LOOKS LIKE A REAL WINNER!


U2 clip a who's who of pop peersBy J. FREEDOM DU LAC
THE WASHINGTON POST

In the breathtaking video for U2's new song, Window in the Skies, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye and a shirtless Iggy Pop take turns singing the lyrics on Bono's behalf.

Instead of the Edge on guitar, you see Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Costello and a young Keith Richards, back when he looked like a George Harrison doppelganger.

And hey, there's Vladimir Horowitz playing the piano! And that guy from Wilco on bass! And the manic Keith Moon on drums!

All thanks to the magic of editing and copyright clearances.

The Window in the Skies video is a stirring montage that features roughly 100 archival clips of musicians performing in concert. The footage has been carefully and cleverly edited so that the performances sync up with U2's lyrics and music -- right down to Frank Sinatra conducting the soaring song to its conclusion.

It's a triumph of postmodern reconstruction, a four-minute 19-second celebration of some of popular music's most influential figures.

Let other, lesser artists feature video cameos by one or two of their famous friends. U2 seems to have invited the entire Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to its party, and more than a few folks showed up: Ray Charles, Joe Strummer, Smokey Robinson, Patti Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert Plant, Roy Orbison. They were joined by some celebrated newcomers, from rapper Kanye West to the Canadian indie-rock band Arcade Fire.

"We wanted to honor these great artists," says Gary Koepke, the video's director. "Throughout time, they've been playing music and trying to achieve greatness. We wanted to celebrate them and their passion. This video had to happen. And it made itself, basically."

Well, not really. It took three months and plenty of man-hours to make the addictive video, which has become a hit on YouTube and VH1 and has inspired endless pages of Internet discussion-board messages about who exactly appears in the clip and when. (That's Lou Reed, not Jim Morrison, at the 44-second mark; Beyonce, not Britney Spears, at 1:47. A rundown of all of the artists might eventually appear on U2's Web site.)

Although the video celebrates greatness, it is not meant to be a comprehensive yearbook of popular music's best.

"There were a few legends we missed, obviously, that we really would have liked to get," he says. Among them: Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, James Brown, Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen. The Beatles' representatives approved the project after the deadline, and because, well, they're the Beatles, the video has been redone to accommodate them. The new version will likely be released this week.

That sounds SO cool. Have you seen it? Anyone here?? I need to take a look for it. Thanks for sharing.

I'm not really a U2 fan, but I've seen the video, and its definately cool.

SB (and everyone else) - http://youtube.com/watch?v=VskbxuehP3I

Thanks, Bogey. I've got to check that out.

Cool,i'll check that out

I've always thought of U2 as a bit of a joke.

and whys that?

Thats Cool,fits together so well,all the music legends in there,don't think i seen the beatles in there..

I've always thought of Capo de la Cosa Nostra as a bit of a joke.

Oh it is SB..you will like it. A great tribute to the old time greats!

I did just watch it. It was very well done. Great tribute is right.

Bit over-rated. Bit happy-go-lucky (not that that's always a bad thing). Bit mediocre.

Cool video though.

I see Yorke! I love the irony, considering Thom wants to bludgeon Bono over the head with a wooden paddle. But still, I like that they didn't go the preconcieved route of filling the video of legends and ignoring the modern-day talents.

Self-proclaimed rock geniuses and/or legends; I get the feeling they have a complete lack of self-consciousness about them.

I was watching the documentary Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man on the big screen earlier this month. It consists of performances by various artists covering Cohen songs,interspersed with interviews from them. Now and again it cuts to a talking head of "The Edge" and then to one of "Bono". U2 are the only act in the film who do not peform as part of the tribute concert, instead they accompany Cohen himself for a rendition of his "Tower of Song", with Cohen crawling his way through his lyrics in his usual manner, and Bono playing the keyboard... no and again he'll look up at Cohen as if he wants to make sweet love to his ass.

His closing speech is hilarious; it goes something like this: "Some people make doors [knocks on a nearbye door in shot], some people [I've forgotten what the other trade was], Leonard Cohen writes songs."

Err...what?

And how could you ever take a band seriously who takes themselves seriously when blessed with names like Bono and The Edge?

Im not there biggest fan but i respect them for there consistency of good music over two decades.only have there greatest hits in my collection

Hmmm. Well, perhaps there only good songs are the ones they release as singles?

Eh, I'm just not a fan. They're over-rated as a band and Bono is cocky as can be. I have a love/hate relationship with the UK music scene. It seems like 95% of most modern bands that are worth a damn come out of the UK, and at the same time, the only bands hailing from the islands that gain any recognition barely deserve it.