The Saints Are Coming

Wow. That performance was intense. I actually watched Monday Night Football last night, and I'm pretty indifferent about football. This wasn't about football though, it was about symbols. We as humans are dependent on symbols as tangible reminders of intangible concepts like memory, emotion, ideology, and god. It's why we build memorials and monuments and statues.

The Superdome had come to symbolize the tragedy of the storm that swallowed an American city. Last night, that stadium came to symbolize the resilience of the human spirit, hope, and rebirth.

I cried to my daddy on the telephone, How long now, Until the clouds unroll and you come home the line went, But the shadows still remain since your descent. The song I tuned into watch, a cover of The Skids' The Saints Are Coming performed by U2 and Green Day, could not have been more fitting. Not only did the title work for the football team and the lyrics fit the flood, but the underlying darkness and anger that was driven by The Edge's guitar and Tres Cool's drums spoke of loss, human suffering, and the mess that was made by those we've elected to protect the general welfare. The darkness behind the music was countered by Bono's ever-present message of hope and redemption.

A drowning sorrow floods the deepest grief, How long now, Until a weather change condemns belief, The stone says this paternal guide once had his day. The two bands performed together to benefit Music Rising, a charity to help New Orleans musicians acquire new instruments and reestablish the musical tradition of the birthplace of jazz. The Edge and producer Bob Erzin wanted to bring the music back to New Orelans, so they and Gibson Guitars formed the organization.

From the few criticisms I've seen of the show, the comment seems to be "what does U2 have to do with New Orleans?" The haters never cease to find something to bitch about, do they? Musicians and other artists share a common bond; I pity the soulless creatures who don't understand music, who cannot be moved by the mathematics of sound, who find nothing but contempt in their hearts.

See Gentilly and Lakeview
Crescent City right in front of you
Birds sing in broken trees
They're coming home to New Orleans
Lower 9th will rise again
Above the waters of Lake Pontchartrain
See the bird with the leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out.

How is it that more than a year later, New Orleans is still a disaster? Why are we spending billions of dollars a year on a war in a foreign land when mother nature has fought a war with us on our own soil? Why can't we spend money on problems in our own country? The saints are coming, the saints are coming, I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.

It's too bad it was a mere football game, for those who felt something last night probably forgot it this morning (Never Forget!™ echo, echo, echo...) Still, being able to play a football game in that wreck of the stadium was a giant step forward in rebuilding the great American city of New Orleans. Oh yeah, the Saints have come back, come hell and high water. Here's to hoping the rest of the city comes back, too. How long now?

You can download the song here - proceeds go to Music Rising. The video of the entire performance of Wake Me Up When September Ends/The Saints Are Coming/Beautiful Day can also be found there for a limited time.