The NEXT Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50 (cont...)

#181) "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2 - U2 is one of those bands I had to grow into. I resisted them for years, on some kind of principle I could not have easily explained. I guess I was always turned off by what I saw as pretentiousness: Bono seeming to hold court in every song, self-proclaimed prosecutor of all the world's good fights and heady messages. It was a lot to take in for a dopey kid from northern Wisconsin whose biggest concern at the time "Pride (In the Name of Love)" came out was hoping the Super Mario Bros game in the alcove of the Pamida would be free when I biked two miles out there (it almost never was). I always sort of felt like I was neither cool enough nor smart enough to understand why Bono was so upset.

FROM THE ONION: Bono outbids everyone at Charity Auction for Bono-autographed guitar (CLICK HERE  ;-)

And yet, virtually every song in the U2 library is pretty much a classic at this point, and truth is, there really isn't any pretentiousness to be found, if by that word one means "false", "exaggerated" or "undeserving." Forging a unique sound and a unique interpretation of the world, a unique sensibility (which the band has shrewdly allowed to grow and develop as the years have passed), U2 enjoys a well-deserved legacy. And while it's quite possible that Bono might be a pill at cocktail parties, he nevertheless seems legitimately (as in genuinely) committed to things he's committed to...and there's nothing wrong with that.  He has walked the walk as well as talked the talk.

And if I may speak plainly, musically speaking, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is just fucking epic...listen to it with headphones: the ringing guitar, the vocals, the message...it all combines as alchemy. Great music for being on the road, driving really fast, in open spaces that are splashed in sunshine.

"Early morning, April 4 / Shot rings out in the Memphis sky..."

#182) "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash - I guess I should have known better, but I was surprised to learn that "Rock the Casbah" was not just a random jam for 1982, but was actually inspired by the ban on Western music after the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979...er, at least, that's what Wikipedia tells me.

And why not?  It makes sense...I guess I never wanted to know too much about this wicked little snake charm of a song, didn't want to mess with how it gels in my mind as it plays. This is no garden variety pop ditty, neither in its structure nor its vocals, which aren't too noteworthy at first, until Joe Strummer shreds the entire room with that one killer line: "The crowd caught a whiff / of that crazy Casbah jive..."

The whole of this song is killer - percussion, piano, bass riff...it's one of those rare treasures that makes you really appreciate the creative process, and wonder how something like it happens at all. It makes me wish I could have been a fly on the wall as it was being conceived / written / composed / recorded.

Like "Pride (In the Name of Love)", "Rock the Casbah" was a song I didn't really appreciate until later in life, but when I did, I became a fan in a washout of enthusiasm. And like Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and Mellencamp's "Pink Houses", it would seem to be a song that frequently gets misunderstood by certain people.

I don't get into any of that. I just jam to this one. And the video cracks me up. In a good way.

And in these troubled times, maybe we should take what it's showing to heart... ;-)



"By order of the prophet, we ban that boogie sound / Degenerate the faithful, with that crazy Casbah sound..."