And a happy Friday 2 U
I didn't like this U2 song, "Country Mile," very much when it first came out in late September.
All week I've been planning to write about the new U2 song today. "I'll write about for Friday's newsletter," I said to myself. "Friday is a great day to tell people about music, so they can listen to it over the weekend." I said things like that to myself so many times, I forgot I hadn't actually written it until an hour or so ago, when Julia asked.
Folks, it's Friday night. Our children are not in bed yet. I've learned a lot this week about time management, and I'm pretty psyched to start putting what I've learned into practice next week. I didn't like this U2 song, "Country Mile," very much when it first came out in late September. I wasn't sure about the lyrics. It sounded unfinished. I hadn't been expecting the spiritual successor to "Where the Streets Have No Name," and even so, I was underwhelmed. On the U2 subreddit, I saw other fans saying they loved "Country Mile." I didn't understand what I was missing.
I still don't know what I was missing. I just know I played the song a dozen more times on my old boom box (I record all new songs from Spotify onto blank cassettes and then listen to them on the boom box, because I'm not a sellout), and lo and behold, it turned out my first impression had been wrong. "Country Mile" is a terrific song! U2 have done it again. They always do. So if you listen to it once and aren't sure, give it another try. It's worth the time it takes to rewind the tape again and again.
"Country Mile" was released with another track, "Picture of You (X+W)," in advance of the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 20th anniversary box set, which drops November 22. "Picture of You" is an old track from the Atomic Bomb recording sessions, previously released as "Xanax + Wine" (which title I assume they changed because they don't want all their young fans like me to think it's okay to mix tranquilizers and alcohol). It's not bad, but it eventually became a track called "Fast Cars," which is one of my favorite U2 songs of all time. It's that good.
You should listen to it. As for me, I've learned a lot about planning and time management this week, and I appreciate your patience. This newsletter will make sense soon, and, I promise, will not just be about one middle-aged man's ongoing quest to put out a newsletter. Have a good weekend and see you Monday.
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Hit me up with questions, suggestions, thoughts and feelings, and politely worded corrections and criticism at joshwimmer@gmail.com. If you think someone would be interested in this newsletter, forward it to them. Did you forward it to anybody yet? Yesterday I asked people to forward the newsletter to other people. I don't know if anyone did it, though. I guess I'll have to call each one of you to ask. Great. Add one more thing to the list, sheesh!