It's no secret that U2 has explored the darker side of the human spirit. In the verses of "The Fly" Bono recites a series of cynical aphorisms, some paraphrasing the words of conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. On the choruses, guitarist The Edge counters with a soaring high vocal, claiming "Love, we shine like a star tonight." At the end of the song, the guitar and the lead vocal come together with frantic energy, as the protagonist heads for the exit: "I gotta go! I'm running out of change!"
"The Fly"
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's no secret that our world is in darkness tonight
They say the sun is sometimes eclipsed by a moon
You know I don't see you when she walks in the room
It's no secret that a friend is someone who lets you help
It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else
They say a secret is something you tell one other person
So I'm telling you, child
Love, we shine like a burning star
We're falling from the sky tonight
A man will beg
A man will crawl
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly on a wall
It's no secret at all
It's no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest
It's no secret ambition bites the nails of success
Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief
All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief
Oh love
Love, we shine like a burning star
We're falling from the sky tonight
A man will rise
A man will fall
From the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
It's no secret at all
....
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie
Look, I gotta go, yeah I'm running outta change
There's a lot of things, if I could I'd rearrange
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
A singing bird in an open cage
"Walk On" is usually dedicated to the long-imprisoned political leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi. Since her release from house arrest in 2010, U2 has also dedicated the song not only to her but also to those who remain imprisoned in Burma for their political beliefs and to the work of Amnesty International.
I had never seen this video, apparently filmed in Rio de Janeiro, until researching this blog. It's almost light-hearted with lots of shots of the band signing autographs, playing soccer on the beach and of course, playing the song. Watch to the end for a glimpse of the rougher side of Rio and a brief appearance of Aung San Suu Kyi herself.
Walk On - Lyrics
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind
And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for one second you turn back
Oh no, be strong
Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't steal it
No, they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight
You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom
Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
You stay safe tonight
And I know it aches, how your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on, walk on
Home, hard to know what it is if you've never had one
Home, I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the hurt is
And I know it aches and your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on
Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you feel
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
It's only time
All that you bear
No more than a feeling on my mind
All that you see
All that you wear
All that you sense
All that you scheme
All you dress up
All that you've seen
All you create
And all that you wreck
All that you hate
I had never seen this video, apparently filmed in Rio de Janeiro, until researching this blog. It's almost light-hearted with lots of shots of the band signing autographs, playing soccer on the beach and of course, playing the song. Watch to the end for a glimpse of the rougher side of Rio and a brief appearance of Aung San Suu Kyi herself.
Walk On - Lyrics
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind
And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for one second you turn back
Oh no, be strong
Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't steal it
No, they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight
You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom
Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
You stay safe tonight
And I know it aches, how your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on, walk on
Home, hard to know what it is if you've never had one
Home, I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the hurt is
And I know it aches and your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on
Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you feel
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
It's only time
All that you bear
No more than a feeling on my mind
All that you see
All that you wear
All that you sense
All that you scheme
All you dress up
All that you've seen
All you create
And all that you wreck
All that you hate
Friday, June 17, 2011
I can't believe the news today
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Here is a signature song from U2's early days, and the video from 1983 to prove it. The band members were in their early 20s when this song was recorded. Typical of U2, it's not a love song, rather a political anthem that concludes with a religious twist, and yet it became their first international hit.
The song refers to an infamous incident during the days of Northern Irish-British conflict, when 13 Roman Catholic demonstrators were shot and killed by British troops on January 30, 1972. An investigation that began in 1998 recently concluded with the Saville report and Prime Minister David Cameron's formal apology before Parliament on June 15, 2010.
Lyrics
I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away
How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
Tonight we can be as one, tonight
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across a dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
Trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
'Cause tonight we can be as one
Tonight, tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
Sunday bloody Sunday
Wipe your blood shot eyes
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and T.V. reality
Sunday bloody Sunday
And today the millions cry
Sunday bloody Sunday
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
Sunday bloody Sunday
The real battle just begun
Sunday bloody Sunday
To claim the victory Jesus won
On a Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
Here is a signature song from U2's early days, and the video from 1983 to prove it. The band members were in their early 20s when this song was recorded. Typical of U2, it's not a love song, rather a political anthem that concludes with a religious twist, and yet it became their first international hit.
The song refers to an infamous incident during the days of Northern Irish-British conflict, when 13 Roman Catholic demonstrators were shot and killed by British troops on January 30, 1972. An investigation that began in 1998 recently concluded with the Saville report and Prime Minister David Cameron's formal apology before Parliament on June 15, 2010.
Lyrics
I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away
How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
Tonight we can be as one, tonight
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across a dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
Trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
'Cause tonight we can be as one
Tonight, tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
Sunday bloody Sunday
Wipe your blood shot eyes
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and T.V. reality
Sunday bloody Sunday
And today the millions cry
Sunday bloody Sunday
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
Sunday bloody Sunday
The real battle just begun
Sunday bloody Sunday
To claim the victory Jesus won
On a Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday, June 12, 2011
What's going to be on the set list? (SPOILER ALERT)
It's not too early to speculate on exactly what songs will be played in Miami on June 29, as the set won't change much from one concert to the next.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that the band crafts the set list like a play, with an emotional arc from beginning to climax to conclusion. There is nothing random about the order of the songs or which are chosen.
The second is technical. Each song has its own set up, including which guitars are played, the light show, what appears on the video screens, camera angles, and where the bridges move or are placed. (The bridges connect the center of the 360 stage to a huge catwalk that surrounds it.) Dozens and dozens of people behind the scenes coordinate all of this, and they all work from a set list that is difficult, but not impossible, to change in the middle of a performance.
Typical Set - U2 360 Tour, 7th Leg
(deemed reliable, but by no means guaranteed - there are always a few songs that are different)
1. Even Better Than The Real Thing
2. I Will Follow
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Mysterious Ways
6. Elevation
7. Until The End Of The World
8. All I Want Is You
9. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
10. Beautiful Day
11. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. Zooropa
14. City Of Blinding Lights
15. Vertigo
16. Crazy Tonight
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. Scarlet
19. Walk On
(Break, during which the audience screams for about 10 minutes while the band towels off, changes clothes and Adam, the bass player, probably smokes a cigarette.)
Encore(s):
20. One
21. Where The Streets Have No Name
22. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
23. With Or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender
I just realized that "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" isn't on this set list! That's because when I started this blog, I was avoiding checking out set lists as I wanted my first concert on this leg of the 360 tour to be full of surprises. Sometimes it's not fun as much fun to know what's going to happen. People who are writing online head up set list discussions with "SPOILER ALERT" to warn others not to read their posts if they don't want to know in advance what's going to be played.
But I'm writing "Explain U2 to My Mom" because if you really don't know much about the band's music, it's more fun to know what the songs are about, and understanding how they're organized is part of the experience.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that the band crafts the set list like a play, with an emotional arc from beginning to climax to conclusion. There is nothing random about the order of the songs or which are chosen.
The second is technical. Each song has its own set up, including which guitars are played, the light show, what appears on the video screens, camera angles, and where the bridges move or are placed. (The bridges connect the center of the 360 stage to a huge catwalk that surrounds it.) Dozens and dozens of people behind the scenes coordinate all of this, and they all work from a set list that is difficult, but not impossible, to change in the middle of a performance.
Typical Set - U2 360 Tour, 7th Leg
(deemed reliable, but by no means guaranteed - there are always a few songs that are different)
1. Even Better Than The Real Thing
2. I Will Follow
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Mysterious Ways
6. Elevation
7. Until The End Of The World
8. All I Want Is You
9. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
10. Beautiful Day
11. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. Zooropa
14. City Of Blinding Lights
15. Vertigo
16. Crazy Tonight
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. Scarlet
19. Walk On
(Break, during which the audience screams for about 10 minutes while the band towels off, changes clothes and Adam, the bass player, probably smokes a cigarette.)
Encore(s):
20. One
21. Where The Streets Have No Name
22. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
23. With Or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender
I just realized that "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" isn't on this set list! That's because when I started this blog, I was avoiding checking out set lists as I wanted my first concert on this leg of the 360 tour to be full of surprises. Sometimes it's not fun as much fun to know what's going to happen. People who are writing online head up set list discussions with "SPOILER ALERT" to warn others not to read their posts if they don't want to know in advance what's going to be played.
But I'm writing "Explain U2 to My Mom" because if you really don't know much about the band's music, it's more fun to know what the songs are about, and understanding how they're organized is part of the experience.
I folded to my knees...
We are in deep water with "Moment of Surrender." It's dark, intense, and moody, an addict hitting bottom as he experiences the depths of alienation and despair — yet there is always the possibility that life will change and this moment will mark a turning point. Rolling Stone magazine named "Moment of Surrender" the best song of 2009 and wikipedia has an amazingly deep analysis of the song and its origins.
U2 has selected this downbeat song to end every concert on the U2360 tour, and the audience understands that after hearing it they can ask for no more.
Moment Of Surrender
I tied myself with wire
To let the horses roam free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me
The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too smart to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day
We set ourselves on fire
Oh God, do not deny her
It’s not if I believe in love
If love believes in me
Oh, believe in me
At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body’s now a begging bowl
That’s begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
I was punching in the numbers at the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down ’til the pain would stop
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
U2 has selected this downbeat song to end every concert on the U2360 tour, and the audience understands that after hearing it they can ask for no more.
Moment Of Surrender
I tied myself with wire
To let the horses roam free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me
The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too smart to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day
We set ourselves on fire
Oh God, do not deny her
It’s not if I believe in love
If love believes in me
Oh, believe in me
At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body’s now a begging bowl
That’s begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
I was punching in the numbers at the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down ’til the pain would stop
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Extra: Beautiful Day in Seattle
On June 6, the Rachel Maddow Show featured "Beautiful Day" as the antidote to the day's daily measure of bad news. At U2's Seattle concert astronaut Mark Kelly introduced the song from the International Space Station, dedicating it to his wife, Gabby Giffords:
And here's the whole song from Seattle (fan video). Mark Kelly read the words of the song's bridge and Bono ended the song by quoting Mark's own words:
And here's the whole song from Seattle (fan video). Mark Kelly read the words of the song's bridge and Bono ended the song by quoting Mark's own words:
The more you see, the less you know
City of Blinding Lights
One of U2's most uplifting songs. Watch for how Bono plays to the camera in this video of "City of Blinding Lights," which was broadcast live on youtube to 10 million viewers and later released as a concert DVD. He takes off his glasses and looks straight into the camera, looking very vulnerable as he sings, "Can you see the beauty inside of me?" The song is said to be written about the band's first airline flight into New York City back in the early 1980s, and was often dedicated to that city's recovery after 9-11.
Lyrics
The more you see, the less you know
The less you find out as you go
I knew much more then than I do now
Neon heart day-glow eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us
And I miss you when you're not around
I'm getting ready to leave the ground
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
Don't look before you laugh
Look ugly in a photograph
Flash bulbs purple irises
The camera can't see
I've seen you walk unafraid
I've seen you in the clothes you made
Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?
And I miss you when you're not around
I'm getting ready to leave the ground
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
Time...time...time...time...time
Won't leave me as I am
But time won't take the boy out of this man
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
The more you know the less you feel
Some pray for others steal
Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel... luckily
One of U2's most uplifting songs. Watch for how Bono plays to the camera in this video of "City of Blinding Lights," which was broadcast live on youtube to 10 million viewers and later released as a concert DVD. He takes off his glasses and looks straight into the camera, looking very vulnerable as he sings, "Can you see the beauty inside of me?" The song is said to be written about the band's first airline flight into New York City back in the early 1980s, and was often dedicated to that city's recovery after 9-11.
Lyrics
The more you see, the less you know
The less you find out as you go
I knew much more then than I do now
Neon heart day-glow eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us
And I miss you when you're not around
I'm getting ready to leave the ground
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
Don't look before you laugh
Look ugly in a photograph
Flash bulbs purple irises
The camera can't see
I've seen you walk unafraid
I've seen you in the clothes you made
Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?
And I miss you when you're not around
I'm getting ready to leave the ground
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
Time...time...time...time...time
Won't leave me as I am
But time won't take the boy out of this man
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights
The more you know the less you feel
Some pray for others steal
Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel... luckily
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