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A Lot Can Happen in 30.....or Even Just 3 Years




Do you ever think about the things you loved as a kid? The music? The clothes? The friends? Chances are, all those things have changed over time. You're lucky if you still keep in touch with your grade school friends (even with the advent of FB) and you wouldn't even want to put on the clothes you wore back then! To me, music is something that has always been more enduring. Your tastes might change, but in most cases, you will always love your first love.

Boy, do I know about that.

E-Roc and I were recently comparing the ebb and flow and changes in the careers of two of our favorite bands: REM and U2. They've both changed so much that sometimes you don't even think you're talking about the same bands anymore. But is that always a bad thing?

Take U2 for example.....

Their first American single was "I Will Follow" and then of course they had the great unforgettable songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day". To those of us that love the post-punk new-wave sound, there may not be anything better.

But then there was The Joshua Tree, which I must say, might very well the be Dark Side and Sergeant Pepper's of my generation. There were so many great songs on Joshua......"With or Without You", "In God's Country", "Bullet the Blue Sky", and my personal all-time favorite song "Where the Streets Have No Name".

And along with Joshua we got the great concert/tour movie Rattle and Hum which goes even further to show how much and just why we loved U2. Now I'll admit many years later that some parts of it may slide into the pretentious (like most bands do once they hit a certain peak of success) but what can't be denied are the performances.....Bono howling on "Bad" and hearing B.B. King tell him he's very young to write lyrics so "deep".

As years went by U2 continued to have a lot of songs I loved like "One" and "Beautiful Day". But I would have to admit that I'm not altogether familiar with their newer material. I still like the old stuff.....and when I say old I mean anything from 1980-2000.

I've never been one that had a problem with bands that grow and change....I feel like I can always hold onto their old stuff even if I didn't grow and change with them. And isn't that kind of what life is like? Some people, some situations, some places, some times....you just outgrow each other. It's not bad....it just.....is.

But I like to always keep an eye and ear open for U2 or any other band from my young life to come back, surprise me and make music sound new again. It's a lot like love. It's different every time. And every time you experience it, you're lucky to have had the chance. Sometimes the hardest part is making yourself buy the ticket or the CD. You keep wondering if you'll really like it or if it will be a waste of money or will it be anything like what you loved before.

Yes, you'll really like it.

No, it won't be a waste of money.

No, it won't be anything like what you loved before.

And that's the beauty of it. Sometimes you have to just buy the ticket. Just take that leap of faith. Just ask the question. And just say yes.

Take it from Bono:
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case

It's never too late. Not for anything.
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