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. For some reason, this time was different. I stopped brushing my teeth, mid-stroke, and 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 the 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 this moment, this 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 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 driving 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 figure you guys will.
-Miggy