The Final Frontier: The Middle East and the Challenge to American Exceptionalism in the Twenty-First Century

In the spring of 1984, an Irish band on the verge of breaking through to superstardom was making its way through America. On the third leg of an international concert tour and not yet able to afford to travel across the country on an airplane, they were relegated to traveling from show to show on a tour bus. Starting from Dallas, Texas, they criss-crossed the continent numerous times as they finally made their way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. By this time, the band had seen the Southwest, the Deep South, New England, the Midwest, and the West Coast. The trail they followed was unconventional, but still allowed them to see a landscape that few Irish people, let alone most Americans, get to see in a three-month period. The band’s lead singer, an ambitious 24-year-old former chess prodigy, decided to try to capture the essence of the country he witnessed as their tour bus rolled from coast to coast and up and down the Mississippi River. The singer strummed along with the band’s lead guitarist, a gangly 23-year-old who had a penchant for wearing jeans ripped at the knees, and together they wrote “Heartland” – a song later featured on the album Rattle and Hum. This five-minute ode to America attempted to delve beneath the glitz and glamour of New York City and Hollywood. On all future American tours, this band, known as U2 to the world, would fly from city to city, but their epic road trip through rural and urban America had a deep impact on these musicians from a small island. U2’s following album, The Joshua Tree, would contain numerous references to the underside of America and the rejuvenating and cleansing effect it has on individuals.