This morning I watched a documentary on the making of U2's “Unforgettable Fire.” with my 5 year old daughter. She was fascinated by it. I enjoyed it thoroughly myself. In the middle of it, the band and crew stops and goes out side of Slane castle to see a solar eclipse.
This would have taken place in the spring of 1984. I was a kindergartener. I remember that eclipse. It's an amusing story. My Mom and Dad went somewhere with my sister Sarah (2 1/2) and our baby brother Joe. They left Jon and Betsy in charge of me. They probably just went to the grocery store or something. Anyway, we knew this eclipse was coming. Our parents warned us severly not to look at the eclipse. But as I recall, Betsy and Jon thought that if we were exposed to the light of the eclipse, we'd go blind. So when it was happening, and the house got a little darker, Jon and Betsy tried to close all the blinds and drapes. I took this opportunity to get outside and see for myself. I just couldn't believe that if you were in the eclipse for a few seconds it wouldn't matter. I ran around the house once, but didn't look up into the sky.
I had to run to Hebron to pay the phone bill, so Abi came with me. We listened to Unforgettable Fire, the album, there and back. We sat in the Purple Van and listened to the last three tracks in the driveway.
The documentary is housed on a DVD called “Go Home, U2 Live at Slane Castle Sept. 1, 2001.” The opening song is “Elevation.” Abi and Sam watched that with me too. Abi asked me, “Why do they keep saying 'Ho-ly, Ho-ly'?” She was refering to the “hoo -oo” but I thought, if that's what she hears, that's beautiful.