In celebration of my fathers birthday I thought I'd share a song that we both love and cherish. My dad fostered in me a love of music, and introduced me to U2, and we were both struck by how great this song was in IMAX theaters when we had the magical experience of seeing U23D at The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. with just the group of parents and students we were with way back in 7th grade. Still one of the clearest and most beloved memories of my life was having an IMAX theater empty except for 25 or so kids and parents, everyone standing up and singing and dancing in the aisles, all feeling as if we were actually AT a U2 concert. This song, 'Yahweh' played during the end credits, and though I'm not positive, I'm sure that my super-sensitive and compassionate father probably cried during it. Afterwards, much like the child in the picture above, our whole group of close friends skipped down the literally-empty D.C. streets at night in the rain, singing at the top of our lungs and puzzling as to how we weren't being filmed in some uplifting documentary. It ranks amongst the most special experiences of my life.
A few years later my very first concert spoiled me forever after. U2 opened their 2009 tour in Chicago on September 12th, AND I WAS FLIPPING THERE, NOT 15 FEET FROM BONO AND THE EDGE!!!!!!!! I got to go with both of my parents, and those magical moments, beneath the massive U2 stage nicknamed 'The Claw' (picture below), dancing and singing with them are forever engrained in my memory. The concert was also engrained in our ears for many days afterwards as our ears rang with a majesty that just wouldn't be silenced. That was the only concert I ever got to attend with my mom before breast cancer wrenched her so unnecessarily and horribly from life. I hope that the concert structures are even more impressive and the music even more raucous and joyful wherever you are now mom! Anyway, that concert awoke in me an insatiable hunger for live music. I wanted to feel that rush, that communal ecstasy again. Thanks to the blessing my parents bestowed upon me with a simple concert ticket, I have since seen 57 bands just in the last year and didn't start keeping a record until recently, so have probably seen many more. Live music is my greatest joy (certainly my biggest money-suck) and my most exuberant passion. To think that it all started with hearing my parents play songs in the living room is wild, for music has since become a massive part of who I am, what I spend my time doing (look at me writing this at 3 in the morning) and what I hope to do until the day I die.
Thank you a trillion times over Dad. Every child needs to thank their parents infinite times a day for EVERYTHING they've done, but even the thank you's for this one facet of my upbringing could reach outside our solar system, wave hello to the original Voyager satellite, and return to earth ten times over. I am so inspired by you each and every day, and the fact that you still stay up far past your bedtime (you know, we're talking intense stuff like 9:00 PM here) to see bands you love like Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Further give me hope that perhaps somewhere deeply hidden in my DNA there is the coding to be awesome, full of vitality, and incredible, even after I have to become a boring adult. I know you're busy, and don't have the same infinite internet patience that I possess, so I'll stop rambling, but Dad, I just want to wish you the happiest of happy birthdays ever, and thank you for everything you've done for me, do for me, and have shown me in my life. I'm truly blessed. I love you!
The Claw!
"Take this soul stranded in some skin and bones and make it sing"
P.S.
Dear Congress,
My love of U2, and arguably of music, was awakened at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Don't deprive other children of the opportunity afforded me by keeping the government shut down over your petty disagreements. There are National Parks that need to be inspiring wonderment, Museums needing to feed inquisitive young minds, and a blogosphere needing to be annoyingly cynical about other things. Let's move past this!
Sincerely,
Miles Yazzolino
No comments:
Post a Comment