Lyrics for Vertigo as interpreted by Lyra

Vertigo Lyrics
Unos dos tres catorce!

Lights go down, it’s dark
The jungle is your head
Can’t rule your heart
A feeling is so much stronger than
A thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can’t be bought
Your mind can wander

Hello hello
I’m at a place called Vertigo
It’s everything I wish I didn’t know
Except you give me something I can feel, feel

The night is full of holes
As bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle as the
Boys play rock and roll
They know they can’t dance
At least they know

I can’t stand the beats
I’m asking for the cheque
The girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus round her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music
Oh oh oh oh

Hello hello
I’m at a place called Vertigo
It’s everything I wish I didn’t know
But you give me something I can feel, feel

Check mated
Oh yeah
Hours of fun

All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours

All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want and no-one gets hurt

Hello hello
We’re at a place called Vertigo
Lights go down and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how, how to kneel
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

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loverman
01-18-2005

Rated 0 
i know what you mean graceofeden2002, all the old songs used to have oblique reefrences to sex, lesbiansim, transvestites, suicide and death and stuff like that but now they're mellow. happy. older. should i get this album? i've ehard the single and it's not to my taste. tell me people.

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Lyra
01-18-2005

Rated 0 
Well, I'm not too crazy about vertigo either, but I liked the album, the rest of the songs go a different way imho... You can always wait for the second single to come out and then make up your mind.

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mishmeister
01-18-2005

Rated 0 
The other tracks on the album are completely different than Vertigo. Vertigo really stands out.

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loiamve
01-18-2005

Rated 0 
sorry but unos dos tres catorce is kinda dumb, i mean if they're trying to say 1 2 3 4, they did a really bad job.

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mishmeister
01-18-2005

Rated 0 
I think the counting makes sense. It kind of ties in with the whole idea of the song. The insecurity of life and how things can jump exponentially.

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SPW
01-19-2005

Rated 0 
I had a good laugh when I read some of the reasons why they would say "1,2,3,14" in the beginning :-)
Personally I believe this is only to improve dynamics and rhythm of the song. Try to sing "uno, dos, tres, cuatro"! This totally breaks the flow. Therefore they use "un" instead of "uno" (usually "un" is only used before male substantives, e.g. un vino) and "catorce" (14) simply sounds much better than "cuatro" (4).

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L-Kyne
01-23-2005

Rated 0 
lolol U2 blows.

To the idiots going on about 1 2 3 14, he says 14 cos thats how many albums theyve released. Tryhard pretentious bullshit.

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Setubalense
01-25-2005

Rated 0 
Hello, hello!!
I’m at a place called Vertigo !!

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kaitlin
01-25-2005

Rated 0 
i agree with all the people who have said that this song lacks the usual deep lyrics of U2. However, this song is fun to listen to and puts me in a great mood, its something about the music...

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Unchivalrous
01-28-2005

Rated 0 
This song basically means that U2 got asked to write a song for the IPOD commercial, and they just wrote the most random lyrics they could possibly find. I bet some spanish girl was shaking her butt at a strip club and Bono's all like "OMFG!!1!1111! WE HAVE TO WRITE A SPANISH SONG WITH LIKE THE MOST BASIC SPANISH WORDS, AND I DONT EVEN THINK THEY HAVE TO MAKE SENSE JUST AS LONG AS WE SOUND INTELLECT" So all they did was throw in a bunch of random lyrics that don't make any sense, and then wala. They got a perfect iPod commercial tune, and a stupid 350 dollar 20gig iPod, that i could've had custom painted for less myself. Personally, all this song is - is one that gets on your head for ever and ever.

Bono needs to get hit by a truck, immediately. IM me on Unchivalrous if you think differently >:o

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crimsonnails
01-30-2005

Rated 0 
I saw an interview with Bono on television and he said that Vertigo is about being in a club and the music is bad and you're around people you don't want to be around and you see a woman with a cross and you concentrate on it and you find salvation in her cross. Also Vertigo to Bono is the sensation of being dizzy and such.
That's what he said. I can't believe people say that this song sucks because it doesn't!! What is wrong with the people?! The did not write this at a strip club. You have the understand the meaning. I can completely relate to this song. And you know what they didn't sell out with iPod!

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splitsecond
01-30-2005

Rated 0 
its really sad that this is the u2 song with the most comments...

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FightingLee
02-02-2005

Rated 0 
ubersheep: nice name dick head.

I would attempt an explanation here to inform you why U2 is the greatest band in the world, but seeing as how you are a music major, you probably can't comprehend any words with more than two syllables. I've probably already lost you. Nice attempt to sound intelligent with labeling U2 music as linear, name some rock songs that aren't. Linear is not bad anyway, much of classical music is linear, and in fact almost all western music is linear by definition. Its sad, but this just proves my point. A physics major knows music better than a "soon to be music major." Enlighten us some more oh shit for brains music major. Maybe you can fire out some more music jargon from your next music class and persuade as to why U2's music is poorly written. Its a rock song shit face. Get a clue. I am right and you are wrong. By the way, go get a real education and not some degree that amounts to nothing more you becoming an asshole music teacher with his thumb up his ass. Music is a love and passion. It is a hobby and skill that one can acquire and practice and you will never even make enough to pay off your tuition. Try some real classes and leave music to those who know, compose, and love it. Dick head.

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Montrose
02-02-2005

Rated 0 
Unchivalrous
The song was written before the IPod deal. And I have to repeat, and keep repeating, that U2 received $0 for those advertisements. They once were offered $25mil to have one of their songs used in a car ad, and refused. They took this deal to help promote their music to a younger crowd, and lend their support to legal downloads. That's it.

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learn2kneel
02-03-2005

Rated 0 
i have a different view on the unos, dos, tres, catorce opening. unos when used in front of a group of numbers can mean "about"... the rest of the numbers reference Exodus (2nd book of the bible) 3:14 -- which reads:

God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

If you open the CD booklet for HTDAAB:DE you'll notice this verse is written on the opening page ...It is also referenced in All Because of You where he sings "All because of you, I Am." (This made clear in the booklet) Also in the original language, Hebrew, the word for I Am is Yahweh, sound familiar? Thats because its the ending song to the album. I really think just like the Jer 3:33 reference in ATYCLB that Bono is saying this album is about Exodus 3:14 in the opening song.

About the song's lyric in general, i think its about seeking God's love so you can learn2kneel during temptation, the "all this can be yours" 3 times is Satan talking to Jesus in the desert.

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radspiffy
02-03-2005

Rated 0 
why does bono say "uno dos tres catource"? it makes no sense! and what the &%$# does "turn it up loud captain" mean

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FightingLee
02-03-2005

Rated 0 
learn2kneel
You know, that is about the most intelligent analysis of this song that I have seen on this poor page. It’s actually quite ingenious. It would explain the unos instead of uno. Given the focus of the Israelite nation throughout the entire album and the last song, it makes perfect sense. Yahweh, or Jehovah as commonly seen in English, is a Hebrew verb so sacred that The LORD commonly replaced it when translation took place in the bible. It is so sacred that it was a forbidden word in Hebrew, punishable by death. Yahweh is actually the first person conjugation of “to be” in Hebrew. Therefore we see, I am. It expresses the eternal nature of God. He is everlasting. How did you come up with that?

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ed_satx
02-03-2005

Rated 0 
...some many meanings....i am going with, this is describing a love for a politician (oh, let's be trendy and bash Bush here a bit more---even though I do not support that)....the politician gets elevated higher and higher beyond his compentensy (seems to explain the vertigo, huh?), during his campaigning, delegation, inauguration, etc, there are bands, girls all dolled up, etc, to where this guy is God-like and begins to believe his is the greatest, like a self fulfilling prophesy! Anyway, he begins to use this power uncontrollably, yet his followers believe in him blindly "just give me what I want, and know one gets hurt!), lastly, his followers are so engrossed in this beliefe, he has taught them to replace there own feelings and thoughts in favor of his....

...or it's about a prostitute on the top of a skyscraper

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learn2kneel
02-03-2005

Rated 0 
The Exodus 3:14 idea is from a brainstorm from me and my friend trying to find obscure references in the album. It makes a ton more since to me then the 14 albums theory (since the band has always said this is their 11th album). After we kept finding more times the verse fit into the album, we basically became convinced....

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Jbus
02-05-2005

Rated 0 
U2 is a officially a sell out now

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mishmeister
02-07-2005

Rated 0 
.....or maybe unos does tres catorce sounds better than unos does tres quatro (or however its spelled)

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kaysway87
02-10-2005

Rated 0 
hey can you guys please search for RANE, and post sum thoughts on their songs.i'd really appreciate it :) thanks! god bless~

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jenazabab
02-12-2005

Rated 0 
still don't know why it's uno, dos, tres, catorce. but learntokneel has a really cool interpretation, i think your right!

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CheeseJester20
02-15-2005

Rated 0 
yeah i like the way learn2kneel has thought out the whole exodus thing. it makes sense. but doesnt everyone know that this song is about VERTIGO. not the fear of heights, but the fear of yourself, and what is inside of you. the fear that you arent who you want to be? thats what i found myself thinking

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Diiksen
02-23-2005

Rated 0 
Have you noticed that the length of the song is 3,14!!! 3 minutes and 14 seconds…

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