Quotes

“Right at the center of contradiction is the place to be.”

U2, which has been a post-punk band, an artsy ambient band, a hit American artsy roots band (even though they’re not American), a hit 90’s eurotrash band, and a back to a local Dublin band of sorts, is fronted by a guy who understands contradictions and tension.

His band has a long and mighty legacy, and he asks: are we really that good?

You don’t have to solve every contradiction. In fact, right at the center of contradiction is the place to be.- Bono in A Sort of Homecoming

I think he’s onto something. I love a good contradiction. It tells you: maybe I’m actually onto something.

I’m personally full of contradictions. I’m a straight, middle-aged man who’s into gardening and Lana del Rey. Is that a contradiction? Only if you think it is, my friend. And that’s the place to be.

“What you don’t know, you can feel it somehow.” 🎤

6 November 202311 November 2023 patmcg5 Comments

I always liked the song Beautiful Day for its optimism and presence.

It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away.

Sure, that’s the obvious takeaway and a great reminder that every day counts.

But the last part of the song has been inspiring me even more as I dig into a scary new skill, which I hope is the right kind of difficult for me: playing, singing, and eventually writing my own songs. 😱

I do not have a good track record here so far.

I have spent most of my life as the kind of guy who could play Stairway to Heaven on guitar and be done with it. “I’m a guitarist.” 🤷🏻‍♂️ Then I recorded a cover with a friend and built up some confidence.

What I really want is to do find my own voice. Literally.

Despite never considering myself a singer (and consistently receiving negative feedback whenever I have tried 😆) I am jumping into singing with the help of an expert music teacher who always sees the best possibilities.

And that’s half the journey.

Touch me, take me to that other place
Reach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case

Which brings me to the best part of Beautiful Day: the last bit, the part about forgetting what you don’t have now and feeling your way, somehow, into the new.

What you don’t have, you don’t need it now
What you don’t know, you can feel it somehow

Stay tuned. 🎤

What a beautiful day.

Music

“Baby, you’re nowhere”

28 April 202327 July 2023 patmcgLeave a comment

The irony of staying in it, and trying to make it work, even when you know you’re swimming upstream. Sometimes we’re drawn to a challenge, even if we know it’s doomed.

We’re cut adrift
We’re still floating
I’m only hanging on
To watch you go down
My love

The irony of someone thinking maybe they don’t belong there, and so they don’t.

The men who love you, you hate the most
They pass right through you like a ghost
They look for you, but your spirit is in the air
Baby, you’re nowhere

Another great U2 cover by Transient.

Music

Stuck in a moment (remake)

15 February 202318 February 2023 patmcg1 Comment

I haven’t been a huge fan of modern-day U2. I miss the more inspiring, mysterious, and just classic stuff from the 80’s and 90’s.

Still, some of their later-day songs creep up and get you — especially if someone else performs them. 🤷🏻‍♂️

For instance, Transient has done some really fresh remakes of U2 songs. They finally helped me appreciate the following song from 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, which I originally thought was, uh, pretty boring, but now see the beauty in it.

Thank you, Transient. 🙏

And the lyrics are perfect for someone who needs a little kick in the butt.

I never thought you were a fool
But darling, look at you
You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere baby

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And now you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better
Now you’re stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it

Music

Love Rescue Me

22 June 201721 February 2023 patmcgLeave a comment

I always loved the last few lines of this song.

I’ve conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see.
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me.
Love, rescue me.
Bono / Bob Dylan

This song has kind of a funny story. Bono woke up with the song in his mind as a dream and thought it was a Bob Dylan song. He literally drove to Bob Dylan’s house (which happened to be nearby) and asked him if it was his. Bob said no, but helped Bono finish the song. I mean, to have friends like that! 🤩

Also, I find this song pretty relatable. Bono says, “It’s about a man people keep turning to as a savior but his own life is getting messed up and he could use a bit of salvation himself.” That hits a little too close to home. 🤔