, sitting behind his drums and playing with the sticks, absently.
"He said..." Bono teases.
"Bono!" Dallas bleats.
"Stop that!" Edge commands.
Adam clears his throat and Edge moves to his position at stage right.
"What did he say?" Larry asks again.
"He said..."
"QUIET!" Edge roars. "Remember, this is a mood piece. Paint a picture with music and words. And CONCENTRATE!"
Adam starts the low bass notes, while Edge tries a gentle trickling melody over them. Larry taps out time on a cymbal.
Bono stands, awkwardly, at the mic, feeling naked without the guitar Dallas guards behind Edge. He shoots glares in that direction as he sings.
"I don't know you, and you don't know the half of it...
I had a starring role, I was the bad guy who walked out...
They say be careful where you aim, because where you aim you
just might hit...
[Gimme that guitar.]
You can hold on to something so tightly you've already lost it...
Dragging me down, that's not the way it used to be.
[Dallas: "Not on your life."]
You can't even remember what I'm trying to forget.
[Larry: "If you don't tell me what he said about me I'm going to scream."]
It was a dirty day...yeah a dirty day...
[Gimme that guitar, you blockhead!]
You want explanations I don't even understand
If you need someone to blame, throw a rock in the air
You're bound to hit someone guilty...
[Gimme that guitar!]
From father to son, in one life has begun
A world that's never done
Father to son...
[Dallas: "No! Not until you promise not to tell him!"]
Love won't last kissing time
Love won't last kissing time
Get it right, there's no blood thicker than ink
[What are you trying to do, stifle my freedom of speech?]
Hear what I say, nothing is as simple as you think
Wake up, some things you can't get around
[Gimme that guitar!]
I'm in you more so when they put me in the ground...
[Dallas: "No promise no guitar!"]
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
[Larry: "What did he say about me!!!!"]
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
[Dallas: "Don't tell!"]
[He said you were an...enigma!]
The music stops, abruptly.
"An enigma?" says Edge.
"An enigma?" echoes Adam.
"An enigma?" Larry exclaims. He glares at Dallas. "Of all the...I mean...what a thing to...uh..." He looks at Bono. "That's all he said?"
"Gimme that guitar."
"No!"
Edge hangs his head and reminds himself to call Megadeth again
------------------
"The bass player's got it. The bass player's fucking got it." Bono, Boston 6-9-01
