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U2 is trudging through a snowy landscape in Sweden in December 1982

They’re pissed off about WAR

As we all should be… except for the profiteers

They love it

Spilled blood and ruined lives make for a fine portfolio

Gold polished and kissed raw beneath a thunderstorm of guts

Enough of that sickening stuff

The album is WAR, released in 1983

The same year I was released from the chains of high school

I recall buying the cassette in one of those old-time mall record stores we used to have

When things were cool

The mall was in Denver

The Mile HIGH city

I remember peeling off the plastic wrapper from the cassette

It was cold outside, and I was beneath trees in a forest of concrete and glass…

It’s New Year’s Day, again

And the wars rage on

Let’s all declare:

Happy New Year!

And then what happens?

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