War
Released February 1983
In 64 days, I will be watching U2 in Singapore. While counting down the days until that show, I will go through each and every U2 album and share my thoughts and reflections of how I felt at that exact time the album was released.
Of course.. you know this means... War.
I first saw the video of “New Year’s Day” on a Betamax tape of videos taped from MTV. Back in 1983 that was how we got to watch MTV back in the Philippines (since it wasn’t available locally). The family of a classmate of mine, Dodie Aguila, was the biggest dealer of Betamax tapes in Manila and my classmates and I regularly rented the MTV tapes.
At that time, no U2 albums were released locally. And after seeing the music video of “New Year’s Day” on one of those Betamax tapes, I yearned to get a copy of War.
The video was striking. U2 performed the song in some forest during the dead of winter. Interspersed with World War II battle images (I correctly thought they were Russian soldiers as opposed to German) that made for a powerful video. At least that is what I thought back then.
Then “Sunday Bloody Sunday” was released and this one I heard over DZRJ. The violins added to the frenzied cacophony of this song that featured a military drum beat and tortured guitar playing from the Edge. And how haunting was that line “how long must we sing this song?” This song grafted itself into my mind.
I thought both songs were powerful, raw, and telling. I remember thinking, “these are political statements.” True enough, at the time of War’s recording, the Falklands War just ended. Israel’s invasion of Lebanon was over. The Unabomber struck. And the IRA bombed London. That was all in the news and everyone wondered where the world was heading.
When “New Year’s Day” was released, I read in Rolling Stone magazine how the song was written for Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa who was released from prison in November of 1982. At first, it seemed like a love song. Only later did I find out that Bono wrote the song for his wife, Ali, but re-worked the lyrics to include Walesa.
Walesa’s Solidarity movement would eventually be the catalyst for communism’s collapse in Eastern Europe and that forever changed the world as we know it. You have to understand this time. The Cold War was entering a dangerous phase as American president Ronald Reagan was more combative against the Warsaw Pact than his predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
Back here in the Philippines, the political situation was unraveling. Spiraling prices, a communist and Muslim rebellion in the south was getting more dangerous. And the country was shocked when Minister of State Emmanuel Pelaez survived an assassination attempt. Was that ever resolved?
I was entering third year high school when War was released. Teen angst was growing. And I turned to music. I was heavily writing poetry and organized my first high school class band (I had one when I was in seventh grade).
As I stated earlier, I yearned to get myself a copy of War.
There was a copy on display at – of all places – the Christhareth comic book shop at the old PCI Bank Arcade in Greenhills.
That black and white cover of a young boy (the now famous Peter Rowan who I had the good fortune of chatting with about two years ago) with the album title in red made for a striking photograph. The interior black and white photo of the band (taken from their video shoot of “New Year’s Day” in Sweden was just as powerful. Unlike Boy that didn’t feature all the lyrics of the album, this one did. For a kid trying to get to know the band better and learning to play the songs, this was massive.
The PCI Bank Arcade was where two other comic book shops were located. Filbar’s was next to Christhareth (Comic Quest would open a few years later in the exact spot where the later was located) and one other small independent one that sold second hand comics bought from the markets of Dau and Subic from American servicemen.
Christhareth’s owner, the long-haired rocker, Jun Miguel, who I jammed with one time somewhere in Kamuning, loved rock music. Most of what he displayed were prog and heavy metal. The one difference was U2’s War.
That copy of War had a price tag of P130 bucks. That was a lot of money back then. The local pressing of a record was at P24 while a double LP was either at P45 or P48. Comic books were selling anywhere from P13-17 pesos. It was summertime then and I had no school allowance.
So I had to improvise. I sold TV Times magazine (that my Tita Mely published) in my neighborhood. I think I made about 25 centavos for each copy I sold but that was about only P5 pesos total a week. I sold some homemade ice candy (that netted me about 10 cents (and I netted about P1.50 a day). Short of 20 bucks, my grandfather supplied the missing amount.
Luckily, no one bought it yet as it was pricey. My biggest worry was the rich kids who frequented Greenhills would buy it. Only they didn’t know because it was located at the totally unappealing place of the PCI Bank Arcade unlike the swankier Shoppesville and popular Virra Mall that were adjacent in location.
I remember walking from our house in Cubao all the way to Greenhills and back just to save on jeepney fare. When I got home, I quickly tore off the plastic and played the record.
When the second song from the album played, “Seconds” which is about mankind being seconds away from extinction following a nuclear attack, I quickly picked up my copy of the British comic book, When the Wind Blows, that an uncle of mine got for me at Dau.
When the Wind Blows was written and drawn by British creator Raymond Briggs. The story was about the lives of an elderly British couple living during the early days of World War III when the Russians and NATO unleashed their nuclear arsenal. It was a powerful comic book sprinkled with wry Brit humor. On young teenager, that made a huge impression on me.
How big was this book? It influenced Tears for Fear’s song, “Mother’s Talk” and Iron Maiden’s song “When the Wind Blows.” English alt rock band, Mansun, also recorded a song using the same title. The UK Parliament cited the book during discussions for nuclear disarmament.
And that comic book was eventually adapted into a film by Jimmy Murakami (I saw in on Betamax tape when I was in second year college) and it featured music by Roger Waters
When the Wind Blows was eventually adapted into film featured music by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Genesis, and David Bowie.
I thought that “Seconds” channeled all of that adding to the urgent tone of this political commentary that is War.
“Drowning Man” is another favorite of mine from the album. It is another track that featured the telling violins of Steve Wickham (he would later join the Waterboys). A haunting song.
Side Two changed in style as it was punchier, lively as opposed to the darker tones and harsher performances of Side One.
“Two Hearts Beat As One” was a refreshing change of pace from the seriously dark tone of War. This is the album’s second single (“Sunday Bloody Sunday” was the third).
“Red Light” featured the back-up singer of Kid Creole and the Coconuts who were recording in the same studious as U2 at this time. I love how the band used a trumpet for this song.
And the album ended with “40” that I thought was the perfect way to end this dark album. How good was this? In addition to the ethereal feel of the song (the lyrics are taken from Psalm 40), it has been mostly used as the last song for any U2 show. When I saw this during the Live at Red Rocks video (that is also their live album, Under A Blood Red Sky), it was nothing short of magnificent.
Thirty-six years after its release, War remains one of my all-time favorite albums. Whenever I play the album, the songs still resonate well with me as they first did during that summer of my youth. In my opinion, this album solidified U2 as a major music and creative force. With my interest in the band waning after October (that I initially did not like), War restored my faith in U2 and cemented the band’s place in my personal all-time fave list. They are one of the few bands whose every album I have in my personal collection.
As for that record that I got from Christhareth that cost me P130 bucks back when I was in high school – I still have it. Yes, I do. It is a bit browned after having survived a fire that gutted my home some years ago. But it is fine. The vinyl is fine and still plays like a charm though I did get a second copy sometime last year. Just in case you know.
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