After an extended absence, the five-star song feature of my blog returns today. I moved it to Friday to take advantage of the alliteration.
It was a warm spring day. I was driving home from school with my Grandma Paape. (When I had my temps at 15, my grandma used to drive to school and move over to the passenger’s side before school let out. Then I would walk out of school, walk over to the car on Grantosa, and drive home. How cool was that?)
Back to my story: I was stopped at the traffic signal on Fond du Lac and Maxwell. A twenty-something guy pulled up next to me with his window down and “With or Without You” came on the radio. That was the first time I’d really heard the song in its entirety, and for some reason it resonated. (Those of you who grew up near the old Capitol Court know how long the light is.)
I bought The Joshua Tree in the fall of 1987. What I heard awoke something in me. Returning to school to share how awesome my new discovery was led to ridicule. My friends didn’t like U2 and I did. That was the beginning of the rest of my life.
I was in a theatre waiting for a movie to start, and the people behind me were talking about U2. When one person asked why so many people think U2 is so great, another answered: “Because so many people had a coming-of-age experience with U2 in the 80s and 90s.” My thoughts exactly.
