Amazing To Hear Your Stories About Joshua Tree

We put out our short film/music video for "Chopping Down The Joshua Tree" earlier this week, and it has been really amazing to hear stories from around the globe of people who identify with the theme of our song and video, and have shared with us those stories, thoughts, and recollections about U2 and their personal significance.

The best story yet was from a fellow named Michel and his wife, from The Netherlands, about their journey to locate the hallowed ground of the fallen Joshua Tree, just as we did in our video. We asked if we could share it and he said of course. Here's what he wrote:

Hello Guys,

Wow I'm going to sit down for this to write this story.Where to start? We had plans to visit the JT site in 2014 (Me and my wife are from the Netherlands) but it was too far to make a trip from las vegas and back to las vegas. We did visit Red Rocks in 2014 .....

Then 2015 arrived. Once again we scheduled a round trip from Las Vegas to SF to LA and via JT NP back to Las Vegas. Day 1 was the visit of Zabriskie Point. I walked there with my JT album up the hill and lots of people where looking at me like : "What the hell is this dude doing". Well taking a picture of the front sleeve of the JT. So I took a picture like this one ...

We slept at Furnace Creek and day 2 was going to be JT day. I was awake early (in the Netherlands it is 9 hours later) at 4 or 5 I think. Getting really excited of what what going to happen on this day. We first drive on the I-190 and we just enjoyed the amazing landscape. We drove through Devil's Cornfield towards Sand Dunes. We did a stop there and then off the magic milemarker 33. My wife drove this morning and I remember that five miles before milemarker 33 I turned on the GoPro together with U2's Joshua Tree. The organ starts and as soon as it starts my eyes get wet. Finally we are going to find what we were looking for. I really cant explain what happened that moment. Yes I am a die-hard U2 fan since I was 16 (38 now) but I never thought that visiting the holy grail would make me so emotional. After a couple of minutes we are there : mile marker 33. I have done lots of research to get to the JT site. I have the GPS coordinates in my phone. We get out of the car and it is 88F outside (july 27th around 10:00am).

So the moment I try to start the GPS tracker nothing happens .... oohooh ... We just start to walk through the desert. I start the GoPro and of course The Joshua Tree on my cellphone and there we walk. We cross the service road and I see something blinking in the middle of nowhere. At this moment I know that we are heading to the right direction. I just start to cry when I walk towards the site. I still can't believe what's happening to me. It's not me, I rarely show my emotions. But just walking there is just amazing. The complete site with the hill in the background is breathtaking. We move on towards the blinking suitcase and after 300meter we are there. WOW ... I have no words to describe how I felt when I stood there.

The music matches completely with my idea of Death Valley. Bullet the blue sky starts and thats my idea of death valley (without the fighter planes). For me U2's joshua tree would never be the same. I will never hear the album without the images of death valley. I created a short video on youtube as well :

The reason I mentioned Bullet the Blue Sky and the GPS/Maps troubles is very important for my emotions : U2 IE Tour! I saw the band 8 times in Europe. And the sequel : Bullet/Zooropa/Streets is a return to Death Valley for me. I see myself walking there with a blue sky with no compass and no maps into the organ of Where The Streets Have No Name ...

I even will get a tattoo in a couple of weeks with the JT site combined with Edge's (my hero) guitar.

You did a great job with this video and song. I really enjoyed it!! Take care!

HERE IS THE VIDEO FOR "CHOPPING DOWN THE JOSHUA TREE" --

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