Music Review: U2 "Walk On"

U2

Walk On

Album: All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Year:  2001

             Ok, next week I’m going to find songs with happy people in it.

             Bono says goodbye to a close friend in the empathetic “Walk On.”

             A stoic guitar opens the single, setting a knowing tone. In the intro, he had seen signs for a while that something was wrong from his friend. The every day conversations were short, the sentences trailing off, leading him to wonder what was on his friend’s mind. He reached out but his friend slapped his hand away each time. Whatever’s been bothering him; he’s carrying it on his shoulders and prefers not to be helped. (“And love, it's not the easy thing/The only baggage that you can bring/Not the easy thing, the only baggage you can bring/Is all that you can't leave behind.”)

             All his friend told him was that he needed to leave. There’s too much sorrow surrounding him. If he stays, he’s fears the sorrow will close in on him, taking every breath out of him until there’s nothing left. He doesn’t know how long will be gone. Bono tells him he’s doing what he needs to do. Even though he may have some doubts if he’s doing the right thing, he should continue anyhow. (“And if the darkness is to keep us apart/And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off/And if your glass heart should crack/And for a second you turn back/Oh no, be strong.”)

             In the chorus, he wishes his friend well. He adds it’s a brave thing he’s doing and tells to take care of himself on his journey. (“Oh, oh, walk on, walk on/What you got, they can't steal it/No, they can't even feel it/Walk on, walk on/Stay safe tonight.”)

               A majority of his friends lived with their dejection, waiting for it to ebb over time.        Whether it was a frayed marriage or a flawed job, they were told not to give up. His friend is the only one to defy the beliefs that were instilled in them. Nonetheless, he was trapped and found a way out. (“You're packin' a suitcase for a place none of us has been/A place that has to be believed, to be seen/You could have flown away, a singin' bird in an open cage/Who will only fly, only fly for freedom.”)

             In the second chorus, he adds not many people can take the risk like his friend, relying on belief that it will be okay. (“Oh, oh, walk on, walk on/What you got, you can't deny it/Can't sell it or buy it/Walk on, walk on/You stay safe tonight.”)

              In the bridge, his friend was once a dreamer. However, several failed relationships and the same, dank office for several years broke each imagined vision, tainting it with scrawled black lines. His friend seems, for the most part, trying to put his dream back together again. (“ And I know it aches/How your heart t breaks/You can only take so much/Walk on, walk on/Home hard to know what it is/If you never had one/Home I can't say where it is/But I know I'm going/Home, that's where the heart is/And I know it aches/And your heart it breaks/You can only take so much.”)

         In the final chorus, Bono tells him to put the past behind. His current beliefs won’t have any place in his new life. He will have to discover who he is all over again, finding out which parts are really him and what had been molded inside of him. (“Walk on/Leave it behind/You've got to leave it behind /All that you fashion, all that you make/All that you build, all that you break/All that you measure, all that you feel All this you can leave behind/All that you reason, all that you care (It's only time and I'll never fill up all my mind)/All that you sense, all that you scheme/All you dress up, and all that you see/All you create, all that you wreck/All that you hate.”)

             Bono’s hopeful, driving vocals pull for his friend to succeed. His friend should be commended for forging his own path and breaking the status quo in the process.

            The inspiring “Walk On” believes in second chances, another try to make it right.