In 1987, U2 opened their
Joshua Tree World Tour in Tempe, Arizona. It was the moment I
had anticipated for weeks.
I was 15 years old seeing
the band I fell in love with three years prior.
I attended this concert with three girls.
Each girl played a significant role in my life during those early days of high school.
One was an older girl whom took me under her wings and advised me on how to get the girl.
Another was a troubled girl who took her own life two years later.
And the third girl was the object of my affection; soon to be my first love.
The significance of this concert on my life would not be realized until a year later.
There was something different about this concert. Something was in the air that night. It was a religious experience. The 12,000 people in attendance were fixated on that stage; hanging on every lyric that left Bono's tongue.
There is something to be said about music and how the human condition can be inspired or even crushed when the two intersect at a specific moment.
For me, inspiration came during With or Without You at the very end of this 1987 U2 concert.
As U2 played this song, I was no longer fixated on the stage. My eyes wandered upon the young blue eyed girl merely standing inches away from me; the girl I would soon call mine.
Her name.... well, it's inconsequential but a name I hold in such reverence, I don't dare utter it during some casual circumstance like this moment.
With my eyes riveted on her, her eyes were squarely focused on the band. During the 6 minutes this song played, I just obsessively stared at her every movement.
When the song concluded, I watched a single tear fall down her face as she directed her attention to me.
There's something to be said about an emotionally performed song and a passionate girl when the two intersect at a specific moment.
And there's something to be said about a passionate girl and a boy in longing when the two intersect at that exact moment.
For the two of us, it was that moment and that song that led to our first kiss.
Within a week, she was my first love. She was mine. And I was hers.
One year later, U2 ended their U.S. tour in the exact same city it all began: Tempe, Arizona. They played two concerts on two consecutive nights. It is the footage from these last 2 concerts that are featured in the film "Rattle & Hum".
I attended this concert with three girls.
Each girl played a significant role in my life during those early days of high school.
One was an older girl whom took me under her wings and advised me on how to get the girl.
Another was a troubled girl who took her own life two years later.
And the third girl was the object of my affection; soon to be my first love.
The significance of this concert on my life would not be realized until a year later.
There was something different about this concert. Something was in the air that night. It was a religious experience. The 12,000 people in attendance were fixated on that stage; hanging on every lyric that left Bono's tongue.
There is something to be said about music and how the human condition can be inspired or even crushed when the two intersect at a specific moment.
For me, inspiration came during With or Without You at the very end of this 1987 U2 concert.
As U2 played this song, I was no longer fixated on the stage. My eyes wandered upon the young blue eyed girl merely standing inches away from me; the girl I would soon call mine.
Her name.... well, it's inconsequential but a name I hold in such reverence, I don't dare utter it during some casual circumstance like this moment.
With my eyes riveted on her, her eyes were squarely focused on the band. During the 6 minutes this song played, I just obsessively stared at her every movement.
When the song concluded, I watched a single tear fall down her face as she directed her attention to me.
There's something to be said about an emotionally performed song and a passionate girl when the two intersect at a specific moment.
And there's something to be said about a passionate girl and a boy in longing when the two intersect at that exact moment.
For the two of us, it was that moment and that song that led to our first kiss.
Within a week, she was my first love. She was mine. And I was hers.
One year later, U2 ended their U.S. tour in the exact same city it all began: Tempe, Arizona. They played two concerts on two consecutive nights. It is the footage from these last 2 concerts that are featured in the film "Rattle & Hum".
I was fortunate to attend
both last concerts. Like one year earlier, I attended both
shows with my then girlfriend of one year, the beautiful blue eyed
girl with a name I don't dare in such a casual circumstance like this
exact moment.
Both concerts ended with our song: With or Without You.
There is something to be said about first loves and their first songs when they intersect at every moment they are together.
For the two of us, it was our bond. It was the glue that kept us together when we fought. It was that song that reminded each of us how we fell in love with the other.
Three years later, she and I broke up because her family was moving out of state.
There's something to be said about the moment when first loves have to move on without the other.
Two months after arriving in that new place to begin the next phase of her life, the beautiful blue eyed girl whose name I don't utter in such a casual circumstance like this moment, was killed in a car accident.
It's the phone call I will never forget.
The song I played over and over for years from that moment on was "Without or Without You".
It's a song that has many meanings to me now.
It was our song.
It was the song playing when I came to terms with my love for this young blue eyed girl.
It was the song we played as a means to remind ourselves how much we loved the other.
It was the song I played when I heard the somber news that her life was over at eighteen.
There is something to be said about music and how the human condition can be inspired or even crushed when the two intersect at a specific moment.
There is nothing to be said when I hear the lyrics....
I can't live
With or Without You.
Twenty eight years later and this song is still beautiful.
And it still haunts me.
Both concerts ended with our song: With or Without You.
There is something to be said about first loves and their first songs when they intersect at every moment they are together.
For the two of us, it was our bond. It was the glue that kept us together when we fought. It was that song that reminded each of us how we fell in love with the other.
Three years later, she and I broke up because her family was moving out of state.
There's something to be said about the moment when first loves have to move on without the other.
Two months after arriving in that new place to begin the next phase of her life, the beautiful blue eyed girl whose name I don't utter in such a casual circumstance like this moment, was killed in a car accident.
It's the phone call I will never forget.
The song I played over and over for years from that moment on was "Without or Without You".
It's a song that has many meanings to me now.
It was our song.
It was the song playing when I came to terms with my love for this young blue eyed girl.
It was the song we played as a means to remind ourselves how much we loved the other.
It was the song I played when I heard the somber news that her life was over at eighteen.
There is something to be said about music and how the human condition can be inspired or even crushed when the two intersect at a specific moment.
There is nothing to be said when I hear the lyrics....
I can't live
With or Without You.
Twenty eight years later and this song is still beautiful.
And it still haunts me.
sometimes a word, a song, a film, a poem, a book can haunt you into the depths of sleep and through the brightness of the day. Ghosts of the past cling to us like spiderwebs. always caught out of the corner of your eye but you cant seem to shake them. Beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteyou always have such a knack for soothing people into relaxation and then startling them out of their revery with one sentence or a few words
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful, and compelling. One small typo-the exclusion of the word-utter (between dare and in) under the second concert picture. I KNEW you meant to put it there..................loved it.
ReplyDelete