I’m a staff writer for the website @U2 (and yes, I say this every time, but it’s still the best damn U2 fan site on the planet). One of my favorite parts of @U2 is our Like A Song series, personal essays by staff members about U2 songs that are important to us.
This month’s podcast includes my reading of my essay on the song “Surrender” from the War album. Powerful album, powerful song. My audio is a bit hissy, alas — I’m still learning how to manage the technology we have — but I hope you’ll give it a listen. The reading is a titch over 8 minutes long.
Download the entire podcast, or listen directly to my segment.
And here’s the essay.
And here’s the song:
[Use this link if you can’t see the media player.]
Enjoy.
I’ve always liked that essay, and loved your reading of it. Such a great story and so wonderfully expressed — it gets under my skin every time.
It’s a paradox, isn’t it? All that passion, ambition and hard work to get to surrender is hard to get your head around. If anybody had told me that I would go from being a busy lawyer back to my roots working as a non-professional caretaker with mentally ill and disabled people, I would have been completely incredulous. But I feel like I have come home. I surrender.
Glad you both like it.
And yes, it’s a paradox. The thing I’m learning is that this kind of surrender isn’t about giving up, it’s about reaching for… it’s not a passive choice at all, it’s incredibly terrifyingly excitingly active. And always an adventure.