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I'm 'round the corner from anything that's real
I'm across the road from hope
I'm under a bridge in a rip tide
That's taken everything I call my own
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
I'm on an island at a busy intersection
I can't go forward, I can't turn back
Can't see the future
It's getting away from me
I just watch the tail lights glowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
Knowing, knowing
I'm hanging out to dry
With my old clothes
Finger still red with the prick of an old rose
Well the heart that hurts
Is a heart that beats
Can you hear the drummer slowing?
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
To knowing, to knowing, to knowing
I'm across the road from hope
I'm under a bridge in a rip tide
That's taken everything I call my own
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
I'm on an island at a busy intersection
I can't go forward, I can't turn back
Can't see the future
It's getting away from me
I just watch the tail lights glowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
Knowing, knowing
I'm hanging out to dry
With my old clothes
Finger still red with the prick of an old rose
Well the heart that hurts
Is a heart that beats
Can you hear the drummer slowing?
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
To knowing, to knowing, to knowing
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--This is about LOVE--
I’m ‘round the corner from anything that’s real
I’m across the road from hope
I’m under a bridge in a rip tide
That’s taken everything I call my own
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
--This is about the realization that it's LOVE--
I’m on an island at a busy intersection
I can’t go forward, I can’t turn back
Can’t see the future
It’s getting away from me
I just watch the tail lights glowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
Knowing, knowing
--This is about his FEAR--
I’m hanging out to dry
With my old clothes
Finger still red with the prick of an old rose
Well the heart that hurts
Is a heart that beats
Can you hear the drummer slowing?
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
One step closer to knowing
To knowing, to knowing, to knowing
Anyway, about a month back, I decided to put all the U2 albums onto my MP3 player and I think I don't think I'd ever heard "One Step Closer" up until a few weeks ago. I was actually walking round an art gallery when it came on and I just knew instantly, that it was one of those really special U2 songs. They seem to have an uncanny knack of releasing an album like "How to Dismantle A Nuclear Bomb" or like with the track "Grace" that was tucked away at end of "All You Can't Leave Behind" which are so subtle and understated but, certainly, as far I'm concerned, after the initial excitement of the big songs on the album like "Vertigo" have subsided, it's tracks like "One Step Closer" that leave such a profound impact that will be with you, probably for as long as you live. That's how I feel about it anyway.
Maybe it's a wee bit obsessive but I think, in the next 4 or 5 days after I must have listened to it at least 60 or 70 times. The lyrics are so poignant and like other people have commented, I was curious to the reference to Noel Galagher in the sleeve notes, but it makes sense in relation to the death of Noel's father.
I think that it's one of those song's that could be interpretated by different individuals to mean something quite unique to each listener. I suppose, ultimately, it is a song about life and that uncertainty that we all experience, when you don't have the answers and the fear of what might lie ahead, whether that is someone who is in the last stage of their life or trying to struggling with being unable to put your faith in something that doesn't make any sense, it's just a song about life!
I definately think that the final verse delivers such a powerful and positive message, cause if you're heart can still feel hurt, then you're still alive and it's never to late to find inner peace.
Anyway, about a month back, I decided to put all the U2 albums onto my MP3 player and I think I don't think I'd ever heard "One Step Closer" up until a few weeks ago. I was actually walking round an art gallery when it came on and I just knew instantly, that it was one of those really special U2 songs. They seem to have an uncanny knack of releasing an album like "How to Dismantle A Nuclear Bomb" or like with the track "Grace" that was tucked away at end of "All You Can't Leave Behind" which are so subtle and understated but, certainly, as far I'm concerned, after the initial excitement of the big songs on the album like "Vertigo" have subsided, it's tracks like "One Step Closer" that leave such a profound impact that will be with you, probably for as long as you live. That's how I feel about it anyway.
Maybe it's a wee bit obsessive but I think, in the next 4 or 5 days after I must have listened to it at least 60 or 70 times. The lyrics are so poignant and like other people have commented, I was curious to the reference to Noel Galagher in the sleeve notes, but it makes sense in relation to the death of Noel's father.
I think that it's one of those song's that could be interpretated by different individuals to mean something quite unique to each listener. I suppose, ultimately, it is a song about life and that uncertainty that we all experience, when you don't have the answers and the fear of what might lie ahead, whether that is someone who is in the last stage of their life or trying to struggling with being unable to put your faith in something that doesn't make any sense, it's just a song about life!
I definately think that the final verse delivers such a powerful and positive message, cause if you're heart can still feel hurt, then you're still alive and it's never to late to find inner peace.
Powerful imagery. He can't see the future becuase he's has no future (in this life anyway). Yet, everyone else continues on with there busy lives.
This is one of the greatest lines ever to appear in a song. The singer hurts, which means that he's still alive. The fact that he feels the pain means that things aren't as bad as they could be. He still lives. But just as that starts to set in, Bono slaps us with another harsh reality: he won't be alive for much longer. He's still dying.
I think it points to a greater truth, which is that pain is a part of life. To be free of pain is to be dead and that time will eventually come for all of us.
This is one of the greatest lines ever to appear in a song. The singer hurts, which means that he's still alive. The fact that he feels the pain means that things aren't as bad as they could be. He still lives. But just as that starts to set in, Bono slaps us with another harsh reality: he won't be alive for much longer. He's still dying.
I think it points to a greater truth, which is that pain is a part of life. To be free of pain is to be dead and that time will eventually come for all of us.