Creative Research
For this project, I chose the Irish band called U2 and more specifically their album "War" released in 1983. I found in an article that the band was planning on using some war pictures for their cover. Then, someone remembered a picture of a little boy in Warsaw who had the same position as the boy on the album cover. They decided to get some inspiration from that which was very powerful (Loftus, Valerie). For the album cover, everything is in the look of the little kid who was only 8 years old when the picture was shot. The fact that there is the word “war” in red that takes a good amount of space on the image is also great. I get the feeling of danger and madness through the artwork.
In Dublin, Ian Finlay is the one who took the photograph of the kid for their album cover. He is an Irish photographer who worked with U2 as well as another Irish rock band called Horslips (Finlay, Ian). Ian did another album cover for U2 which is a compilation of their best hits. He is also the writer of the book “Welgevonden- An African Wilderness Reborn” which has pictures that he took when he was in Africa. (“Welgevonden: A Wilderness Reborn.”). Finally, he also exhibited some of his works in a gallery in London.
I decided to focus on the song called "Sunday Bloody Sunday" because I believe it has a connection with the picture of the album cover. The music connects with the artwork through the melody as well as the lyrics. The beginning starts with drums which could be considered as a military march. Some of the lyrics are also important such as: “How long must we sing this song?”. This is a moment of anger (The Legends Of Music). I believe that this connects with the little kid because he is also mad that this is happening. He is mad that people are dying. Also, it shows how children who are supposed to represent innocence are involved in something so terrible.
Resources:
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- “Welgevonden: A Wilderness Reborn.” News24, news24, 18 June 2012, www.news24.com/news24/Travel/Welgevonden-A-Wilderness-Reborn-20120618.
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- The Legends Of Music. “Sunday Bloody Sunday: The Story behind U2's Most Political Song.” Medium, Medium, 13 Dec. 2018,
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- Finlay, Ian. “Ian Finlay Photographer.” Ian Finlay Photography, www.ianfinlayphotography.com/about.
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- Loftus, Valerie. “4 Iconic U2 Album Covers and the Secrets behind Them.” The Daily Edge, 14 May 2014, www.dailyedge.ie/u2-album-covers-steve-averill-1464230-May2014/.
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