In honor of the special day, RT is doing double duty with our latest in the Rock Turtleneck Hidden Gem series: "Wire" by U2.
"Wire" is easily the most rocking - in fact, the only rocking track - on their 1984 transitional LP The Unforgettable Fire.
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Like several other tracks on the album (including the epic "Bad") "Wire"'s lyrics tell a tale of the horrors of drug addiction, which is why it fits right in on this episode of Miami Vice:
Anti-drug diatribe or not, the Edge, Adam and Larry's groove on this track is so urgent and irresistible that Bono could be singing about how to pour the perfect Black & Tan and it would be equally compelling.
Despite being one of their strongest rockers, "Wire" remains a Hidden Gem, which is curious as it is sandwiched in the sweet spot between one of their biggest hits, "Pride (in the Name of Love)" and the dreamlike title track. I'm pretty sure I've never heard it on the radio.
"Wire" established a template for the band for instrumentally tight, album-track style barn-burners. And almost every record of theirs since "Wire" has featured one: "Even Better than the Real Thing" from Achtung Baby and "Magnificent" on their new record No Line on the Horizon are two examples that come to mind.
But when I hear "Wire" I don't hear a cautionary tale. My mind goes immediately back to my dorm room my freshman year at the University of Connecticut, when The Unforgettable Fire was new, and my buddy Rich and I would play "Wire" over and over again at top volume and our drug of choice was not the Big H but Budweiser.
mp3: U2, "Wire" The Unforgettable Fire
U2: "Wire" (clip from the Meadowlands) plus interview w/Bono Vox and The Edge, The Old Grey Whistle Test
Cheers! And remember, drugs are bad and
In a very strange coincidence, "Wire" came on my iPod this morning on the ride into NYC. I was totally digging it, and thinking "This song rocks! I wonder why it was never a hit." But I guess it is pretty dark, and as good as it is, it is not quite in the same realm as "Pride" or "Bad."
ReplyDeleteI've also been thinking lately about how the great majority of U2's work is at a medium or slower tempo (I'm exploring the possibility of forming a U2 tribute, and this is an issue for me.) This track is one of the few that really cooks. "Two Hearts Beat as One" is one of the only other U2 tunes that achieves this level of urgency. "Even Better Than..." which you mentioned, comes close, but is not quite as intense.
Oh, yeah. Drugs are bad...except when they lead to great songs! (See: Neil Young, Lou Reed, Beatles, Floyd, Chili Peppers, and countless others!)