“Where The Streets Have No Name” opening — piano reduction arranged by me; transcribed from The Joshua Tree recording via dictation
I do not want to talk about how late I stayed up dictating the Streets opening ! ! I believe it has been described as a “wall of sound” which makes sense, as all these individual pitches blend together so seamlessly in the recording it really does just sound like one all-encompassing Noise. This is a great thing in my eyes, as it further proves the point of the Roman numeral analysis I’m working on. Of course, the actual chord progression happening here works to obscure the song’s home key, which ties in with the whole album’s discussion of place and belonging. BUT the voice leading and organization of pitches, the adding and omitting of certain pitches, etc. also play a huge role in the emotional appeal of these chords—individual pitches, too, are obscured. UGH I love it! It made the process of picking out notes one by one and putting them onto a piece of sheet music all the more thrilling.
Consider this a sneak peak of the aforementioned Roman numeral analysis. I wanted to be sure I provide an audio reference of the transcription I’ll be using to analyze Streets, but didn’t want you all to suffer through the crispy MuseScore MIDI piano audio. Besides, I think much of this particular song’s emotional impact comes from the interaction between person and instrument. So, I recorded myself playing it.
I’ve got a few more things to put into MuseScore and some evidence to gather from an essay on TJT, and then I’ll be putting my analysis together!
I should mention: piano is NOT my primary instrument, so if there are any piano primaries watching this, I apologize, haha.
U2 play a rooftop concert in Los Angeles to film their video for "Where The Streets Have No Name." Thousands of onlookers gather and police order the band to stop playing.
I think my love for tragedies is because of their lack of containment and disappearing moments. The feeling that whatever i am feeling is for the very first and last time acknowledging the fact that I won't ever feel like this ever again for anyone in any circumstances. Whatever i have felt, experienced for the first time will always be a sacred memory which i will preserve. The very belief that whatever happens in the future, I will always reminisce the feeling of warmth I felt on the very first day. That's what tragedy is, it's the mother of beauty. Whatever we find tragic we try to make it last forever.
Lecture 18: Sounds of the Eighties: U2’s video for “Where the Streets Have No Name” (1987). U2, one of the most successful rock bands of the 1980s, was also unquestionably the most successful Irish band in the history of rock. This is their iconic 1987 video for “Where the Streets Have No Name,” filmed in downtown Los Angeles (featured on the same year’s HUGELY successful Joshua Tree album). Guess what? Your professor in History 105 was there during the filming!!! Well, I was one of the lowly masses down on the streets. True story: Spring Break 1987. It was an amazing spectacle to behold. If I have time, I’ll tell you all about it. It was a riot! The song starts around 2:45.