Wednesday, May 28, 2008

With or Without You


i remember the first time i heard With or Without You by U2... well, i remember the first time i really listened to it, i should say. it was the spring of 1987... i was 13 years old. we were riding back from a soccer game and i was riding shotgun in my coaches car. i can't remember the name of the coach. i remember the car, though. something like a mid-80's Chevy Impala. there were probably six of us kids in the car. very safe, i'm sure. We were dropping off one of my teammates and With or Without You came on the radio. i had heard the song before... my sister had The Joshua Tree on cassette and i had probably heard it on the radio prior to that moment - but for some reason - i vividly remember hearing, no listening to With or Without You in the front seat of a Chevy Impala - tuning out the rest of the world, the loud muffler, the teammates climbing out of the back seat as i leaned forward (two doors made it difficult for others to get out - with two other kids and a coach in the front seat).

I don't know why i remember that moment. it was quite random. but we all remember random things. don't we? what random things do you remember?

atu2.com bible references notes the Biblical reference found in "With or Without You"

"See the thorn twist in your side"
-- 2 Corinthians 12:7: "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."


----

my love for U2 grew and grew after that moment. 'tis true. the third cd i ever purchased (way back in 1990 - after i sold a Michael Jordan basketball card and a Joe Montana football card for $100 - which i used to buy my first single drive Magnavox cd player, of which i still have and occasionally use) was U2 - Rattle & Hum. (my first and second cd purchases were Bell Biv Devoe - Poison and George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice vol. 1)

i later fell in love with the movie Rattle & Hum and my love for U2 sky-rocketed.

it all goes back to the spring afternoon - some 21 years ago... hearing, no listening to With or Without You for the first time. that is what i love about music. you never know how it's gonna stick with you. at times, it just does. music has power.

listen to With or Without You today. if you have it - spin it. if not - watch the video here.

blog about that moment when you heard that one song that you've never forgotten... maybe on the radio, at a concert or on a friends mix tape... think about - no, write about the power music today.



See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised, shes got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you

With or without you
With or without you
I cant live
With or without you
With or without you



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Now playing: U2 - With Or Without You
via FoxyTunes

2 comments:

troy. said...

Good stuff! My first CD was a combo purchase with my brother -- I guess we couldn't afford the hefty $18 by ourselves: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. I'll never forget the video for Rhythm Nation where she counts backwards..."5, 4, 3, 2, 1" with her hands doing a dance of their own. I'd link up the vid in YouTube, but I'm at work and it's blocked. I haven't heard that album in a good many years, but I bet I could still sing every lyric to every song (whether I'd like to or not). That's some crazy power!

Unknown said...

i swear to God, troy, Rhythm Nation was my next purchase after Rattle & Hum. my sister took me to see Janet live on that tour in Aug. of '90. i haven't listened to that cd in forever - but i would never get rid of it.