[Ed. note: This is the 38th in a "U2 Lists" series, where @U2 staffers pick a topic and share their personal rankings on something U2-related.]

I believe everyone's life has a purpose, and that you may never fully realize that purpose in your lifetime. After thinking about the impact of mothers and the ripple effect of their influence in the lives of their children, it's easy to see how that purpose can touch the lives of generations. Had Iris Hewson not led the life she led, we might not have U2, their music, or the millions of lives changed because of her impact on her youngest son. In honor of Mother's Day, let's take a look at how the role of mother has been Bono's muse in his songwriting.

1.       Sacrifice

Mothers make sacrifices for their children. From the beginning of the journey, "always pain before a child is born" in "Yahweh," to the tragic end in a loss of a child ("Mothers Of The Disappeared") and all points in between, Bono’s lyrical honesty describes what mothers go through for their children quite fittingly. In "Wave Of Sorrow," he sings, "blessed is the sex worker's body sold tonight / she works with what she's got to save her children's life."

2.       Unconditional Love

The song "Miracle Drug" spotlights the lengths a mother will go to for her child. Bono said in Blender magazine in 2004, "We all went to the same school and just as we were leaving, a fellow called Christopher Nolan arrived. He had been deprived of oxygen for two hours when he was born, so he was paraplegic. But his mother believed he could understand what was going on and used to teach him at home. Eventually they discovered a drug that allowed him to move one muscle in his neck. So they attached this unicorn device to his forehead and he learned to type. And out of him came all these poems that he'd been storing up in his head. Then he put out a collection called 'Dam-Burst of Dreams,' which won a load of awards and he went off to university and became a genius. All because of a mother's love and a medical breakthrough."

In "I Will Follow," that length is reversed where it's the child who will do anything because of the unconditional love, even if it means doing something unthinkable. Hot Press' Niall Stokes writes, "In the past, Bono has talked about the song being a sketch about the unconditional love a mother has for a child, but it is clearly more than that. There is a palpable yearning in the lyrics that has much more to do with what a child feels when his mother walks -- or is taken -- away from him and the suicidal urge to follow. 'A boy tries hard to be a man / His mother takes him by the hand.'"

3.       Separation

While no child wishes to be deserted, there does come a point in life where that separation must come. For Bono, it happened at a very early age and, as we all know, it has shaped his purpose from that moment on.

Both "Tomorrow" and "Mofo" tackle the topic of desertion head-on in different ways. Bono said in Rolling Stone that "Tomorrow" "is a detailed account of my mother's funeral. But I had no idea when I was writing it." The 20-year-old Bono was trying to make sense of that day; by the end of the song he is calling out to God for answers.

Jump ahead about 15 years, and a more mature Bono is calling out to his mother in "Mofo." Bono said in U2 By U2, "It was extraordinary playing 'Mofo' live. The song would come to a shuddering halt and there I was, just speaking to my mother in front of 50,000 of my closest friends. Some nights it would really surprise me what an emotional place I would get to."

4.       Terms Of Endearment

Most mothers are used to being called by many names, and Bono doesn't disappoint in the way he identifies them. The easiest one sung seems to be "mama" as it rolls nicely off the tongue such as "cool down mama, cool off" in "Crumbs From Your Table." He has also gone with the slang of "mammy" in "Miami," which is classified as an alternative to the word mama. "Dancing Shoes" uses mama a bit more personally: "I had a mama / she told me 'bout you /she said true love don't lie."

Nowhere has Bono been more playful with the term "mama" than in "Big Girls Are Best." The repetitive use of "sexy mama" is more of a flirty nickname given to the woman who has the "baby at her breast" by her suitor.

"Mother" has also made its way into several songs as a passing mention. "Another Day" mentions "daylight, mother stands in the hall." In "I'm Not Your Baby," he writes, "I'm not your mother / you're not my man / and I'm not your baby." In "Love You Like Mad," he describes "M-O-M under a tree."

The motherhood theme has been tightly woven into the fabric of Bono's songwriting since the beginning of his career and I am sure will continue to pop up in the future. Bill Flanagan wrote in U2: At The End Of The World that a fortuneteller once told Iris Hewson she would bear a son, whose name would start with "P," and who would achieve fame in whatever life he chose. Her life's purpose continues to touch all of our lives. If she didn't influence her son, who knows where we all would be.

© @U2/Lawrence, 2012.

Bono was a surprise guest during a surprise acoustic concert tonight in New York City featuring fellow Irishman Glen Hansard. Hansard was performing at The Living Room, a small "acoustic listening room," and we're told he was doing a show for future broadcast on Sirius satellite radio.

Bono joined him on stage for the last song of the night, "The Auld Triangle." The photo at right is from The Living Room's Twitter account, but you'll want to watch this Facebook video of the song, courtesy Dawn M.

Bono has performed with Hansard several times in the past, including Christmas busking sessions in Dublin in 2009, 2010 and 2011. They also sang together at Sargent Shriver's funeral in January 2011.

UPDATE: Dawn M. has posted the same Facebook video to YouTube, so we can now share it below via embed. (Thx Dawn!)

UPDATE #2: Here's a longer video from Patrick Glennon that begins at the start of the song with Hansard introducing his guest vocalist.

We've just posted the first set of results from the 2012 U2 Fan Survey, and there are some interesting items that stand out in this year's data -- especially when compared to how you voted in the last survey, which took place in April 2010.

This year, the survey was open for five fewer days than in 2010. We still managed to get completed responses from 3,530 fans in 79 countries, both of which are down from 2010. That can be attributed to the U2 360 tour; @U2 gets much higher website traffic when U2 is touring and/or putting out a new album, so more fans were aware of the survey two years ago.

This year's survey is a little less U.S.-centric -- 48.3 percent of survey takers in 2010 lived in the USA, compared to 43.7 percent this year.

Enough of the background, here are a few things to watch for when you look through the first batch of results that we've posted:

Despite U2's efforts, U2 fans are aging. Although U2 and Paul McGuinness have spoken about continuing to try to reach young music fans, there's no sign that the band has been able to stop the aging of its audience. In 2010, almost 34 percent of survey takers were under 30. This year, a little more than 27 percent were in that age range.

Listening less to U2. The number of fans who say they listen to U2 every day fell from 41 percent to 35 percent, and the number who listen 5-6 times per week also dropped slightly. This might be due to timing: In April 2010, there was still plenty of U2 360 tour excitement in the air. This year's survey happened during a down time for U2.

Coldplay is number two. Just like in 2010, Coldplay was named as "next favorite artist" more than anyone else. Their support was even bigger in 2012 (8.2 percent) than in 2010 (7.7 percent).

U2.com support. Less than 15 percent of survey takers who say they're currently paying members at U2.com said they will not be renewing their membership when it's due.

Are we hoarders? Almost 72 percent of fans say they collect U2 memorabilia or merchandise, up from 69 percent in 2010. And when it comes to collecting live shows, five percent of fans say they have more than 500! That's a lot of live versions of "Pride." (I'm foreshadowing future survey responses there.)

(RED) beats Edun. About 45 percent of survey takers say they've bought a (RED) product, compared to about 14 percent who've bought an Edun product. This isn't surprising, though -- (RED) is priced much more favorably for a wider consumer audience than Edun.

Ready to see all of the replies to Sections A and B? Visit our 2012 U2 Fan Survey page. And stay tuned as we post more from the 2012 U2 Fan Survey in the coming days and weeks.

"Why are U2 fans in the U.S. so lame?"

Almost as soon as we started posting U2 360 tour videos on our YouTube channel, we started getting comments like that (and others much less gentle in their word choice) from U2 fans around the world. For example, if you dig through the comments on our video of "Bad" from the Pittsburgh show, you'll find one fan saying this:

Why are the american audience allways so dead and borring? Why dont you guys try to sing maybe just a little bit and go crazy like we do in europe.. Come on!

That sentiment is pretty common in our video comments. (As are spelling mistakes and typos!) And here's the thing: I generally agree with it. The crowds at some shows I saw were really great, but other crowds ... not so much.

If you compare videos from U.S. shows versus videos from shows in other countries, I don't think there's any comparison in the crowd. It's why I'd really love to see a show in South America someday.

But I think there are some very logical explanations for why the U.S. crowds were "so dead and borring" during some of the U.S. shows:

1.) U2 has played a ton of shows in the U.S. After 30+ years of touring, it's not at all unusual for U2 to be on tour here. Needless to say, a crowd of U2 fans in a country where they've played 10-20 times (or less) is going to be more into the show than a crowd of U2 fans in the U.S., where they've played hundreds of shows. We're spoiled. No doubt about it. And it sometimes shows in the concert videos on YouTube.

2.) On the 360 tour, the crowd wasn't always full of U2 fans. Because they played stadiums and toured behind an album that didn't sell well here, tickets were not that difficult to find in the U.S. That meant a lot of casual fans and non-fans were at the shows. Consider some of these tweets from the second leg of the tour:

#U2 is on stage. There's Bono. Only one I know. Definitely don't know the song. Bandwith limited here w everone tweeting.

— Thom Radtke (@tommytigger) October 10, 2009

I have tickets for a U2 concert and I just realized I don't know one third of the songs. Perhaps more.

— Pablo Estrada (@dominuspaulus) October 14, 2009

At the Black Eyed Peas and U2 concert. Not a huge fan of either and crappy seats but free tickets so eh.

— Melissa Chappell (@LissaLou30) October 21, 2009

I saw a lot of things like that while I monitored Twitter before and during shows. A lot. I wrote about it a bit earlier here on @U2 -- see item number six on this U2 Lists essay.

3.) The stadium environment was full of distractions. I'm not a violent person, but at every show where I had GA/field tickets, there were countless times that I wanted to punch the beer salesman as he walked in front of me shouting "Beer here!" right in the middle of "Stay" or "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" or "Streets." They also had food booths right on the stadium floor, and ... you know ... it's probably hard to clap and cheer during a song when you've got your hands full of hot dogs. Me? I'd never go eat dinner in the middle of a U2 show, but when you have a stadium full of casual/non-fans, they eat. (I also wrote about the concession issue in that same U2 Lists piece.)

So, yeah. There are a lot of die-hard U2 fans here in the U.S., but we don't make up the majority of concert attendees when U2 is playing stadiums on the back of a relatively low-selling album. Lame crowds? Yeah, sometimes. But I think those are a few of the reasons why.

(By the way, if you're going to watch that "Bad" video in full, I recommend the HD version that we uploaded a bit later than the version I linked to above.)

As long as I'm on the subject of the 360 tour, a London-based fashion company called CuteCircuit has written a bit of the story behind those LED jackets that U2 wore on the final leg of the 360 tour.

The one thing they didn't include: an "Add to Cart" button.

WANT!

Back to something more recent: the 2012 U2 Fan Survey. If all goes well, we should start posting some of the survey results this week. The plan is to post the results in stages, so it may take a little while to get it all done. But stay tuned to see how your votes compared to more than 3,000 fans around the world who finished the survey.

And finally ... did you know there's an archive of every time Bono has appeared on the U.S. cable network C-Span? It's true.

See ya next time!

(c) @U2, 2012.

Almost three dozen early U2 photographs will be on display at the Little Museum in Dublin this spring/summer.

The exhibit, titled U2: 1978-1981, featured photos by Patrick Brocklebank. U2 manager Paul McGuinness will help launch the exhibit on May 10th, and the exhibit will remain open until September 2nd.

The Irish Times is running a small slideshow featuring five of the photos, along with some comments from Brocklebank about each image.

Bono and Edge's "A Freak Like Me Needs Company" joins three other nominations for Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark in Broadway.com's annual Audience Choice Awards. The other nominations include Jennifer Damiano (Favorite Actress In A Musical), Patrick Page (Favorite Funny Performance) and Reeve Carney (Favorite Breakthrough Performance). The awards are voted on entirely by the general public. Voting is open until 11:59 p.m EDT on May 9.

Welcome to @U2's Question of the Month for May 2012: It's Bono's birthday, and he is tired of store-bought presents. He wants a birthday gift you made, found or organized yourself. What do you give him?

Please send your responses to atu2.com@gmail.com by May 16. We'll post your answers -- and a new question -- on June 16.

Want to see what QOM is all about? Check out the responses to previous Questions of the Month in our News Database. And keep these guidelines in mind:

• Share your own experiences, not your friend's or some random stranger's. Also, a lot of people might read your answer if we post it on @U2, so please keep that in mind if you're sharing personal information.
• Please tell us your full name.
• Since we don't know how many responses we'll get, we can't promise to publish them all. You can improve your chances by being specific, personal and brief (200 words or less is best). We reserve the right to edit for grammar, spelling and length.

QOM -- where @U2 turns the spotlight on you!

(Each month, @U2 puts a spotlight on U2 fans with our "Question of the Month." We pose a question to our readers and invite answers of 200 words or less. If you're interested in taking part, check our home page to see if the current question is still open. If not, check back shortly after the beginning of next month and we'll have another question ready to be answered!)

Rick LeBlanc: U2 toured more! Especially in Boston. Oh and make like Wayne Newton, ugh dare I say Celine and Cher.... park yourself in Vegas for a month!

Matthew Middendorf: I wish U2 would put out and album of live cover songs. The ones I've heard are killer. I'd like to hear more.

Katrina Carmichael: I would love it if U2 would stop worrying about irrelevance and keep in mind that Bono's voice, the band's sound, their songs and the passion is still very relevant.

I would love it if U2 would create another masterpiece album without taking a new direction with the style of their music. It seems just a matter of deep reflection into "sentiment" and a realization of what exactly has been the maintainer of U2 relevancy over the years!

I just want them to get in the studio and let their incredible talent take its course and create another masterpiece!

Kevin Orr: I wish U2 would be guests on American Idol.

John Forst Release the unseen footage from Rattle And Hum. Make the Tempe and Denver concerts available on audio and video.

Scott Terrell: I would love it if U2 would visit me at my house and have dinner with my family and I. Cool. ;)

Kevin Brearey: I am a long-time reader of @U2 but I generally don't participate in forums (other than lurking) because I don't always feel I have much to add to the discussion. However, with this month's question of the month, I feel compelled to respond. "I would love if U2 would..." opens the door to many possibilities whether they be wish lists of songs fans would love the band to play at their concerts, or special edition releases of albums that have not yet been released (in the same vein as the recent Achtung Baby release. My wish, however, is more toward the band's extracurricular political activities.

I understand the band has always been political and I can appreciate the worthiness of their causes. However, I feel these politics have really taken more of a front seat as of late in their concerts and it is getting in the way of the enjoyability of their shows. I know that a lot of people will disagree with me, but I really feel the politics are more of a distraction now than an enhancement as they were in the Achtung Baby/ZooTV days.

I think the band has made their point with their political views. Everyone knows how Bono feels about Africa and the importance of helping the people living there. I am completely in favor of him and the band continuing these activities. I just wish they would keep it out of their shows. I would love for them to do a more stripped-down concert that is not the multi-media extravaganza they continue to trek out, laden with the political and social views of the band members. I would rather the band focus on the music and put on a good concert just showcasing the band and the songs. Make the information about their favorite causes available in the concourses of the venues at which these shows are staged. Make it available to the people who are interested in that sort of thing, don't beat the fans over the head with it.

I'd be a happy man if the band can just face the fact that they will never top the ZooTV experience, and discontinue trying to recreate/top it. That was the pinnacle of the audio/visual concert experience for me and, I feel, for the band. Let's just have a show with very minimal lighting and effects where the band just comes out and plays their songs and allows those great songs to be the stars of the show. No frills; no politics.

Luis Miranda: … get off the grid.

Gustav Rydström: I would love it if U2 fans all over the world told Bono to become more physically active and to get a new haircut. =)

Brandon Roy: I would love it if U2 played "Acrobat" live. It's about time.

Luciano Nogueira: I would love it if U2 take the 360º stage on different design, like something post-apocalyptic with structure that survived from some kind of nuclear attack. New songs and new environment with new gas to me (a fan) and to the dirty world.

Erin Sutera:Would come make my dream come true and perform at my birthday party. My bday is in July.

Joey Visser: I would love it if U2 came up with a vote system for every concert. Only people who live in the country where the concert will be performed would have access to the voting system. I think every country has it own specific lovely song ("One Tree Hill" for NZ for example), and it would be great if "Hawkmoon 269" would come back to Amsterdam!

Barb Macey: I would love it if U2 made a Christmas album, with songs written by them.

Fred Gliddon: - pursued the Songs of Ascent project.
- worked out a deal with XM/Sirius for a U2 (all U2 or at least influenced by U2 ) satellite radio station.
- did a Rock Band video game.
- never dabbled on Broadway or in movie soundtracks again.
- did MTV (are they still on the air?) Unplugged.
- never took a show the size of U2360 into an indoor arena with poor acoustics (like the Georgia Dome) again.
- went back to the All That You Can't Leave Behind styleshow for their next tour.

Anna: Would come to Chrysler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan after they release their next album. The sooner, the better!

Jack: I would love it if U2...gave original Propaganda members extra special perks. (I am member #714.)

Els Bodifee: I would love it if U2 would… finally release a new album!

Patrick O’Neill: I would love it if U2… Did an indoor concert tour where in advance they conduct a fan poll of what songs should be played at the concert (I wouldn’t mind hearing "A Day Without Me" again live). They have such a great list of songs over the past 30 years and many loyal fans who followed them every step of the way (me), and some that they lost along the way (my brother). This would be a great "Thank You" from U2 and would bring old and new fans together for one the best nights of their lives. It would also take a lot of pressure of the band trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t work with their early fans and newer ones. Just let U2 do what they do best… Play their music live, and entertain their fans (no real need for an over-the-top stage). This would allow U2 relax and enjoy the reaction of the fans for an unforgettable tour.

Jane Pruett: I would love it if U2 could have dinner at our home, humble as it is, but it would be a trip. Maybe throw a salmon on the grill.

Traci Pollard: I’d love it if U2 released an album already!

I waited patiently for The Boys
They reclined and said they'd try
I began to fear that they had quit
But they began to play.

I want to sing… sing some new songs.
I want to sing… sing some new songs.

How long, to hear some new songs?
How long, to hear some new songs?
How long? How long? How long? How long?
To hear some new songs.

They put their hearts into rock,
and made my fire burn.
Many will see.
Many will see and hear.

Bono please…
Sing some new songs.
Bono please… sing some new songs songs.

How long, how long, how long, how long
To hear some new songs?

(c) @U2/individual contributors above, 2012.

Here at @U2, one of the things we're most proud of is the original content we provide, created exclusively by our staff. In case you missed any of it in April, the highlights are posted here:

Kelley Eskridge and Idaliisa Partanen kicked off the month by revealing the answers to the March Question of the Month, which asked fans, "In 10 words or less, what does U2’s music mean to you, or how does it make you feel?"

In our weekly Off the Record column, Matt McGee announced the fifth worldwide @U2 fan survey, while Sherry Lawrence talked about attending her first U2charist. Later in the month, Ian Ryan contemplated the potential of U2 album apps, and Becky Myers discussed U2 historical moments in the month of April. Aaron Govern closed out the month by expressing relief at how quiet U2 has become on the promotional front.

Our popular "Like a Song" series continued with an essay about "Vertigo" by Tim Neufeld. We had two “Like a Video” pieces this month: the first about “One” on ZooTV: Live From Sydney by Christopher Endrinal; the second about “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” by Gary Boas. The "U2 Lists" piece for this month was authored by Tassoula E. Kokkoris, who formulated her Top 5 Essential U2 Books.

We were also treated to a spring edition of Achtoon Baby by Kelly Eddington.

To leave feedback on any of these @U2 originals, please visit our forum.

Here at @U2, one of the things we're most proud of is the original content we provide, created exclusively by our staff. In case you missed any of it in April, the highlights are posted here:

Kelley Eskridge and Idaliisa Partanen kicked off the month by revealing the answers to the March Question of the Month, which asked fans, "In 10 words or less, what does U2’s music mean to you, or how does it make you feel?"

In our weekly Off the Record column, Matt McGee announced the fifth worldwide @U2 fan survey, while Sherry Lawrence talked about attending her first U2charist. Later in the month, Ian Ryan contemplated the potential of U2 album apps, and Becky Myers discussed U2 historical moments in the month of April. Aaron Govern closed out the month by expressing relief at how quiet U2 has become on the promotional front.

Our popular "Like a Song" series continued with an essay about "Vertigo" by Tim Neufeld. We had two “Like a Video” pieces this month: the first about “One” on ZooTV: Live From Sydney by Christopher Endrinal; the second about “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” by Gary Boas. The "U2 Lists" piece for this month was authored by Tassoula E. Kokkoris, who formulated her Top 5 Essential U2 Books.

To leave feedback on any of these @U2 originals, please visit our forum.