Tag: Bono

Eyes of the Children

In 1985, artists in Cleveland aided by local rock station personnel, came together to record a charity single, “Eyes of the Children.”

I recently heard from a few old friends about singer-songwriter Donnie Iris passing away. My friends Bob, Dom, and I had seen Iris perform in the 1980s. On Cleveland radio back in the day, you could not miss hearing some of Iris’s songs like “Oh, Leah” and “Been Injured in the Game of Love.”

I’ve written before how in those pre-Internet days especially, cities often had artists they claimed pridefully as their own. The artists who may have found limited national success but great local success were often an important part of the community and created some great music that much of the world missed.

Many of the stories about the passing of Donnie Iris lead with descriptions like “Pittsburgh rock icon,” connecting him to Pittsburgh more than to any other place. And on the one hand that makes sense. Much of his regular touring as a solo artist was in western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio. But Iris, who was born with the name Dominic Ierace on February 28, 1943 , had national hits. With the Jaggerz, he cowrote and sang on the 1970 hit, “The Rapper.” After spending some time with Wild Cherry (after their hit “Play that Funky Music”), he had a solo career as Donnie Iris and The Cruisers.

I recall those solo years especially with “Ah! Leah!” (top 30 song in 1980), “Love is Like a Rock” (top 40 in 1981), and “Injured in the Game of Love” (1985).

I saw Iris open for The Kinks in March 1985 outside Cleveland at Richfield Coliseum. While Pittsburgh and Cleveland have had many sports rivalries through the years, they also are connected in more ways than they differ. They are similar cities who grew with similar industries and suffered similar economic ups and downs. And so, not surprisingly, the Pittsburgh boy Donnie Iris found a large part of his regional success around Cleveland too.

“Eyes of the Children” Charity Single

Thus, in 1985, following the lead of group charity singles like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World,” members of the legendary Cleveland rock station WMMS helped put together a group of Cleveland artists to work on the city’s own charity single. WMMS’s John Gorman and Denny Sanders began working their network to put together the project, which would raise money for people in Ethiopia as well as in Cleveland.

The project came to be known as “C.A.R.E,” or Cleveland Artists Recording for Ethiopia. The project would include artists with Cleveland connections, including Benjamin Orr of the Cars and Michael Stanley and the Michael Stanley Band

When the Cleveland artists gathered to record a song to help others, the Pittsburgh star Donnie Iris apparently hopped on I-76 and joined them at the studio, apparently about one month after I saw him open for the Kinks.

The artists would eventually release the single “Eyes of the Children.” The song was a joint writing project, created by Michael Stanley with Mark Avsec, Kevin Raleigh, Bob Pelander, and Danny Powers. And the artists came together to record the song the week of April 15 to April 26, 1985, at Beachwood Studios in Beachwood, Ohio.

“Eyes of the Children” from The C.A.R.E Session was released on a long-player LP with different edited versions. In the song, Stanley was apparently inspired by the famous line U2’s Bono reluctantly sang in “Do They Know It’s Christmas.” Stanley punctuated the Cleveland song with “There but for the grace of God go you and I,” echoing Bono belting out, “Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you.”

I bought the record, which featured Donnie Iris as one of the artists on the cover. WMMS had the song on repeat play for a long time. It’s a good song along the lines of the other group charity efforts at the time.

Delays in printing and releasing the record after its release likely impacted its fundraising. There does not seem to be any clear account on the Internet for how much money the song made for children in Ethiopia or in Cleveland. But hopefully the fruits of the noble effort paid off.

And that is the story behind the song. You may read more of the history behind “Eyes of the Children” and more on the many participants from Denny and at this website. Below is the song, when Cleveland artists were helped by Pittsburgh native Donnie Iris to make music while giving a little.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

“There’s No End to Grief, That’s How We Know There’s No End to Love”: The Story of U2’s “One Tree Hill”

U2’s Bono wrote the song “One Tree Hill” about grief and loss, inspired by losing his friend Greg Carroll.

In 1984, U2 had just arrived in Auckland, New Zealand from a long 24-hour flight for The Unforgettable Fire Tour. It was late, but Bono was restless and could not sleep due to jet lag. And so he went out into the city that night, meeting some locals, including a man named Greg Carroll, who had been hired as a stage hand by U2’s production manager. Carroll and the others took Bono up a volcano called One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), which is spiritually significant to Māori people.

After the Auckland show, U2’s manager recognized that Carroll was very helpful at the show and ended up hiring him for the rest of the tour. Over time, Carroll became good friends with Bono and his wife.

Then in July 1986, Carroll was doing a favor for Bono by taking his motorcycle home when he was killed in an accident. The band was devastated by the loss of their friend, with some of them later noting the accident gave many of the young men their first real experience with death.

At the time of Carroll’s death, U2 was working on the songs that would become part of The Joshua Tree album. Later, Bono noted that Carroll’s death ” brought gravitas to the recording of The Joshua Tree. We had to fill the hole in our heart with something very, very large indeed, we loved him so much.”

One Tree Hill

Bono wrote the lyrics for the song “One Tree Hill,” which would eventually appear on side two of The Joshua Tree, about grieving the loss of his friend Carroll. He started writing the song after returning from Carroll’s funeral in New Zealand. The song references Bono’s first experience with Carroll on the volcano called One Tree Hill.

The band developed the music while jamming with Brian Eno. The lyrics reflect the grief one feels over a loss. In the song, Bono sings:

I’ll see you again,
When the stars
Fall from the sky;
And the moon
Has turned red,
Over One Tree Hill.
We run like a river
Runs to the sea;
We run like a river
To the sea.
And when it’s raining,
Raining hard;
That’s when the rain will
Break my heart.

One verse of the song refers to Chilean political activist and folk singer Víctor Jara, who was tortured and killed during the 1973 Chilean coup d’état. “Jara sang his song,/A weapon/ In the hands of one;/Though his blood still cries/
From the ground.” U2’s bass player Adam Clayton has explained that with the reference to Jara, “One Tree Hill” forms a trilogy of songs with “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “Mothers of the Disappeared” that illustrate Bono’s anger at the involvement of the United States in the Chilean coup.

During The Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, the band did not initially perform the song because Bono did not think he could sing it due to his grief over Carroll’s death. But eventually the band played the song periodically, and they had even recorded a performance for the Rattle and Hum documentary, although the performance was not used in that film.

In the 2017 performance of “One Tree Hill” in Cleveland below, Bono gives a powerful performance following an introduction about the song’s meaning to the band. He talks about Carroll and explains how everyone faces similar losses.

He leads into the song by stating, “There’s no end to grief, that’s how we know there’s no end to love.”

And that is the Story Behind the Song “One Tree Hill.”

Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via Youtube.

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Springsteen and Bono Sing “Because the Night” in Dublin

Bono Springsteen

On Sunday, May 29, 2016, U2’s Bono joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for a rousing rendition of “Because the Night.” The duet occurred while Springsteen and the E Street Band were in Dublin for part of The River Tour at the city’s Croke Park.

“Because the Night,” which was written by Springsteen and Patti Smith, first appeared on the Patti Smith Group album Easter and was released as a single in 1978. Springsteen earlier began working on the song for his album Darkness on the Edge of Town, although his recordings of the song would not appear on official albums until the 1986 box set Live/1975–85 and the compilation CD The Promise (2010).

The recent Dublin performance by Springsteen and Bono is not the first time the two men have performed the song in public together. In 2003, they sang “Because the Night” at a Springsteen show in Miami, and then they teamed up again on the song during U2’s portion at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2009.

What song would you like to hear Bono and Springsteen sing together? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • “There’s No End to Grief, That’s How We Know There’s No End to Love”: The Story of U2’s “One Tree Hill”
  • Local News Coverage of Bruce Springsteen in 1978
  • “New” Springsteen Track: “Meet Me In the City”
  • Springsteen Joins U2 at Madison Square Garden
  • Springsteen and Martin Front U2 for World Aids Day
  • The Heroic Death of Folksinger Victor Jara
    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

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    Springsteen and Martin Front U2 for World Aids Day

    With Bono recovering from a bicycle accident, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin filled in for the U2 lead singer at a performance for World AIDS Day on December 1. The performance, in Times Square in New York City, included Springsteen singing “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

    Coldplay is often compared to U2 for various reasons, so another natural choice for a Bono fill-in was Chris Martin. Check out Martin sang “Beautiful Day” and “With or Without You.” [Update: Unfortunately, videos of these performances are no longer available as of 2024.]

    Nobody can match Bono on these songs, but Springsteen and Martin do a great job, with Springsteen adding a rough edge while Martin most closely matches Bono’s voice. We wish Bono a quick recovery and are thankful that these superstars filled in for a good cause.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • “There’s No End to Grief, That’s How We Know There’s No End to Love”: The Story of U2’s “One Tree Hill”
  • Springsteen and Bono Sing “Because the Night” in Dublin
  • Bono and Glen Hansard: The Auld Triangle
  • MLK Shot This Morning, er. . . Evening
  • Eyes of the Children
  • U2: “City of Blinding Lights” at Obama Presidential Center

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Mumford & Sons Join Elvis Costello on “Ghost of Tom Joad”

    Mumford & Sons Elvis Costello Ghost of Tom Joad Mumford & Sons recently collaborated with Elvis Costello to record Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” They made the recording for Bono’s One campaign to get world leaders to focus on poverty issues as the leader meet in Northern Ireland at the G8 summit.

    In this video, Elvis Costello and Mumford & Sons talk about the song before playing it. Check it out.

    We have discussed on Chimesfreedom the connection between “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and the work of Woody Guthrie. In the video at the end, you see Costello bring the song back to Woody Guthrie with an impromptu singing of “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You,” whose history we also have discussed.

    The new recording of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” is part of a collection of protest songs that you can listen to for free and learn more about on the One website, including songs by Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, The Cranberries, and may others. The collection is listed as “songs that changed the world.”

    What do you think of the new version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Tom Joad’s Inspiration
  • Anniversary of “The Grapes of Wrath”
  • Springsteen and Bono Sing “Because the Night” in Dublin
  • The Killing of “Two Good Men”
  • This Land Is Your Land: The Angry Protest Song That Became an American Standard
  • Land of Hope & Dreams, This Train, and People Get Ready

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)