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"Let's just say he's on the border between something and nothing." -- Bono, on Edge's nickname |
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"Let's just say he's on the border between something and nothing." -- Bono, on Edge's nickname |
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Like A Song: Peace On Earth
@U2,
December 13, 2012
Heaven on Earth, we need it now I'm sick of war. I hope for peace.
It's as simple as that. Shooting, bombing, shelling, stalking, stabbing, raping, attacking, butchering, strangling or pillaging makes no sense to me, whether it's soldiers, civilians, political leaders, animals or property that is destroyed, or whether it's politics, religion, money, territory or honor that's claimed as the reason for it. When I was little, and my brothers engaged in fierce Lego wars all over the living room, I insisted on being the nurse and hospital -- for both sides. I don't watch violent movies, play violent video games, cheer at boxing or laugh at any kind of fighting because I never, ever want to become desensitized to violence. I always want to flinch at the sound of a gun, to cry when people are blown up, to feel discouraged when a newspaper story about 20 nameless people killed in a battle in some other country is buried on the last page.
Roll your eyes at my idealism and lack of attention to the "nuances" of war, but I believe in peace everywhere on Earth. Where I grew up there weren't many trees When I first heard U2's "Peace On Earth" from All That You Can't Leave Behind, I was drawn to it right away. But I don't think I experienced the full power of the song until last year, during the 10-year anniversary commemorations of 9/11. I came across an artist who shared a work of art he created in response to the terrorist acts of 2001. Pete Ippel of Ventura, Calif., told me that on Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his last semester as an art student at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
As news of the terrorist attacks broke, he and other students naturally turned to the most high-tech mode of communication at the time: AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM. Ippel saved every "away message" from classmates he saw on his screen that day (an away message on AIM is like a voice mail; it appears automatically when someone tries to make contact with the user but he or she is unavailable to respond). Here are a few examples of away messages he saw: Today is not a good day.
Prayers What do you even say right now? OMFG Ippel turned all the messages into digital art, looping the messages together so they popped up one by one in a video, with U2's "Peace On Earth" playing in the background. They're reading names out over the radio
When I start to despair that the world is never going to learn war is futile, chaotic and a waste of lives, and always has been, I listen to "Peace On Earth," and it brings me, well, not peace, necessarily, but a sense of hope. Jesus sing a song you wrote How many times do we have to say it before we make it really happen? (c) @U2/Lindell, 2012
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[Ed. note: This is the 73rd in a series of personal essays by the @U2 staff about songs and/or albums that have had great meaning or impact in our lives.]