“Bad”
by U2
from the album The Unforgettable Fire
1984
Buy the album on Amazon

I hadn’t picked a song for today yet, and Lance went with U2, so it seemed like a good enough direction as any (after all, he and I have done U2 medleys before). U2 has never been on my list of favorite bands. I owned The Joshua Tree when I grew up, and there are some undeniably epic, classic songs on it, and throughout the years some of their other songs have hooked me, and usually hooked me hard. I respectfully accept their place in the rock pantheon, but I’ve mostly stuck with their hits, and am still discovering classics within that list.

This song, for example. I’m not sure I ever knew about it until it caught my ear on the “The Best of 1980-1990” collection, but now I love it. I had no idea until I just read the Wikipedia entry on it that it was a standard at their live shows or its place in the Live Aid history. I hadn’t ever really given any thought to what the lyrics are about. I just knew when I heard it that I liked it, and that I wanted to sing it. It’s a killer song.

Sadly, for me, I’ve finally stopped trying to sing it because I have to admit I totally can’t hit the belting high notes of “wiiide awaaaakkee!” This of course frustrates me to no end because in my mind I can hear how I am capable of hitting them, but history has proven otherwise. Still, like I’ve said before, I’m not above repeating my mistakes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFG_YVpDd_s&feature=kp

Live Aid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zIW8qDPhos