The Joshua Tree by U2

The Joshua Tree by U2 from Apple Music

I'm working from home today. In between conference calls and answering emails, I am listening to some of my favourite albums from the 1980s.

The Joshua Tree by U2 from Apple Music

🎵 I discovered U2 during my sophomore year of college. With or Without You was trending on the radio and while on a phone call with my brother, he mentioned I should check out the album by the band U2 which, at the time, I had never heard off.

I quickly fell in love with this album to the annoyance of my floormates who had to listen to this album on what must have seemed like an endless loop. I bought The Joshua Tree album on cassette tape, then compact disc and the album was among the first I purchased on iTunes. I even have bootlegged concert cassette tape recordings of various U2 concerts from around Europe with varying interpretations of songs from the album. I think U2 is the greatest rock band in history.

I love each and every song on the Joshua Tree album but if I had to pick favourites, the songs that I connect with on a deep emotional level, they would have to be I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With or Without You and Where the Streets Have No Name. I would lie in bed, close my eyes, and take a mental trip, a sort of spiritual journey.

I should note that just before the album was released in 1987, I met Bhavna in and instantly fell in love. But my affection was unrequited.

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait, without you

She is an Indian, who despite growing up in New Jersey, had a traditional Brahmin Hindu upbringing. Many friends warned me, "A Hindu won't be interested in dark-skinned Caribbean person". It took nearly 9 more years before she would fall in love with me, see past all that bullshit, and agree to be my wife. In 1996 we were married at a Hindu temple in Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey.

The city's a flood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind

Trampled into dust
I'll show you a place
High on the desert plain
Where the streets have no name, oh oh

1987 was also the year I took a philosophy course which caused me to think about and question my Roman Catholic upbringing. I was christened at birth (Francis), had a godmother, studied catechism, and was confirmed into the church in 1981. But after taking this course, which left with a feeling that life wan empty and meaningless, I suffered a crisis of faith, gave up Christianity, and went on a search for something else.

I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for

I'm still looking.

The Joshua Tree (Super Deluxe)

The Joshua Tree (Super Deluxe) by U2 from U2.com

Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of its release, the ultimate collector's edition of The Joshua Tree arrives in 2017.

Arriving in six formats, the collection includes a live recording of The Joshua Tree Tour from Madison Square Gardens in 1987, b-sides from the original singles, outtakes and new remixes from Daniel Lanois, St Francis Hotel, Jacknife Lee, Steve Lillywhite and Flood form part of this special edition of The Joshua Tree.

It also features an 84-page hardback book of unseen personal photography shot by The Edge during the original Mojave Desert photo session in 1986: "When I see the people we were back then," writes Edge, in his introduction. "I see a bunch of pilgrims on a journey towards some kind of creative home. I think that really does capture the spirit of the band at that time."

Time Magazine put U2 on its cover in April 1987, proclaiming them "Rock’s Hottest Ticket" in a defining year for the band that saw their arena dates roll into stadium shows to accommodate escalating demand - setting them on course to become one of the greatest live acts in the world today.

The 12 months that followed saw the band create now-iconic moments: the traffic-stopping Grammy Award-winning music video on the roof of a Los Angeles liquor store, winning a BRIT Award and two Grammys - including Album of the Year - their first of 22 received to date, distinguishing U2 as the most awarded rock band in Grammy history; as well as a triumphant return home with the original Joshua Tree Tour for four unforgettable shows in Belfast, Dublin and Cork in the summer of 1987.

I'm still feeling "off" this morning. I'm hoping this music; this specific album can help me find myself and prepare for a busy morning of meetings (three before noon).

I remember where I was when I first heard The Joshua Tree.