U2 singer Bono on his “earliest memory of music”
The earliest memory of music is a pivotal moment for everybody who has ever formed a connection with the art form. While the first memory is unlikely to be our earliest exposure to music, it is typically the moment when a song makes an impact upon a person. For U2 singer Bono, he’ll never forget his debut encounter with the art.
He was three years old when a song entered his life for the first time, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect introduction. It was 1964, and therefore, rather unsurprisingly, The Beatles were responsible for seducing a young Paul Hewson into a life of rock ‘n’ roll thanks to their hit single ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’.
Even though he could barely walk on his own two feet or master the English language, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ is said to have spoken to Hewson and combined to create an idyllic childhood memory. To date, the song remains one of his all-time favourites, and in 2020, Bono listed The Beatles’ track as one of the 60 songs that saved his life.
Explaining his decision for inclusion, Bono penned a letter detailing his love of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ to the band. He began by writing: “It’s my earliest memory of music. I was three years old and in the back garden of 10 Cedarwood Road… I associate the song with the smell of freshly cut grass as I was lying on my back on the damp green patch after my Da had cut the lawn… Beside me was a lawn mower with green stained rotors that had to be repaired. My brother Norman could fix it… he could fix anything.”
Setting the picturesque scene, Bono continued: “It was the spring of 1964… the song on the radio felt like life force… like I was for the first time conscious that I was alive and that being alive was a really, really great idea!”
He continued: “I’m not sure whose hand was on your mind when you wrote this… It might have been nice to imagine it was my mother’s, but at age 3 most wee boys are trying to break away from such clutches… I had no such maternal or even romantic thoughts. In my head it felt like the universe was singing to me directly… and I still feel that now when listening to most of your songs.” The U2 frontman concluded by writing: “Maybe that’s how easy a messianic complex can start out”.
While Bono first heard the magnificent sounds of The Beatles almost 60 years ago, they continue to occupy a special place in his heart, labelling the band as “untouchable”. The Irish musician made the comment on the MSNBC programme Andrea Mitchell Reports and said of their influence on U2: “We still look to [The Beatles] as models of what can be achieved when four people get into a room and start experimenting.”
Bono’s life has immeasurably changed since he was a toddler frolicking in the garden while his father mowed the lawn, but his love of The Beatles will never die.
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