Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Today we celebrate an American tradition that was only embraced by the Irish, nearly two centuries after it began. It originated as a celebration of immigration and a positive reflection on their homeland. I take you back to Boston in 1737. This is the home of the very first St. Patrick’s Day Parade. A group of Irish immigrants held a parade to celebrate the importance of the Irish culture in establishing the 13 colonies. The festivities took place on March 17th in honour of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, who lived in 5th century Ireland and died on this day in 465 A.D. (If he were alive today, he would be almost as old as Pat Robertson).
Over the years the celebration took off, and similar events took place in other cities in the colonies, such as New York and Philadelphia. It wasn’t until 1930 that the celebration took root in Ireland. At this time, it became a national holiday and Dublin became home to the world’s largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I am proud to say that my son Jeremy marched in this parade as a member of the Burlington Teen Tour Band in 2013. He was the Drum Major. The Teen Tour Band has the distinction of taking home the prestigious Best International Band Award. Quite the distinction for a bunch of teenagers from Canada, but they truly are that good.
By the mid ‘90s, Ireland began to use the St. Patrick’s Day concept as a way of promoting tourism and enhancing their cultural identity. In a very veiled way, they were attempting to reclaim the holiday and St. Patrick’s name. Through the years the day had become very secular in nature, depicting people wearing green articles of clothing and drinking green beer in copious quantities.
But who was St. Patrick?
As mentioned, he was a missionary in Ireland in the 5th century. In fact, he was a bishop who was prominent in bringing Roman Catholic beliefs to the emerald isle. By extension, St. Patrick’s Day is really a celebration of Catholicism in Ireland. Through the years, St. Patrick became the subject of a handful of legends used to mythologize his character. One of the finest, speaks to the idea that he drove all the ‘snakes’ into the ocean after they attacked him during a ‘40 day fast’. To clarify, the ‘40 day fast’ represents the Catholic tradition of Lent, and the ‘snakes’ are a metaphor for Druidic symbols. Essentially, St. Patrick drove these Druidic symbols out of Ireland in order to institute Catholic traditions. If this pattern of colonialism sounds familiar…you are right.
It is also interesting to note that St. Patrick was not Irish. He was of either Welsh or British descent. Patrick was abducted from his home as a teenager, by pirates. He was enslaved for approximately six years before escaping. This experience strengthened Patrick’s faith and he ultimately entered the clergy focusing on Ireland for his missionary work. In essence, St. Patrick was an immigrant. In North America, where we celebrate St. Patrick Day in droves, we are celebrating Ireland’s most beloved immigrant and the foundation of one of humanity’s earliest examples of religious persecution.
Even the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day owe their roots to Druid rituals. The shamrock is a prime example. In Ireland, the three leaves of the shamrock have significance to Catholicism in terms of symbolizing the Holy Trinity, but aspects of these are borrowed from pagan traditions. To this day, the number 3 is seen as the ‘magic number’ in many religious and secular traditions. It is symbolically connected in images such as land, sea and sky or the mental, physical and spiritual needs of mankind. The colour green, actually replaced blue as the colour most commonly associated with St. Patrick. Ironically, it was a group of Irish Protestants who identified green as the colour in their rebellion against the British. This goes back as far as 1751. This tradition was instituted by the Protestant, but non-sectarian ‘Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick’. They used green as their symbol and it has become a representative of their rebellion ever since. Green is truly the colour of Irish nationalism. The association to a 5th century Catholic bishop who drove non-Catholics out of his adopted country, is one of many fascinating ironies of our time.
Enter U2…
As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we must do so with an Irish band of global importance; U2. Why not feature one of their most popular songs, that owes its roots to American gospel and blues? This is why I love songwriting and continue to be so immersed in the stories behind the music we know and love.
‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ emerged from a handful of origins. While U2 was working on material for ‘The Joshua Tree’ Bono was listening to a lot of music by American artists, like The Swan Silvertones, The Staple Singers and Blind Willie Johnson. This passion was being fueled by U2 producer Brian Eno. At around the same time, co-producer Daniel Lanois was working with The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton on the music for future songs. They were laying down a ‘foundation’ as Lanois called it. The song originated as a demo with a working title that varied from ‘The Weather Girls’ to ‘Under the Weather’ depending on the timeline. Creatively speaking, it evolved through various studio jams. The driving force behind the music was a drum pattern created by Larry Mullen Jr. The rhythm became the core of the song we know today. As the group jammed, Bono improvised gospel and soul influenced lines that spoke to spiritual doubt. As the music enveloped the group The Edge recalled a line he wrote in a notebook.
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
The Edge
This moment of reflection spoke to his philosophical uncertainty at the time. He was on an upward track when it came to fame and adulation, but he felt something was missing. The line was inspired by the song ‘Idiot Wind’ by Bob Dylan, where the lyrical master wrote;
You’ll find out when you reach the top, you’re on the bottom.”
Bob Dylan
The Edge wrote the line on a piece of paper and handed it to Bono while he was singing. The song took form from that moment “like a hand in a glove”.
Here is Daniel Lanois’ recollection of the process.
I’ve always liked gospel music and I encouraged Bono to take it to that place…It was a very non-U2 thing to do at the time, to go up the street of gospel. I think it opened a door for them, to experiment with that territory…[Bono]’s singing at the top of his range and there is something very compelling about somebody pushing themselves. It’s like hearing Aretha Franklin almost. It jumps on you and you can’t help but feel the feeling.”
Daniel Lanois
What a great quote. Wherever there is greatness, it seems Aretha Franklin’s influence is not too far away. Daniel Lanois’ resume has been pretty solid too.
So whatever happened to the original demo?
It became ‘Desert of Our Love’. It was released in 2007 on a remastered version of ‘The Joshua Tree’. The drum track that became toned down on the album version of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ comes through in this recording.
For U2, ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ became the band’s second consecutive #1 single. It paved the way for U2 to enter a different stratosphere in terms of being a pre-eminent international act. The beauty of this album is the underlying themes that run throughout. So much of the music is influenced by American blues, soul and gospel, while speaking to socio-political issues through their lyrics. The imagery managed to contrast their disdain for the real America while paying homage to the mythical America.
By extension, it comes all the way back around to the interesting and dubious celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. What is seen on the surface, often has a very different epistemology. I have barely skimmed the historical depths in this post. I am only drawing parallels, using the intersection of this song and the St. Patrick’s Day tradition as an interesting canvas for the thought.
As is so often the case with a song of such massive popularity ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ has been covered by some big name artists. There have been some incredible versions by lesser known acts that also make the listener smile. Here are a handful of great covers.
Here is the Scottish dance band known as The Chimes, performing an up-tempo dance remake of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. Bono is on record as saying it is a cover that does the original justice. This appeared on The Chimes self-titled debut album.
Here is Booker T and the M.G.s in 1994. A versatile and truly essential act. Listen to that Hammond B3 organ. So distinctive.
In 1997, the legendary Steve Winwood joined forces with Seal to offer this astounding cover. Here is a live version from Wembley Stadium. There is something about a fully engaged Wembley crowd. Magical, music appreciation.
Check out this musical extravaganza. Cher does it all here on her 2003 tour.
In that same year, Bonnie Tyler released this version with the backing of the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2010, Disturbed released a cover of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. I love how every time they do a cover song, they manage to make the song their own. Listen to it build in the instrumental portion before leading into the final verse. I imagine the live version of this song would border on apocalyptic.
Also, from 2010, watch Bono and Bruce Springsteen trade lines. You feel the song escalate as the two feed off of each other’s passionate and emotional delivery. The ending is remarkable. Bono sings ‘Promised Land’ while The Boss sings the outro. More chills.
Because it is St. Patrick’s Day, the last cover will be by a popular Irish act known as Celtic Thunder. Here is their version from 2010.
Before I sign off, I wanted to share the best version of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. I reserve that title for U2 and the New Voices of Freedom. I am on the edge of tears. This is so good. When music elicits this type of emotion it has truly achieved new heights of greatness. Listen to this and then read on for an interesting back story.
Here is the conductor, Dennis Bell, talking about how this session took place.
The Choir was put together after A&R at Island Records asked me to do a ‘Gospel Influenced’ arrangement of the U2 song before it came out on the Joshua Tree album. Rockspel was a name I made up so as not to imply that we were a religiously oriented Gospel Choir, which is intrinsic to the term Gospel. I didn’t want to disrespect church Gospel Choirs since we only sang Rock with Gospel influenced chord/harmonic voicing. U2’s road manager asked me to find a quiet place in Manhattan to rehearse where U2 wouldn’t be mobbed by fans. I asked one of my choir members to ask her Church pastor at Calvary Baptist in Harlem if it would be okay to rehearse there. I didn’t know they were filming Rattle & Hum ‘til cameras came in. I was there to rehearse for the Madison Square Garden Concert.”
Dennis Bell
Elements of this statement are in response to some confusion that arose surrounding this recording. The New Voices of Freedom were the act who performed this epic piece, based on Bell’s direction. Through the years a gospel choir known as the Harlem Gospel Choir managed to tour extensively, claiming to be the choir who performed with U2 on the Rattle & Hum footage and during the 1987 Madison Square Gardens live show. Craziness!
Here are the lyrics so you can sing along.
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with youI have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with youBut I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking forI have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in the fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desireI have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stoneBut I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking forI believe in the Kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes, I’m still runningYou broke the bonds
and you loosened chains
carried the cross of my shame, of my shame
You know I believe itBut I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking forBut I still haven’t found
U2
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
Stay healthy! Do something nice for someone today. Things may be challenging right now, but sometimes the best in people comes out in the worst of times. We will get through this situation stronger and better. Good will prevail. Somehow it always does.
Ted Tocks Covers 
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