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Yeah, it’s on the street, it’s under your feet
It’s everywhere but if you’re looking for free
Don’t look at me
My enemy became my country
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Tears falling from the sky, falling to the ground
Bullets start to fly
He’s hurt, he’s in the dirt
On my word
Don’t want to run away
I’m safer in my father’s place
I know that I can’t stay
But if I stay, I know what’s next
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Free
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Free
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Free, free
It’s everywhere but if you’re looking for free
Don’t look at me
My enemy became my country
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Tears falling from the sky, falling to the ground
Bullets start to fly
He’s hurt, he’s in the dirt
On my word
Don’t want to run away
I’m safer in my father’s place
I know that I can’t stay
But if I stay, I know what’s next
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Free
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Free
On the run
Officer put down the gun
Native son
I never wanted to own one
Native son
Both of us want to be someone
It’s so hard
Is it so hard for a native son to be free
Free, free
Lyrics submitted by Squirrly
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Was it due to the corporate greed of Apple? I think not. It was caused by the totalitarian government of America.
i mean vertigo rocks but this is a million times better
the lyrics are so much deeper
much better lyrical content
and the solo is a lot cooler also
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.
This song is imo about gun control, like they've decided they want bullet the blue sky to be about now, it kinda feels like a soft version of bullet the blue sky to me, which is probably why they canned it.
If anyone wants to hear it it can be downloaded off of itunes under the complete u2.