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U2’s Songs of Trauma and Hope

“Between the Midnight and the Dawning”

U2’s Songs of Trauma and Hope cover

U2’s Songs of Trauma and Hope

“Between the Midnight and the Dawning”

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Description

In U2’s Songs of Trauma and Hope: “Between the Midnight and the Dawning", Ingunn Røysland and Charles Ivan Armstrong show that trauma is an important theme for U2. While this leads the band to confront extreme instances of grief and suffering, this does not prevent them to cross (in the words of their song “A Sort of Homecoming”) “the fields of mourning to a light that's in the distance.” Theories from trauma and memory studies are deployed in the examination of song lyrics and performances by U2, spanning from the early days of the band to more recent times. In their exploration of light and dark, of hope and trauma within the U2 catalogue, Røysland and Armstrong acknowledge the complexity of the songs, addressing different layers, including romantic as well as divine allegory. The authors also address the band’s troublesome lyrics, with an entire chapter devoted to “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” as well as the role of multidirectional memory and significant places, so-called lieux de mémoire, in U2’s dealings with a ranger of historical conflicts and crises. They further examine how music plays an important part in the path of healing from traumatic wounds, analysing the reception of the songs. Ultimately, it is suggested, U2 shows us how to get “through the night.”

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Trauma, Trouble and The Light You Can’t Always See

Chapter 1: “How Long Must We Sing This Song?”: The Many Traumatic Faces & Meanings of “Sunday Bloody Sunday”

Chapter 2: “Love is Not What You’re Thinking of”: War, Peace, and Allegory in the 1990s

Chapter 3: “A Heart That is Broken is a Heart That is Open”: Traumatic Conflicts and Healing Confessions

Chapter 4: “Sweetheart, You’re So Cruel”: Trauma & Hope on Achtung Baby

Chapter 5: “Far Away, So Close!”: Multidirectional Memory, Spatiality, and New Media

Chapter 6: “Gonna Kick the Darkness ‘Till It Bleeds Daylight”: Healing Trauma with Songs of U2?

Conclusion: “At the Altar of the Dark Star”

References

About the Authors

Product details

Published Mar 29 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 172
ISBN 9781666930986
Imprint Lexington Books
Illustrations 5 tables;
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series For the Record: Studies in Rock and Popular Music
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

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