U2 ... Turn On The Light

Oh, I know, I know. I've been absent for over a week, and what do I do? I repeat. But I can't help it. I'm very excited to hear all of the new U2 album, and so I take what little they've given so far as a teaser and really work it.

When I first heard the song "Invisible" and saw the brief clip of the video, I reported that it sounded a lot like "City of Blinding Lights," and I don't think that I'm too far off of that comparison; but more than that, I have realized something else that is true of U2, the band.

On local television, an entertainment reporter and reviewer was asked if a band other than the Beatles has made as much of a contribution to music as them. He said that the Rolling Stones had for one, and then U2. I was sort of surprised by that ... and I love U2! But being the fan that I am, I am ridiculed constantly for the fact that I love them as much as I do. I realize that they are targets. Between their largeness and their philanthropic endeavors, they are in a place that critics, naysayers, unhappiers can attack. I have, for the most part, been, in my estimation, very undercover/undercurrent of my love for U2. It's such a personal relationship ... that of the band and the fan. I don't feel that I should have to explain it to anyone. It's for me to decide who I want to listen to. Hey, I don't hassle you if you love XYZ when I don't particularly care them. Why bother me.

But I digress, and what I realize after watching the full-length video of "Invisible" is that U2 has a light. The video represents it exactly. It is how I see this band when I listen to them or see them in concert. Orbs of light pour out of them and across the arena. I've always said to friends that when I go to a U2 concert, I feel as if Bono has reached out to me and only me in the sea of others to pull out what is right in the world, what is right in me. True, I had a cackle from someone about how the song is like all of the rest, but what I don't think this guy understands is that it is much more of a dimensional experience with any of U2's music if you are plugged in. Something is infused in the energy of it that makes everything all right, no better than that, for its 4 minute duration. I can conquer any dilemma, any conflict, any problem during that time. How they do it, I haven't a clue. But I hope that they keep doing it because it gives me the infusion of hope and faith and conviction that I need to carry on. Oh, that's heady stuff. But we need 'a little help from our friends,' and that is what they do. And maybe that's why they can be named in a 'who has the same effect as the Beatles' q and a report.