My Favorite Song of All Time.

I posed this question to myself today, not because of boredom or i needed a new challenge. But because i was listening to some music and my favorite song came up. And I realized it then and there that it was my favorite song.

Have you asked your self this question? What is my favorite song? What puts you in a good mood when you’re unhappy, what lifts your up when you need inspiration, what do you start your day listening to and what would you want to hear before you go to bed? What is the one song you want to see performed live?

I know some people find it hard to narrow it down, and they have songs for every mood and ever occasion. But if you dig deep, you will find that one song. And it only occurred to me as I was speaking to my band mate Ben late on night.

I first heard this song when I was a kid and it was my sister’s cassette. I was bored and home and ran into her room and grabbed a bunch of tapes off the top of her desk and popped each of them into the tape deck in our living room. Bryan Adams Reckless was amongst the stack of tapes I grabbed and I listened through that album with excitedly. Run to you was an especially cool track.

I popped in the second cassette and it was magic. Up until this point I had only listened to jazz music and classical. I wasn’t a popular kid and i didn’t listen to anything outside of Dave Brubeck and Beethoven. My favorite song of all time at the time was eine kleine nacht musik. But very soon I knew what it was.

That cassette was called The Joshua Tree by a band called U2. I was instantly blown away. Side A started and just that initial swell from Where the Streets Have No Name made the hairs on my neck and arm stand up. I got the chills from a song that wasn’t classical. I haven’t felt so strongly about a song since i heard Ravel’s Bolero.

Once the drums kicked in I was sold. I decided that I wanted to play the drums. It was sounded so cool to me. By the time Bullet the Blue Sky came on, I knew that, at the time mind you, this had to be the awesomest band. Although, some 20 years later, I still think that not many people can hold a candle up to U2.

I had the joy of watching them play live a few years ago. I sat behind Larry Mullen Jr.’s drum kit and he was mesmerizing. He was amazing. Not the fastest or the most technically gifted, but he was just good, solid and the beats he played were inspired. Sunday Bloody Sunday, Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights all of those grooves were so powerful and perfect for every song. Listening to Where the Streets have no name live is definitely a special experience.

What’s Your Favorite Song?