Ten Years Of SOI—By PJ

This is from 60 Years Of Bono Presented As New Yorker Cartoons by Kelly, 2020.

Ten Years of SOI

PJ DeGenaro

On September 9, 2014, the world’s iPhones experienced a tragedy. Deaths were few and far between, but even today, those who were hardest hit cannot seem to suppress a wince or a tired witticism when they run across a mention of U2.

Look, I do sympathize with folks who picked up their phones expecting to hear “Boom Clap,” only to be subjected to some old guy singing about breaking waves or some miracle that happened somewhere. I’m not sure how society bounced back from the trauma. Perhaps we have been feeling the repercussions ever since, in the coarsening of our civil discourse. Perhaps the real miracle is that we have made it this far from that terrible day.

For me, the miracle is that “Songs Of Innocence” came along just when I needed it most. In that regard it is very much like every other U2 album. U2 are my slightly older brothers from other mothers, who always seem to have just processed, in the form of songs, whatever it is I am about to go through.

But unlike previous U2 albums, SOI is what led me to become a chronically online U2 fan. I was so angry about the response to this deeply personal and even vulnerable record that I went on the defensive for U2, and have been there (with a bit of side-eye for Sphere) ever since. If not for SOI, I would never have met Kelly Eddington, or been given an opportunity to write for atu2.com while it went through its death throes. I would not be part of this gorgeous website, achtoonbaby.com, that has given me the joyful creative outlet I always dreamed of, along with the most wonderful friend and collaborator. And I still think SOI is a great record, start to finish. Give it a listen today if you have the time. 

P.S. I would really like a new U2 record now, and U2 are welcome to put it right into my phone – or directly into the chip Bill Gates put in me via my many Covid boosters. (That’s a joke, friends.)