ATYCLB and 9/11

[Oregoropa]

The songs of ATYCLB esp. Walk On and Peace on Earth gave the nation a sense of comfort after the attacks. The album came out almost 10 months before the attacks, and some of the lyrics haunt me because they seem to foretell some painful situations on that day.

Stuck in a Moment - I wasn't jumping for me it was a fall, its a long way down to nothing at all

When I Look at the World - I'm in the waiting room. Can't see for the smoke. I think of you and your holy book. While the rest of us choke

New York - Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew, Living happily not like me and you That's where I lost you... New York

Also

Please - September, streets capsizing. Spilling over down the drains
Shard of glass, splinters like rain

 

[bobsaget77]

It really is incredible how much that album connected to those events. Especially considering that it came out before the attacks. I think that's why ATYCLB is still so popular in the U.S.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[cobl04]

 

[gareth brown]

but yeah, I agree, looking back the album (not to mention the elevation tour, especially) now seem inextricably linked, it's pretty crazy.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I didn't know Please was on ATYCLB... maybe I need to reassess this record after all!

 

[Oregoropa]

Ha. I was gonna put also on pop but seemed self explanatory


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Kieran McConville]

Well of course.

 

[mikal]

U2 knew about 9/11 before it happened.

Sent from my SM-G928P using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[The_acrobat]

I have a friend who absolutely hates U2 and will search the internet to find a negative U2 article and then post it all over Facebook. It's actually kind of weird.

Anyway, he said that U2 "cashed in on 9/11" by writing ATYCLB. They saw an opportunity and wrote some comforting songs and then released some music videos with visuals from 9/11. He probably read that on Reddit or something. I had to look up on my phone that ATYCLB was in fact released 10 months AHEAD of 9/11, because he wouldn't believe me. Then he said "WELL WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC VIDEOS?" I told him that U2 did not make those videos, they simply allowed their songs (Walk on and Stuck in a moment) to be used in videos compiled by someone else. He then said "Well... you can't deny that U2 benefitted quite a bit from 9/11....". Yes, that's true, the album did sort of catch a second wind in the US and elsewhere after the events of 9/11, but it was purely coincidental.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

your friend sounds like an idiot

 

[Salome]

your friend sounds like an idiot

He does indeed.
Such dislike for U2 combined with asinine reasoning I don't often encounter outside of Interference.

 

[Achtung11]

Not to mention the airport/airplane themed album artwork and Beautiful Day video. An airplane also makes an appearance on the Elevation video. All were before 9/11 of course.

 

[MrPryck2U]

9/11, obviously, was a tough day for not only America, but the world as well. Unfortunately, I witnessed a lot of misguided patriotism and ugliness in the aftermath. Thankfully, ATYCLB featured a number of songs that were able to help me (and many others) cope with the atrocious actions of that day. It's almost scary how that album was so relevant for that fateful time and it was released nearly a year before it occurred.

 

[popacrobat]

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I remember the Elevation Show I saw in November of '01. Emotional as any U2 show I've ever seen. U2 did not 'cash in' on 911, they provided a comfort, an escape and a reminder that together we can overcome anything. Those shows were powerful...

 

[Oregoropa]

Walk On - You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been. A place that has to be believed to be seen.




Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Oregoropa]

Also the Concorde crash occurred at the same airport on July 25 2000. But I think the video for Beautiful Day was already completed for release in early September. And the artwork was probably done as well.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[corianderstem]

I think it's not coincidence so much as the band being from a place that also experienced terrorism for many years. It shouldn't be surprising that imagery from such things should find their way into their songs.

(especially in Please, which is, of course, about The Troubles)

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Those MSG shows tho...

 

[bobsaget77]

How about full electric Please into Streets in Baltimore, which they only did once. That was incredible; too bad they only did it acoustically afterwards.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Oregoropa]

I think it's not coincidence so much as the band being from a place that also experienced terrorism for many years. It shouldn't be surprising that imagery from such things should find their way into their songs.

(especially in Please, which is, of course, about The Troubles)

Good point. The September part caught my eye.

 

[RoKKeR]

The fact that they were still touring right after (correct me if I'm wrong...?) I think gave people a sense of comfort, and had them going back to these songs again and again. Also helps that a lot of the material is extremely relevant but very hopeful.

A very interesting moment in time... wish I was older to understand it all a bit better. Was only 7 at the time. I still remember watching them on TV at halftime though and my dad being awestruck.

My dad saw them in SLC just a few months after 9/11 and said it was the most emotional show he has ever been to. People crying in the audience, stuff like that. Pretty amazing.

 

[YBORCITY]

Those MSG shows tho...

Yep.... unbelievable! All at once it all came crashing down on me... my professional life, my marriage, my lost colleagues in the WTC... those MSG shows were beyond anything I've ever seen at a U2 concet or any concert for that matter.

I saw them again later in the leg in Tampa and it was the same thing people were just so emotional around us it was an incredible cathartic feeling for me after this show I walked out in the warm Florida night and thought while there's so many things fucked up in this world and in my life we can still have a beautiful day.

When people here talk about there favorite albums and while I'm an old-schooler spouting the virtues of TUF, TJT, AB, ATYCLB kinda guided me through possibly the darkest time of mmy life so I always rank that album up there prolly higher than I should but it was a safe place for me to go listening to those songs. And listening to them now brings me back, good or bad I think I should try and remember as hard as life can be I can make it thru.

 

[cobl04]

Yep.... unbelievable! All at once it all came crashing down on me... my professional life, my marriage, my lost colleagues in the WTC... those MSG shows were beyond anything I've ever seen at a U2 concet or any concert for that matter.

I saw them again later in the leg in Tampa and it was the same thing people were just so emotional around us it was an incredible cathartic feeling for me after this show I walked out in the warm Florida night and thought while there's so many things fucked up in this world and in my life we can still have a beautiful day.

When people here talk about there favorite albums and while I'm an old-schooler spouting the virtues of TUF, TJT, AB, ATYCLB kinda guided me through possibly the darkest time of mmy life so I always rank that album up there prolly higher than I should but it was a safe place for me to go listening to those songs. And listening to them now brings me back, good or bad I think I should try and remember as hard as life can be I can make it thru.

Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[bobsaget77]

Yep.... unbelievable! All at once it all came crashing down on me... my professional life, my marriage, my lost colleagues in the WTC... those MSG shows were beyond anything I've ever seen at a U2 concet or any concert for that matter.

I saw them again later in the leg in Tampa and it was the same thing people were just so emotional around us it was an incredible cathartic feeling for me after this show I walked out in the warm Florida night and thought while there's so many things fucked up in this world and in my life we can still have a beautiful day.

When people here talk about there favorite albums and while I'm an old-schooler spouting the virtues of TUF, TJT, AB, ATYCLB kinda guided me through possibly the darkest time of mmy life so I always rank that album up there prolly higher than I should but it was a safe place for me to go listening to those songs. And listening to them now brings me back, good or bad I think I should try and remember as hard as life can be I can make it thru.

Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[MrPryck2U]

I was fortunate to have seen two of the October 2001 shows at MSG. It was a special time to be a U2 fan.

 

[mikal]

I miss how busy Interference was in 2001.

Sent from my SM-G928P using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[The_acrobat]

I was 19 at the time of 9/11. I remember all of it very clearly. The feelings, the imagery, the fearfulness of what the future held. Was it the beginning of WW3? Was this our "Pearl Harbor"? Would I end up being drafted into the military? I think most of us were glued to the TV the rest of that week as the story continued to unfold.

I absolutely cannot believe it's been 14 years, because the feelings and the memories are still so much at the forefront of my conscience.

ATYCLB really did re-connect with me and many others, in a whole new way after that. I paid attention to the lyrics like I hadn't before. I saw a 3rd leg Elevation show, in South Bend, IN. It was all still so fresh. It was the first time I remember doing something fun and normal after 9/11. I can't possibly describe what the atmosphere was like at that concert.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[MrPryck2U]

I miss how busy Interference was in 2001.

Well, if U2 are busy, Interference is busy. Especially if there is a tour going on. 6/24/2011 holds the record for most users online at once with well over 2000. That's nearly 10 years after 9/11. I think this place is one of the best places to discuss U2.

 

[The_acrobat]

Well, if U2 are busy, Interference is busy. Especially if there is a tour going on. 6/24/2011 holds the record for most users online at once with well over 2000. That's nearly 10 years after 9/11. I think this place is one of the best places to discuss U2.

This is the best fan forum for any band that I've encountered. Not only is it very active and engaging, it's also well organized and maintained. I've been a member here since 2001, and it's been consistently awesome.

I follow several other bands, and a fan forum like this is extremely rare. Backstreets.com is a good Springsteen fan site, but they seem to complain an awful lot. I used to be an active member of a DMB forum, which is probably busier than this one, but 90% of it is just how DMB has sucked since the 90s. What we have here is very rare.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference