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Music Notes #1084265 added February 23, 2025 at 8:32am
Restrictions: None
Vertigo, by U2
My next track is Vertigo, from the 2004 U2 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It's a fun song for me because I don't listen to much of the old-fashioned "noisy rock" kind of stuff. Steven groans when I mention it, but hey. It's my playlist, not his 
Sound:
Despite having raucous guitar riffs which might almost be called grungy, Bono's voice here is anything but. He doesn't scream and yell with exaggerated angst like grunge/emo artists usually do, which makes Vertigo a marvelously tolerable song for me to listen to.
Theme:
I can actually identify with what I think Bono's trying to say here. He's describing the dizzying experience of having to perform in an extremely noisy, dark, grubby, crowded, indecent environment, and clinging to whatever kind of faith he feels in his heart to keep his head straight amidst the insanity.
As a person with sensory sensitivities, I'm easily distracted, overwhelmed and swept away by noisy environments, especially when there's music involved. Walmart on a busy day can make me go totally haywire…
On a side note, "vertigo," the actual medical condition, is connected to the inner ear and relates to how we process sound. Speculation remains on why exactly U2 named the song Vertigo, whether perhaps after a Mexican nightclub or something else.
Significance:
I first heard this in October 2024, during Hurricane Milton, in the same truck stop playlist as U2's other song Beautiful Day. I was delighted and amused to find it, understanding pretty well what it's about.
Which brings me to a fun little story I wrote as part of my "Invalid Item"  series in May/June 2024. I had no idea Vertigo existed yet, but I crafted an overwhelming nightclub environment and a jaded spy character who couldn't stand it, partly based on my own attitudes. Ironically, I managed to incorporate yet a different U2 song into that story: City of Blinding Lights. It received an award from an appreciative fellow author.
Enjoy 
Words: 331.
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