WIDE AWAKE (BAD: THE SONG THAT SAVED MY LIFE)

BAD: THE SONG THAT SAVED MY LIFE

Some songs are so striking on your first listen that they immediately make you sit up as they command all your attention.

Little Richard's 'Tutti Fruitti,' Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog,' Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A Changin'' and The Beatles' 'All You Need Is Love' fall into that category.

Similarly, Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now,' The Rolling Stones' 'Gimme Shelter,' Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' David Bowie's 'Life On Mars,' and Bob Marley's 'Redemption Song'.

You could add to the list as well The Police's 'Every Breath You Take,' Talking Heads' 'Once In A Lifetime,' Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA,' New Order's 'Blue Monday,' Prince's 'Purple Rain,' Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' and Oasis' 'Wonderwall'.

There are, of course, many, many more songs that qualify from artists like.The Who, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Black Sabbath, The Sex Pistols, ABBA, The Undertones, The Jam, Blondie, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Dolly Parton, The Specials, The Smiths, The Pogues, Crowded House, Simple Minds, Nirvana, Public Enemy, Blur, The Arctic Monkeys and many more.

Great acts like those tend to not have just one defining song in their arsenal.

They tend to have several and that is certainly true of U2.

Ib recent years, there may have been one hell of a  backlash against the band but no can deny thar'With or Without You,' 'One,' 'Pride (In The Name of Love),' 'Where The Streets Have No Name' or 'Beautiful Day' are stone cold classics.

These songs command a lot of airplay to this day but diehard U2 fans also put a lot of store in 'Bad' - a song on 'The Unforgettable Fire' album that really took flight when performed live, most notably at Live Aid.

Now the extraordinary story behind that fan favourite is captured in a compelling Irish television documentary from Maurice Sweeney -  'Bad: The Song That Saved My Life'.

'Bad' is a song about heroin addiction - specifically the addiction that almost swallowed up U2 lead singer Bono's friend and childhood neighbour, Andy 'Guck' Rowan.

Featuring interviews with Rowan, his siblings and friends including the U2 frontman, the documentary is a poignant and compelling study of addiction - the root causes of it and the terrible cost it extracts.

But it is also a tale of salvation.

Over the course of 70 minutes, we learn that Rowan, whose brother Guggi is an accomplished artist and member of the Avant Garde band, the Virgin Prunes, was raised in a strict Protestant home with a domineering father.

Extremely bright, he had an ability to amass and recall an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge and could regale friends with stories and poems.

However in his teenage years, he fell into drug addiction, becoming hooked on heroin and crack cocaine.

Tattoos covered up the marks on his body where he injected heroin.

Rowan's addiction and the traumas that triggered it left a lasting impression on Bono who struggled to help his friend.

Not only does 'Bad' focus on an overdose Rowan experienced but U2's lead singer also wrote 'Running To Stand Still' on 'The Joshua Tree' album about his addiction.

'Raised By Wolves' on U2's much maligned 'Songs of Innocence' album also deals with a childhood trauma that undoubtedly impacted Rowan - witnessing as a young boy the carnage caused by three Ulster Volunteer Force car bombs in Dublin city centre in May 1974.

What emerges in Sweeney's film is a frank but very touching account of one man's struggle with drug addiction.

Rowan is a compelling storyteller and is complemented by equally impressive insights from Guggi, Bono and others.

The documentary also tackles its grim subject with verve and imagination.

Sweeney not only has an ear for a good anecdote but a good eye for a striking image - mixing archive effectively with animation, visual effects and impressively framed off the cuff images.

'Bad: The Song That Saved My Life' is so impressively told, it really does justice to an extraordinary song.

It deserves to be seen beyond an Irish television audience.

Hopefully, the film will get the international audience it deserves.

('Bad: The Song That Saved My Life' was broadcast on RTE1 in Ireland on June 15, 2026 and was also made available for streaming on the RTE Player)