U2
War

At the end of 1981, U2 have a revelation: rock and Christ are not at odds with each other. Their existential doubts have ended, and so they get back to work with enthusiasm.

The first piece they released, after the resurrection, is "A Celebration," an excellent pop-rock that sees the light in March 1982. As the B-side, they choose a piece that swiftly enters the hearts and ears of the fans: "Party Girl," the first of their absurd B-sides.

After making the video for "A Celebration," U2 lock themselves in the studio and produce the jewel.

The Beatles, at 23 years old, were releasing the amateur "Please, Please Me"; U2, at the same age, released "War" - for many, their most authentic masterpiece.

The first three songs are epochal, in the sense that they are the document of an era. U2 wrote "War" in 1982, during a truly particular moment for the world, when, as Helmuth Kohl said, "we were a step away from the third world war" (a danger that disappeared only with the arrival of Gorbachev). The danger at the time was so great (with NATO's nuclear warheads a hundred kilometers away from the missiles of the Warsaw Pact countries), that only in this way can one understand a song like "Seconds," which might seem, to a young person, a bit too exaggerated and dramatic: "It takes a second to say goodbye, push the button and pull the plug." The fear was truly real, and the Police also spoke of it in "Walking in Your Footsteps" from "Synchronicity" (which came out three months after "War").

The song that sets the tone for the album is "Sunday Bloody Sunday." This piece, as almost everyone knows, refers to the Derry massacre (Northern Ireland) of January 30, 1972, an infamous day when the English army opened fire on a group of young people who were peacefully protesting, killing 14 people. In reality, this is the pretext to talk about something else: namely, the spectacle of war on television: "Every day we saw images of killings on TV, and there were wars in countless parts of the world" (for example, the extermination of Argentine soldiers in the Falklands War of Spring '82). "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is mainly about this: "And it's true we are immune. When fact is fiction and TV reality." The simple, but memorable riff from the first listen, and Mullen's work on the drums, also memorable, join a simple but very beautiful text and sung with sincerity that cannot help but touch you. The result is well-known. The essence of melodic rock. No need to celebrate it.

The most successful song from the album was undoubtedly "New Year's Day." I will never forget the summer of 1983, when it was continuously played on the radio - almost with the same frequency as "Every Breath You Take." Its text refers to the "Solidarnosc" union. In December 1981, Polish Prime Minister General Jaruzelski had arrested Lech Walesa (the union's president) and declared martial law to ensure that New Year's 1982 was all normal - hence the irony of the words "Nothing changes on New Year's Day" (nothing changes on New Year's, everything is quiet on New Year's). About the musical greatness of the song, a magnificent piano-guitar ballad, there is little to say: the distorted guitar (almost uniting the anger to the irony of the lyrics), up to the melancholic piano solo, in a crescendo that arrives at the simple, but beautiful, guitar solo. "New Year's Day" teaches that you don't have to know how to play to write a masterpiece, that you can be decent musicians and composers but excellent songwriters.

Fourth track: "Like a Song." An excellent pop-rock, a whip of energy. The text contains a few clichés, like "too right to be wrong" or "nothing to lose, nothing to gain," "Two wrongs won't make it right," but the essence of the piece (I will never be one to kill a fellow human for patriotism, or offend someone to defend my political or religious ideas) transcends a text that, in fact, needed refining. Strange that such a "rock-arena" song was abandoned by the group in live shows. Undoubtedly among the best ever written by U2.

But despite the title, the album isn’t just about war. It also talks about friendship, hope, love, and marginalization.

"Drowning Man" is a beautiful acoustic ballad. The text was written for Adam Clayton, who was experiencing a crisis at the time, and so Bono wrote verses to give him strength. It is a song of hope, without ever falling into immaturity: "Storms will pass." The beautiful work of Edge on the acoustic guitar is combined with magnificent violins which - far from being cloying - fill with emotion. One of U2's most underrated masterpieces.

"Surrender" is another forgotten masterpiece of the group. I would call it "a watered-down masterpiece," due to the one-word chorus ("surrender") repeated too many times and lasting longer than the verses. Instead of a 3-minute masterpiece, we have a watered-down 5:30 masterpiece. The music is among my favorites, with Edge's sparkling guitar joining the distorted guitar. The text is one of the best on the album and talks about a girl who "surrendered," too herself to integrate: she realized she was incapable of being a good wife and mother and now lives on the margins observing the hypocrisies of the city.

In "Refugee," the protagonist is a pretty-eyed girl, who sees her father leave for war, then waits for her boyfriend to take her to America, the promised land. An excellent song - perhaps too rockish for the themes treated.

"Two Hearts Beat as One" is a song written by Bono for his wife. The text is an admission of his inadequacy - which in some points becomes really excessive. Musically, the song does not reach the level of the previous ones, but it remains excellent, with a memorable chorus. Bono wanted it in "Best 1980-1990," although it is not a masterpiece. In my opinion, such intimate verses deserved a delicate ballad.

"Red Light" is, in the text, the sister of "Roxanne" by The Police, who at the time had taken U2 under their wing, and in the summer of 1982 had wanted them as their support group. The song is about a boy who fell in love with a prostitute, to whom he offers his love, trying to convince her to leave "the life." It takes time to make it your own, but then you fall in love with it. Maybe with some jingle-jangle from Edge, it would have been more "graceful."

At the end of the recording sessions, the album lasted 38 minutes, and someone told them they needed to add another piece (why?). So U2 improvised. Bono took the Bible and stopped at Psalm 40. Thus, "40" was born: an enchanting masterpiece, and for years it will be the closing song of all the group's concerts.

"War," without being a commercial album, sold about 11 million copies and remained at the top of the UK charts for an entire year, contributing not only to creating U2's popularity in England but, in my opinion, to creating greater respect from the English towards the Irish.

The touching images of Live Aid 85 at Wembley, with Bono singing "Sunday Bloody Sunday," while in the audience there are many flags waving with "U2", is proof of what I said.

Someone said that music brings people together. In this case, it's true. Another reason to love this album.