October Returns
10/24/2004 20:29 Filed in: Music
"An Act of Grace"
Have you ever lost something really important? Have you ever lost something extremely important to you, but with no real hope of ever finding it again? That was the situation faced by Bono, lead singer of the band U2, in 1981. Following closely on the heels of success with their first album "Boy ," the young band was playing in Portland when they let the wrong people backstage. According to the story, some women who were allowed backstage stole a briefcase owned by Bono. This wasn't just any briefcase. It contained notes and lyrics for U2's yet-unproduced album, October .
Bono was faced with having to rewrite the songs while the band was in studio to produce the album, an experience described by the band as their worst sessions ever. Evidently, letting strange girls backstage has even more consequences than originally thought...
For years, Bono, upon every return to Portland, made an appeal to concert audiences in regard to the briefcase. The most recent appeal was made in 2001. Evidently, the rushed and revised October didn't hold up to his original vision he had in mind.
Then in a surprise announcement this past week, Bono announced that the briefcase had been returned . Think about it...after twenty-three years the missing briefcase has resurfaced. Evidently it was found years ago in the attic of a rental house and held onto by someone who didn't recognize its significance. A friend of the person who discovered it has spent the last year trying to contact the right people associated with U2 so that the briefcase could be returned. Evidently, it's no longer as easy to access U2 as it was for the women who went backstage in 1981.
Bono seemed ecstatic over the developments, calling the return of the briefcase "An Act of Grace." Now, speculation is rising among U2 fans on the internet whether Bono will want to produce a revised October that is closer to his original vision.
With the return of the briefcase, another mystery in the history of Rock and Roll is solved. And so much for my theory as to the glowing contents in the briefcase retrieved by Vincent and Jules...
Bono was faced with having to rewrite the songs while the band was in studio to produce the album, an experience described by the band as their worst sessions ever. Evidently, letting strange girls backstage has even more consequences than originally thought...
For years, Bono, upon every return to Portland, made an appeal to concert audiences in regard to the briefcase. The most recent appeal was made in 2001. Evidently, the rushed and revised October didn't hold up to his original vision he had in mind.
Then in a surprise announcement this past week, Bono announced that the briefcase had been returned . Think about it...after twenty-three years the missing briefcase has resurfaced. Evidently it was found years ago in the attic of a rental house and held onto by someone who didn't recognize its significance. A friend of the person who discovered it has spent the last year trying to contact the right people associated with U2 so that the briefcase could be returned. Evidently, it's no longer as easy to access U2 as it was for the women who went backstage in 1981.
Bono seemed ecstatic over the developments, calling the return of the briefcase "An Act of Grace." Now, speculation is rising among U2 fans on the internet whether Bono will want to produce a revised October that is closer to his original vision.
With the return of the briefcase, another mystery in the history of Rock and Roll is solved. And so much for my theory as to the glowing contents in the briefcase retrieved by Vincent and Jules...