U2's Long Lost Lyrics

[theknife]

PORTLAND (Reuters) - A briefcase containing lyrics for songs meant to be used in U2's 1981 album "October" has been returned to the group's lead singer Bono, 23 years after it was stolen at a Portland concert, the band said on Friday.
Cindy Harris of Washington state found the briefcase in the attic of a rental home in Tacoma, Washington, in 1981, but said she did not learn that it had been stolen until years later. She contacted the band recently.

Bono, who attended a World Affairs Council meeting in Portland on Thursday to talk about debt relief, poverty and AIDS in Africa, said he was thankful that the lyrics were returned to him instead of being sold for a large sum.

The return was an "act of grace," the singer said.

After the theft, Bono rewrote the lyrics for "October," an album that many fans regard as one of the Irish band's weakest. Only one song from "October," the title track, was featured in U2's "Best of 1980-1990" collection, as a hidden track at the end of the album.

Bono made appeals whenever he performed in Portland for any information on the whereabouts of the briefcase.

at the risk of incurring extremely bad karma, i think i'd have put some of this stuff on E-Bay instead

and who says October is a weak album? it's dark, moody, and slightly spiritual, but it's a classic - ask Maze (whatever happened to Maze, anyway?)

[Kris404]

Bad karma or not, you would have been put behind bars for sure, it's theft

[malvachat]

Originally Posted by theknife

ask Maze (whatever happened to Maze, anyway?)

I was just thinking the same thing.
He seems to have gone into habitation again.
I'll try a PM later see if I can wake him.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by Kris404

Bad karma or not, you would have been put behind bars for sure, it's theft

why is it theft? i rent a house and find a briefcase in the attic full of old U2 song lyrics, so i put a few pieces of paper on E-Bay - i didn't steal anything, right? at worst, as far as i can see, U2 has E-Bay halt the sale and they have the authorities confiscate the items from me.

(that being said, i'm a big U2 fan, and a reasonably honest person besides - the more i think about it, i prolly would have done the same thing that these women did)

[Kris404]

Well, whether you 'found it in the attic' or took it from the concert yourself, it ain't your property to sell to begin with. The band could easily accuse you of theft and you'd be arrested, that you would explain the situation later is besides the point.

Anyway, any resonable minded person would do the same and I would do likewise as I love the band too and I highly respect Bono not just as an artist but for his social causes as well.