That moment in Rattle and Hum
where Larry is standing at Elvis’s grave
The eternal flame
The whole Graceland thing
The four of you
step
into Elvis’s
luxurious room, all plush and glitz and
this huge picture of Priscilla
Everything’s roped off
You’re not allowed to touch
The guide is nervous
What will these Irish rockstars do?
But you weren’t rockstars yet
Just four kids from Dublin who didn’t know the rules
And I think
about standing
in a roped-off room
I think
about standing
someday
in a roped-off room
in Dublin
Then the other moment
Larry in a kitchen, wishing Elvis
had been buried somewhere he couldn’t
have gone
Larry’s right, as always
(Those drums
That’s the third moment
After the Elvis thing
After the camera has gone
from black and white
into colour
Under the sky
in that stadium in Arizona
In “With or Without You”
Those drums. Nothing
is hidden)
Larry’s right
as always
We don’t need
an eternal flame
I don’t want
a roped-off room
an enormous picture
of Nelson Mandela, or some other
African child
I hope that doesn’t happen to my
favourite band
Someone
making money
mo-ney money money-money
Even if it is
given
for victims
of abuse
or storms
or third world debt
We don’t need
a luxurious room
We don’t need
an eternal flame
We already have one
With or without you