Stone cold U2 fan... no apologies

Ok, I am a stone cold U2 fan - no apologies - no surrender! Sometimes it takes me a while to catch up to these guys cuz I am STILL digging the Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop groove - and I was blown away (still am) by both the Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum as well as All That You Can't Leave Behind/HTDAAB. Our Tucson band played TONS of these songs - everything from "When Love Comes to Town" and "Pride" to "Beautiful Day," "Grace" and "Love and Peace Or Else" (with a little "Mysterious Ways" and even "Numb" for Good Friday.) And we're doing "Pride" and "Mysterious Ways" along with "Beautiful Day," "Please" and "Dirty Day" in our new acoustic band in Pittsfield.

So when it was announced (almost a year ago) that a new CD was in the making... I was salivating. These guys not only know how to rock and move my soul, but keep me thinking about ever new ways of expressing my commitment to God and the world. When I heard the new single, "Get On Your Boots" - which is too much fun - I thought it was a 21st century fusion of Dylan's "Subterranean Home Sick Blues" meets Led Zeppelin riff with some Lou Reed and St. Paul thrown into a blender.

What a GREAT line: I got a submarine, You got gasoline, I don’t want to talk about wars between nations, Not right now: Hey sexy boots, Get on your boots, yeah, Not right now,Bossy boots! (And having just returned to quiet Pittsfield after a week in Manhattan where EVERY babe in the city was wearing sexy boots... all I could do was smile. Spot on, boys!)

Then I heard "Breathe" - which to me is the heart of this new song cycle - OMG! Part rap, part confession, part prayer of praise and psalm all while this nasty street rhythm is pulsating underneath. Starts out with a Jagger-like slew of words that Bono almost spits out in anger... only to discover that he is raging against any/everything that wounds God's creation. "These days are better than...." all the bullshit that fills our culture!

Then - after a stinging guitar solo by the Edge (maybe his most heartfelt ?!) he sings what I sense is the soul of their musical ministry:

Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There’s nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah
We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I’ve found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it’s all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now

This is Holy Spirit stuff -renewal and radical faith born of the breath of God - hope and new life amidst the stench of all that is decaying or saturated with fear and death. And they are passionately sharing it like artists with a mission to have fun, encourage hope and point towards the light in the darkness. How does Mr. E put it? "God damn right it is a beatiful day." (Another dude who celebrates grace in ways that make me rejoice!)