Music Notes

Wire, by U2

This begins a trio of U2 songs that I discovered because the Walmart Radio DJ played them when I happened to be in the store.

I haven't gotten into Bono and his gang at all, since they were before my time, but I do appreciate the influence they've had on current artists like Ryan Tedder, and at this point I'm familiar enough with their sound and style to almost spot them in a crowd.

It was early in 2022, and I was busy doing a weekly market research study at a local Walmart, which required me to go around taking pictures and tallying up shelf stock. This particular store had ginormous bass speakers hanging from the ceiling, and I was standing right underneath one for most of the job, which was incredibly distracting and annoying.

As my brain irrepressibly analyzed the opening notes of Wire blasting down over me, my first impression was that it sounded like Duran Duran's Rio. But it became obvious in a few seconds that it wasn't, so I Shazamed it.

In the store, I laughed at Wire, because I recognized the grunge aspect of it from what I'd learned when analyzing Imagine Dragons 2021 album Mercury Act 1. I thought it was exaggerated and overdramatized. Being busy, I saved a screenshot of the Shazam so I could check it out later.

At home, I found that Wire is no laughing matter, as the lyrics appear to be about suicide; according to Genius,   Bono most likely wrote it with an addicted friend in mind. But since my curiosity was piqued and I hadn't paid proper attention to it in the store, I downloaded it for a listen... And haven't let go of it since.

I don't have a lot of edgy/grungy/angry music on my playlist, but the few tracks I do, I'm attached to. Wire is something I'll avoid unless I'm in a particular mood, but I'm glad to have it in my collection.

It's a stressful, unnerving song; basically, we hear Bono fighting with something, and the outcome is unclear. But there's a certain catharsis that comes with it... Or is that a relief when it's over?