“What song are you chasing?”
This song has a Super Bowl connection (sort of), so I chose
to share it today. “In God’s
Country” is one of my favorite U2 songs.
I love the energy, and the beautiful imagery and hopefulness in the
lyrics. I’ve never seen them
perform it live, but I had heard from a U2 acquaintance that, if they decide to
play it at all on tour, they will always play it in Phoenix, because the lyrics
are about the desert, and they’ve played it a lot there in the past.
On the 360 Tour in 2009, I decided to see them in Phoenix,
because I had always wanted to go there, and I wanted to hear that song. They were playing at the University of
Phoenix stadium in Glendale, where the Super Bowl is happening today. It is a massive, state-of-the-art
stadium, basically in the middle of the desert.
So I flew ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BY MYSELF, basically to hear
one song. Yes, I am insane. I went out a couple of days early to
explore Phoenix and nearby Sedona, where the red rocks are. Sedona is breathtakingly
beautiful. Phoenix isn’t terribly
exciting, but the weather was amazing – It was 100 degrees (in October!) when I
landed, and a perfect 80 degrees the day of the show. I’ll take it!
Sadly, they didn’t play “In God’s Country” at the Phoenix
show, but they did play a snippet of it at their next show – in Las Vegas – 3
days later. Hashtag sad face. So much for always playing it in
Phoenix.
I didn’t realize, until recently, that part of the reason
why I go to so many concerts is that I’m chasing songs. One of my U2/Bruce fan friends told me
that a fan asked him at a Springsteen show recently, “What song are you
chasing?” I love the idea that we
go to great lengths to experience something because we want to so badly. Being in the room when my favorite song
is played live is the greatest joy for me. But I’ve learned my lesson and have given up on chasing
them. I used to think that I was a
concert jinx (confirmed by the Phoenix experience), but I’m starting to
understand that the songs are meant to come to you at the right moment. It happened with “Running To Stand
Still” on the Vertigo tour. And
maybe I’ll never hear all of my favorite songs live, but if I do, you will
definitely hear about it. J
So, my question for the diehard concertgoers is, “What song
are you chasing?” What song(s)
would you love to hear live that you haven’t yet?
As for “In God’s Country,” this video is from Rattle &
Hum. I love when Bono smiles
mischievously when he sings “dress torn in ribbons and in bows.” Funnily enough, this performance was
filmed in Denver (home of the Broncos….who are not playing in the Super Bowl……heavy
sigh…….). And when U2 performed at
halftime in 2002, the stupid Patriots won.
“Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky,
The rivers run but soon run dry,
We need new dreams tonight.
Desert rose, dreamed a saw a desert rose,
Dress torn in ribbons and in bows,
Like a Siren she calls to me…”
#YearlongMixtape
(Side note to U2 fans: I do not recommend doing GA here if
they ever play at U of Phoenix stadium again, and if you want to camp out. I decided to do the line and got there
at 9am the day of the show. By the
time I got there, they had stopped doing numbers because there were so many
people in line. Venue security was
nice but super lazy and unprepared, and there was a pretty major line-cutting
disaster when we were putting our stuff in our cars and getting ready to go
in. I ended up on the outside
rail, 2nd row, but went to the back halfway through the opener
because of obnoxious people trying to push their way to the rail. But I met some really nice people, so
that was cool.)
