| U2 – Native Son Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First off, apparently there is a book called Native Son, about a black man in 1930's Chicago that accidentally kills a white woman. This may have had an influence on the song. The lyrics are about someone who is wrongly accused of murder (maybe an associate of a gangmember?): Bullets start to fly He’s hurt, he’s in the dirt On my word I did not take his life The protaganist tries to run away, but is cornered by the law and tries to explain or talk his way out of being killed or arrested: On the run Officer put down the gun I never wanted to own one All of us want to be someone Is it so hard for a native son to be free When I hear Bono singing this song, I feel like he's writing a companion to Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son, which U2 covered as a B-side to Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Whereas Fortunate Son is about a kid avoiding Vietnam because of his rich dad's influence, Native Son could be about a kid forced into combat and then accused of killing a fellow soldier or a civilian. Also note that the original working title of this song was Full Metal Jacket, which lends credence (no pun intended) to the military scenario. |
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| U2 – Miami Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| By the way, why doesn't Adam call this song a throw away? | |
| U2 – Miami Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I hate this song, but love POP. Miami, my mammy Huh? I cannot understand why so many people like this song. Maybe there's a disproportional amount of posters that like this song. Ok, opinions vary, but usually the fans of this song hate other songs that are superior in every other way. Again, opinions vary. |
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| U2 – Is That All? Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Queue up this track and sing the lryics to The Cry to the open guitar lick. U2 had only a year between albums, with extensive touring in between. They took a musical idea written on the road (The Cry debuted in a concert in January 1981) and tried to expand it for an album that was a little short on material. By the way, I like this song. |
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| U2 – In A Little While Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I love this song. Maybe it's superficially about a hangover and maybe Bono was hungover when he wrote it. But the emotion conveyed and the sound of the music is very touching. | |
| U2 – Wild Honey Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I love this song. I don't know why U2 (or Adam, at least) consider this a throw away song. Is that because they don't think much of the song or they think it's a silly song? They must have thought it was a pretty decent song to put it on the album instead of Levitate, I Love You Like Mad or Flower Child. Come to think of it, maybe they should have thrown away Peace On Earth for one of these songs. Speaking of Flower Child, I think it has the same vibe as Wild Honey. Maybe U2 considers it a throw away song. |
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| U2 – Fast Cars Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Love the song, although I agree that Xanax And Wine is superior lyrically and musically (same verses, better chorus). You gotta give props to U2 trying a different style of music. I wonder, did Bono change the lyrics to Fast Cars to make it less about drug abuse and more about a fast life style? |
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| U2 – Heartland Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Awesome song. To think, this was the first song U2 attempted to record for The Joshua Tree, but it didn't end up on there. Thematically and sonically, it would have fit so well. | |
| U2 – Fire Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| By the way, I like to refer to that snippet as The Spark, as in "the spark that set the flame," or in this case, the Fire. | |
| U2 – Fire Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Obvious references to Revelations, but with Bono's call backs, as if it doesn't apply to him. It's interesting to note that British (European?) pressing of the LP include a snippet of an early rendition of Fire after Shadows and Tall Trees. This is missing on the American LP and all CD releases (too bad). |
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| U2 – Hallelujah Here She Comes Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I can't get a consistent storyline or POV on this song. Is it about a guy overdosing and seeing his wife/girlfriend at his funeral, realizing he's dead? Is it the wife/girlfriend that died of drugs? Or maybe it's about breaking up, perhaps due to drugs, being from different worlds. Maybe she's wearing a black dress to go to a club/party. Maybe she's cheating on him. It's been 18 years and I still can't figure it out. |
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| U2 – 40 Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Bono says they were short one song and had only half an hour of studio time left and the next band booked for the studio were banging on the doors to get in. He said they wrote it in 10 minutes, recorded it in 10 minutes, mixed it in 10 minutes and prayed over it for 10 minutes (total of 40 minutes). Maybe someone can write a few pages on the lyrics from the point of view of running out of time for their album: I waited patiently for the lord He inclined and heard my cry I will sing a new song How long to sing this song |
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| U2 – Falling at Your Feet Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Technically, not U2. It's the Million Dollar Hotel Band, which includes Bono, Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and others. | |
| U2 – Be There Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song was never released. You have to look for a bootleg. Try doing a bit torrent search for U2 - War & Unforgettable Fire Demos. Rumor has it this was from the November 1981 session with Clash producer Sandy Perlman. |
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| U2 – Cry Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Technically not on any studio album, U2 did record Is That All? for October, which is based on The Cry's guitar lick. | |
| U2 – 11 O'Clock Tick Tock Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| The live version on the Fire 12"/7" gatefold (and the German R.O.K. 12" & CD single) is much better than the Red Rocks version, in my opinion. I don't like the studio version as much because Martin Hannet's treatment of the drums is a distraction. | |
| U2 – A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I had always understood it to be about Elvis Presley, Could the lyrics it be from the POV of someone talking to Elvis, maybe Priscilla? This song is a b-side on Angel Of Harlem, which has a picture of Billy Holiday (the Angel of Harlem) on the back of the 7", 12" and CD-single sleeves. I seem to remember Elvis' picture also included on the 12" somewhere, maybe the disc label? |
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| U2 – A Day Without Me Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I, too, heard (over twenty years ago) that Bono wrote it after Ian Curtis' suicide in May 1980, but since they recorded a demo of it in the summer of 1979 (almost made it onto the U2-3 EP), it can't be true. It is about suicide, according to Bono. I think "landslide in my ego" refers to losing all self worth (it's about suicide, remember?) |
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| U2 – A Celebration Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| It was the first U2 video I saw, as well. Only I saw it on ABC's Friday Night Videos (we didn't have cable at that time). | |
| U2 – Trash, Trampoline, and the Party Girl Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I've never heard names associated with this song. Are you guys sure that Edge (or Adam) is trash, Adam is trampoline and Aislinn (Edge's then-wife) is party girl? | |
| U2 – Always Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| If you look at the Beautiful Day (Version 2) video, you'll see clips for the recording session of ATYCLB. One clip shows a whiteboard with song titles, including Beautiful Day (Always). | |
| U2 – Alex Descends Into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1 Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| According to the credits on The Fly single, this song is from the Royal Shakespeare Company's production fo A Clockwork Orange and is written by Bono and The Edge. I'm not sure if Adam or Larry had any part of the recording of this song. | |
| U2 – Smile Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Although no one has asked (yet), Smile was part of the "digital album" Unreleased & Rare, which was part of the iTunes U2 Digital Boxset "released" the same day as HTDAAB. I've heard rumors that this digitial album and/or songs are finally available for purchase (through iTunes) separate from the Digital Boxset. There are some real gems. Take a look at the tracklisting: http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/dalb001.html |
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| U2 – Love You Like Mad Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Love You Like Mad was part of the "digital album" Unreleased & Rare, which was part of the iTunes U2 Digital Boxset "released" the same day as HTDAAB. I've heard rumors that this digitial album and/or songs are finally available for purchase (through iTunes) separate from the Digital Boxset. There are some real gems. Take a look at the tracklisting: http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/dalb001.html |
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| U2 – Levitate Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Levitate was part of the "digital album" Unreleased & Rare, which was part of the iTunes U2 Digital Boxset "released" the same day as HTDAAB. I've heard rumors that this digitial album and/or songs are finally available for purchase (through iTunes) separate from the Digital Boxset. There are some real gems. Take a look at the tracklisting: http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/dalb001.html |
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