It's the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was shot to death as he stood on the balcony of a Memphis, Tenn., motel at the age of 39.

And the Albuquerque Journal's arts guy Dan Mayfield reminds us of "Pride (In the Name of Love)," written for U2's 1984 album "The Unforgettable Fire" to honor King.

Here's Dan:

"It might just be urban myth, but apparently the Youtube.com servers and U2's Web site get flooded every April 4 with people wanting to hear the song 'Pride' by U2.

"The original song mentions, though not by name, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His message of love is echoed in Bono's verses.

"This version, from the U2 concert film 'Rattle and Hum' is one of my favorite versions of this song.

"When Bono sings 'Early morning, April 4, shot rings out in the Memphis sky...' and 'For the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sing!' you can feel the love in the crowd."

Actually King was shot after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, and Bono later acknowledged the error and in later live performances he would change the first line of the last verse to "Early evening ...," according to Wikipedia's article on the song. 

Here's the link from "Rattle and Hum."

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