The 500 - #417 - Boy - U2

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 417

Album Title: Boy
Artist: U2
Genre: Post-Punk
Recorded: Windmill Lanes Studios - Dublin
Released: October, 1980
My age at release: 15
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly 
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: I Will Follow

This week, I am relinquishing the reins of my blog to my dear friend Steve "Lumpy" Sullivan. I've known "Lump" for over 25 years. I met him when he hired me as a bartender at Kelsey's Restaurant. However, it turns out that we had socialized in similar circles since high school and knew many of the same people -- so many people that it was surprising we hadn't already met. He has been a loyal reader of my blog posts and when I reached out to him to be a guest writer, he leapt at the opportunity to share his experiences with this record from U2. Lumpy is a generous, funny and loyal friend. And, despite his sometimes blustery exterior, there is a sweetness to him that isn't always accessible to strangers. However, I think you'll recognize it as you read his post...Enjoy.

Boy - Album Cover - by U2

When I was a teen in the early 80s, I started a job at Spooners Restaurant in London, Ontario. At that age, your music acumen is limited to songs played on popular radio and those played for you by friends. I was working with people older than I, and they were listening to music that was NOT on conventional radio stations. It was "underground music", much of it from a radio station I had not discovered, CHRW (now Radio Western), which broadcast from our local university.

The kitchen staff at Spooners were diverse and so were their tastes in music. Consequently, I was introduced to many genres of music including works by Peter Tosh, Judas Priest, Gang of Four, Joy Division, King Crimson and Big Country. I was also introduced to a band from Ireland named U2. The band's third record, War, was the first album I'd heard by the band. War was a cassette tape with which I was obsessed. I could play it all day, every day. In fact, I was finally banned from playing it in the Spooners' kitchen.

War cover - U2 #223 on The 500

A cook, Alex, and I were hanging out one night when he asked if I’d heard anything else by U2. I didn’t know there was anything else, but was excited by the prospect. He played the song An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart and I was blown away. These were two separate songs but, as I would learn, they are ALWAYS played together during rare live performances. Alex didn’t play the anthemic I Will Follow or the poppy The Electric Co. from this debut record. Instead, he wanted to see if I would listen to deeper cuts. I was hooked!

The Album

There is probably a reason this album, and the band, appealed to me at that time. The songs focused on developing from boyhood to manhood. I would later learn that darker themes and reasons were behind some. For example, I Will Follow was written about lead singer Bono’s Mother, who died when he was a teen. In fact, she died of an aneurysm four days after collapsing at her own father's funeral. The song is written from her perspective and centres on a mother’s unconditional love for her son.

An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart is two tales. The first An Cat Dubh (Gaelic for The Black Cat) is about a brief relationship Bono had while estranged from his girlfriend, now wife, of 38 years, Ali Hewson. The second, Into the Heart, is about the loss of innocence.

The Electric Co. is an abbreviation for “electric convulsion therapy", a controversial psychiatric treatment in which seizures are intentionally induced in patients to provide temporary relief from mental disorders. The band wrote this as a protest song in support of a friend who had received the treatment following a suicide attempt.

The Ocean is a one and half minute long song, attributed to Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, However, the band has said it also serves as a metaphor for the spirit of freewill and travel. In many ways it is a celebration of the lengthy, picturesque coastline that encircles their homeland.

A Day Without Me deals with the removal of someone from their habitual social circle. It also marks the first time the band worked with famed producer Steve Lillywhite, who would collaborate with them on the next two records War and October.

As I look back now, so many themes perfectly ‘hit home’ for a young man, especially losing innocence and growing into manhood.

Fast forward to 2020, Marc asked if I would guest post on his blog celebrating The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He offered up the next four or five entries on the list, but it was this record, Boy, that immediately sparked my passion and evoked so many memories. I have listened to the music of U2 for decades and have been fortunate to see them live in concert on several occasions. I have even become disenchanted with them...only to be called back to their sound.

I put a lot of thought into choosing a song from this album for Marc's "The 500 Spotify Playlist". I'll admit, the choice was easy but, for personal reasons, emotionally challenging.

A Cat Dubh/Into the Heart opened my mind to this wonderful band, but I've always been my Mother's boy.

"A boy tries hard to be a man

His mother takes him by his hand

If he stops to think he starts to cry

Oh why..."

I Will Follow it is.

Steve "Lumpy" Sullivan & Marc at his Wedding
in Iqaluit, Nunavut (2012)

Next Up: Tom Waits Mule Variations