IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL/DIRTY DAY
by Jules

Say I'm crying
I'm looking at what's on TV
Pain and suffering
And the struggle to be free
It can't ever be denied and I
Never will ignore
But when I see you coming
I can take it all
- INXS ("Disappear")

When I was 13, the Beatles made me realize that music could make your life better; and that was important because when you’re 13, there’s not much to be happy about, or so you think. When I was 16, U2 made me realize that music could do more than make your life better - they made me realize that music could make you better; and that was important because being an egotistical high school student that has nothing going except good grades and a rather cheeky personality, there is certainly room for improvement.

The first impression I have of U2 is a simple album cover with less than simple music. I never gave The Joshua Tree more than a couple listens, and to me, at 16, U2 were just another rock band. Sure, I was aware of their activism, but I was not aware that their activism is not activism in its perceived sense. Everything changed when my best friend, Molee, gave me two mix tapes - one was a Sting compilation and the other was a U2 compilation. I admit, I was somewhat reluctant to listen to the U2 tape, and Sting was what was generally played on my Walkman for the next week or so. However, one not so fine day, I had to walk home from the library with nothing except my Walkman and, dammit, the U2 tape Molee gave me. I was kind of annoyed that I didn’t have any "good" music to get me through my walk, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a listen. (What choice did I have?) Much to my own shock, everything that blasted through my headphones and into my brain was more than perfect. Then, I heard the song that would change me and my perception of music forever. As I heard the opening bass line of "Some Days Are Better Than Others," I felt two things: First, I felt emotionally purged in the best way possible. The instrumental and vocal parts of the song epitomized everything in my life at that moment. I silently thought, "U2’s right - some days are better than others." This simple message made my trek home easier. Second, I felt angry with myself - for 16 years, I have been oblivious to all the music U2 has created. And so began my obsession with rock’s greatest band, or according to Bono, the "best band in the universe."

For me to describe everything U2 has done for me would take up pages and would most likely bore anyone to death, so I’ll keep it simple. U2 taught me five things:

1. U2 taught me how to be more selfless and giving. When I saw everything that U2, with Bono’s leadership has done for the world, from Live Aid to Drop the Debt, I knew that the burdens of the world must become my own burdens.
2. U2 taught me about history. Before hearing "Bullet the Blue Sky," I didn’t know very much about the conflict that the United States was involved with in El Salvador. That song forced me to search deeper into the horrific acts of violence that the United States, under the so-called leadership of President Reagan, has committed in the past. I learned to see things from a different point of view. Whether I learned about the civil war raging in Northern Ireland from songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or about South African apartheid, U2 taught me more than what rock music should sound like.
3. U2 taught me how to understand my emotions. Before U2, I was just another kid afraid to feel anything. Once I heard songs like "Running to Stand Still" and "Acrobat," I was able to take everything that I once feared and make it all better.
4. U2 taught me how to be spiritual without being religious. As Bono once said, "religion is the enemy of God." Songs like "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" made me understand that faith was the key, that I did not need the oppressive organized religion to find what I was looking for for so long.
5. Most importantly, U2 taught me how to "rebel against the idea that the world is the way the world is and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it." Often, people brush the troubles of the underdeveloped world and being untouchable or unsolvable. But U2 made me understand that one person can truly make a difference, whether they’re a rock star or a 17-year-old kid.

There are so many captivating things about U2‘s music, but I think the most eminent is their ability to stir an emotion that you were afraid to touch. Moreover, they made it cool to care - about the welfare of others and about your own personal crises, from drug addiction to family problems to raging global issues to battling your own enormous ego. Their power transcends beyond the realm of music and songwriting into every meaningless detail that makes up your very existence. You don’t need a psychiatrist when you have U2. When I was struggling with my self-created battles with the outside world, I didn’t need any advice except "don’t let the bastards grind you down," and once that became my anthem, I was unstoppable. U2 are not just an ordinary rock band that I listen to in order to relieve stress. They are the Jedi masters of the music world, and their counseling is usually the only guidance worth having. Their appeal lies in their everchanging methods of telling the straight-up truth about what life is like, whether it’s a beautiful day or a dirty day.