Did you all see this? Ethered.

none of us would let elon hit it that’s all I’ll say https://t.co/XFOCXtFNav

— Lucy Dacus (@lucydacus) March 4, 2021

As stunning a production as “With or Without You” was in bringing U2 to an undeniable critical mass, I sort of consider “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” the moment that the band really reached everybody.
It’s pretty simple: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is one of the most universally relatable songs ever recorded. Whether it’s one’s faith, one’s familial relationships, one’s quest for true love or a desire to break out of career misery and land the dream job (that doesn’t actually exist), everybody in the world can understand this song and identify with it on some level.
In the summer of 1987, I either 1) still hadn’t found what I was looking for, or 2) I had found it, but I couldn’t have it. But, either way, this song reached me and struck a nerve in a very tangible way. And if that so-true-it-hurts title and anthemic-without-being-pretentious quality weren’t enough to convince you, surely the all-time great guitar bridge by The Edge was going to draw you in and make you surrender all resistance.
Damn, two 10/10s in one week.
I don’t think this will ever happen for me again. Indeed, I don’t know if I will have another 10 among #1s the rest of the ‘80s. Seriously.

My relationship with The Joshua Tree started when I was gifted a copy by Dad, not out of love, but because he got a free copy but does not actually like U2, his tastes tends towards smooth jazz and Joe Satriani. Even at the tender age of 12, I was familiar with the hits from classic rock radio, but the entirety of the album still blew me away and quickly became one of my favorite albums. U2 was not close to cool even in 2003 (I have never seen a U2 shirt in the wild), the year that the White Stripes and the Strokes were making me realize modern music had just as much to offer as classic rock and Pink Floyd, but even as a budding hipster obsessed with cultural cachet this album barely left my 5 CD stereo, along with other 2003 greats like Yoshimi and Hail to the Thief. In particular, the emotion and poetic imagery of “Running to Stand Still”, my favorite U2 song, quickly dispelled the notion Bono was merely bombast and bluster, signifying nothing. Bono might have disappeared up his own ass, but I reckon any of us would develop messianic tendencies if we wrote a song as good as “Where the Streets Have No Name”, which clearly should have hit #1 too.
“ I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is not my favorite or probably even in my top 10 U2 songs, but the lyrical themes about the search for spiritual contentment epitomize Bono’s ability to make universal themes feel personal and relatable to all of us, regardless of where we stand in life. I too have not found what I am looking for even at the precipice of 30, and I’m afraid I never will, but hearing Bono wail about experiencing the same existential exploration for meaning and purpose makes me realize I am not alone feeling lost and rudderless, we all have the same struggle finding something or someone to sooth our soul. It is amazing to me that a band like U2 could hit number #1 twice in the late 80s near the peak of hair metal and 80s sparkly synth rock, Edge’s resonant reverby guitar tone being like nothing else on Pop radio. I admit I was not alive then, so maybe I’m missing similar sounds and scenes that were bubbling underneath top 40, but to me it speaks of the power and excellence of the band, breaking through the barrier of Pop music with anthems that cannot be denied no matter how atypical they were at the time. I might not have the same connection with U2 and the Joshua Tree as some of y’all that were alive in 1987, but I feel a deep affection for this album, which is why I am writing 500 words about it instead of working on my thesis; it has touched me so profoundly. I hope I am not alone among millennials with my love of U2, even if they are boomer dinosaurs that haven’t put out a good album since “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. Hopefully U2 are rediscovered by the youngsters on Tik Tok because it would be a pity for young music aficionados to skip out on life changing classics just because of their embarrassing Apple album.
One last note: I visited Joshua Tree National Park a few years ago and ended up meeting the love of my life. We made love while camping next to a landscape very similar to the one on the album cover. At that moment, I had found what I was looking for. While that feeling was ephemeral, as feelings often are, U2 was the soundtrack for that transcendent night, visiting a place I had dreamed about since I fell in love with this album, with someone I loved deeply. Short story long: This album fucks.

My younger self did not resonate with today’s #1 when it was everywhere in 1987, as at the time, I was all about having the answers. As I have grown older, I can easily say that I identify with the general premise of this song more than just about any song we will ever talk about here. Coming to terms with the unquenchable restlessness inside has pretty much been my life’s journey. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is not a song on any of my regular playlists and doesn’t hit me in my musical sweet spot, but it does speak to the deepest part of me, maybe like a hymn, one that I can sing along with honestly and take heart in knowing that I do not sing alone.

Of all the remakes of 1987, this was one of them.

For context, this guy’s dad is an investment banker worth about 700 million. And since I’ve been critical of Taylor Swift in the past for her aw shucks shtick while having a dad working for merrill lynch, it’s only fair that I say that Winston “Country” Marshall is a colossal prick

“And then, there was that time that I worked with that guy who always wore a paper bag over his head, with a deathgrip on a well-worn copy of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson…

Fun times. Speaking of which, I hope that this weekend, you all have fun times, too. Please be careful, take good care of yourselves and each other, and…

… good on you all.

Los Lobos’ “La Bamba” was HUGE in San Antonio, my abode at the time. Probably not too surprising! (But then, it must’ve been pretty huge everywhere, having been #1 for three weeks.)

However, my favorite memory of this song involves California. While “La Bamba” was atop the Hot 100, I flew to Southern California to spend a week with my dad, only the second time I’d spent any time with him since 1969. It’s a saga, involving my parents’ divorce and my dad’s addictions. By the 80s, he’d overcome his addictions. I’d seen him for the first time in 14 years in 1983, and was amped to again spend time with him that summer of 1987. It was great. We spent a thoroughly enjoyable several days together, and reconnected in a way that I hadn’t even hoped for. Oh, and I recall hearing “La Bamba” more than any other song that week in lovely Oceanside, CA, his abode at the time.

I’ll always have a soft spot for “La Bamba”. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of that summer, and especially that excellent week my dad and I got to spend together.

First they came for Dr. Suess, and I stayed silent. And then they came for a Mumford and Son bro, and yet I remained silent. And then they came for me because I said a bunch of racist shit and stormed the capitol, and there was no one left to uncancel me.

Still more annoyed by their music.

Should be pointed out that Andy Ngo is viatnamese. You all are racist.

Most AntiFa trash are trust fund Red Diaper babies. Your point?

“violent anti-truth”

Project more, Communist shit.

So sorry not being a Communist terrorist hurts your feelings.

As opposed to the overwhelming majority of wealthy white guys supporting and even funding the terrorism of far-Left AntiFa terrorist shitbags.

Sit down and shut up.

Oh man, the guy from TRAPT seems to be hitting the comments section up like crazy.