Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The Unforgettable Fire and Paul Celan

I'm sitting here listening to U2's 1984 effort, The Unforgettable Fire. I remember reading that Bono had been influenced by Paul Celan during the recording of this album. Having now read Paul Celan, I sort of get the Celan-vibe when hearing this album. It's sort of given me new ears to hear it. Maybe this is a project. Go and find an album you used to listen to a lot and figure what was influencing the artist at the time. Discover the influence (be it musical, visual, literary, or whatever), and listen to the same album again. Does it change the experience for you?