All I Want Is You & God, Part II – MP3

I, like the rest of the world, have been unable to escape the recent U2 deluge. Which I’m ok with. Hey, it’s a great iTunes ad. And I’m happy to walk outside the office and see Bono riding by on a flatbed truck. Just as I’m happy to dig back into their catalogue, as Apple’s “Ultimate U2 Collection” has enabled me to do. After all, I came of age during most of it.

True, I caught on a little late. I was more into their later, more anthemic and symphonic work than their earlier punky stuff. I’ve gone through at least four copies of “The Joshua Tree.” Smokey Junglefrog covered a bunch of their songs. And yeah, they’re super duper mainstream, but for a reason. I mean, their good. Arguably, the best. 25 years on and still making music this vital? Amazing.

So anyway, I’ve long covered “All I Want Is You,” and long wanted to commit it to tape. So I did. Which took almost all of Saturday afternoon and some of Sunday. Not that there’s much to it, but I wanted to get it right. So I’m digging around iTunes and I rediscover “God, Pt. 2.” And I hear Bono singing — so fucking earnest — “I believe in love.”

Yunno’, at the time, Mike Stipe was singing “I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract.” I mean, who’s more courageous?

Anyhow, I had to sing it. I had to give it a stab. So I did, and I’m really stoked with how it turned out. Considering how few instruments I have here in my apartment, I’d say it rocks. And what better way to cap the entire “Love & Other Indoor Games” affair?

‘Cuz I do believe in love. And I might not have had the courage to say so without Bono’s help.

[audio:alliwantisyou.mp3] [audio:godpt2.mp3]