Has a U2 album/song changed your life?

[oliveu2cm]

I'd have to undoubtably say yes.

What did it for me was Achtung Baby. I discovered this album at a point in my life when I felt alone and confused, a freshman in college, and I heard this voice in the middle of darkness, and he was saying things that I felt, and mourning what I was mourning, and holding onto my hand through it all. (He hasn't stopped doing that, by the way.)

I fell head-on into Achtung Baby, and then I just started exploring more and more and now, their music runs through my veins. I hope you know what I mean. I just wanted to celebrate some of their music, and how music (notably, U2's) can and has changed people's entire lives. (Wow, how powerful is that?!)

~Olive

 

[Sparkysgrrrl]

Yes, War.
It made me want to research the subject matters that were being sung about and thus began my journey into U2 love, and activism.

(that's the short version of it )

 

[wertsie]

Achtung Baby. 1997 was by far one of the best years of my life...and then 1998 came along and bit me in the ass. I don't want to get into it too much, but I'll just say that this album, and partically "One," helped me through one of the hardest times in my life.

 

[Bono's shades]

The Joshua Tree. This was the first time I ever heard U2 so naturally it changed my life in the sense that here it is 15 years later and I'm as spellbound by their music as ever. But I think the impact may have gone even deeper than that. Not long after I started listening to U2, I went through a lot of changes. I became a lot less shy and much more adventerous as far as meeting people and exploring new ideas. I became more politically aware. I realized I wanted to become a writer. I'm not claiming that all came about because of U2 because there were other factors involved, but I always thought it was a strange coincidence.

 

[Zoocifer]

I'm gonna have to say that Pop was a big influence on my life. As a young teen it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. "Please" totally amazed me and "Mofo" was sheer brilliance (still is in my opinion). I was in my early teens then and now I'm in my late teens but the album still holds so much truth to me. From the dance/party tunes to the rock/acid tunes all the way to the surrenderings near the end of the album. Still amazes me.

And no - this is not an attempt for another pro/anti Pop thread. If you'd like to know a specific song that really influenced me it would be "Gone". I always interpret "you can keep those suit of lights" as "I don't need this anymore so you can have it all." And now with the new mix released I have an even founder love of the song.

-[z]-

 

[madonna's child]

No, no U2 material has ever changed my life.

But Achtung Baby has been a real saver from time to time. I listen to it when I'm angry, when I'm sad, when I feel hopeless. It can really touch me and it's pulled me through some hard times. Achtung Baby save my soul.

 

[Liesje]

On a general scale, not a single song or album, but my "fanship" if you will has been a gradual process and now I can look back and say I have a completely different/better view of the world and my future in it. So yes, as a whole, it has.

 

[PopTart Pamela]

all of them!
esp Walk On

Pamela

 

[bluephisto]

Can't help falling in love....

Seriously, hearing that put my life on a different path. It's kind of amazing in a way.

 

[HelloAngel]

Achtung Baby was my salvation. I'd rather not say why because it's very personal, but it was bad enough to say that my life needed saving in many ways.

 

[bonoman]

Definatly PoP, and more specifically wake up dead man. This song continues to change my life and help me get on with my life.

I have a question, Do you think it would be bad to play Wake up dead man at my funeral. I am that kind of person that wants their funeral planned out from the music to the people who say speechs to the food.

 

[jick]

All That You Can't Leave Behind

I heard "Grace" and this led me to buy Philip Yancey's book " What's So Amazing About Grace?" and then I realized what makes the Christian faith unique from every other religion. It led me to a heightened spiritual awareness. I ended up buying Walk On: The Spiritual Journey Of U2 to learn more about U2's spirituality. I have applied that to my own spirituality. It helped me get a deeped understanding of my Christian faith and how to apply it to everyday life. So it literally changed the way I live my life.

Honorable mention goes to Achtung Baby's "So Cruel" which made me feel that I am not alone in feeling what happened, having lived through that experience myself. It's nice to know that a number of years before my own experience, there was already a song written about that. So it just hit a delicate spot but did not really change my life.

Cheers,

J

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'd say for me it was achtung baby. why? because it was the album that really made me a fan! i bought it like right when it first came out. it really sounded like nothing that was out at the time, at least to me. i was eight years old, and at the time, i was listening to mariah carey, new kids on the block, and other easy listening stuff. so it truely was a revelation for me, and got me interested in the rock world.

 

[adamswildhoney]

Yowza, that is a tough question to answer! I have been a fan for a long time close to 15 yrs.

I guess I would have to say Joshua Tree,even tho I discovered it in 1989. When I first came acrossed it I was to young to understand what it was about. To be honest I fell in love with Bono's voice!!!

There are to many stories and to many ways that U2's music has changed my life and so I wil just let you all know that it was Joshua Tree for me!!