Lyrics for New Year's Day as interpreted by archmastermind

New Year's Day Lyrics
Yeah

All is quiet on New Year's day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you, be with you, night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's day

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered, black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true, it's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

I, I will begin again
I, I will begin again

Yeah, ohhh

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah

Ah, maybe the time is right
Oh, maybe tonight

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we're told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's day
On New Year's day

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 65 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
newest first     Expand All
BonoVox87
03-06-2006

Rated 0 
The USA remix on the Two Hearts Beat As One single is a great alternate version.

Log in to reply
Anne Marie
02-21-2006

Rated 0 
U2takemehigher, I think the line 'This is a golden age but gold is the reason for the wars we rage' means:

This age gives us (the western world anyway) everything we want. Because of the wealth in this age, it's called the Golden age. But it's a fact that people also fight and start wars for this wealth, so it's kind of our blessing AND our doom.

Log in to reply
paulob
01-19-2006

Rated 0 
retards read the lyrics and if you can not tell what this song is about you should all be shot

Log in to reply
notworthit88
01-01-2006

Rated 0 
Well Happy frekin New Year Day people lol yeah I don't know what this song means or what it means to me but I like the lines "I will be with you again" cause to me that shows a guy that is really dedicated to his relationship and doesn't want to let it go just my two cents

I was sooo here*****

Log in to reply
daddio
07-12-2005

Rated 0 
http://www.u2.com/news/index.php?mode=full&news_id=1634

"It was one of those great U2 moments. Five songs into their set in Poland’s southern Chorzow city stadium, Edge’s piano signalled the start of New Year’s Day –a song originally inspired by Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement to free Poland from communism. Suddenly all the fans on the pitch raised flags and scarves in red – while all the fans in the seats around the stadium brandished white flags and scarves"

Log in to reply
CroneCircus
06-30-2005

Rated 0 
Sigh...This song isn't about something abstract or inner-turmoil or spiritualism or any of that garbage. Its about the Eastern Front in WWII written from the perspective of a Soviet Red Army soldier writing to a loved one. For those of you who received the public school version of History where we were force fed the Civil Rights Movement at the cost of learning about WWI and WWII, allow me to translate...

"All is quiet on New Year's day
A world in white gets underway"

This refers to the fact that the Russian Winter e.g. "A world in white" is synonymous with the Eastern Front.

"Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered, black and white"

The first line is a reference to the fact that this part of the war was primarily fought in the USSR...a communist country under Joseph Stalin.

The second line refers to the fact that in 1941, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, they were unprepared for winter fighting and wore primarily grey and black uniforms whereas the Soviets who were fighting on their home turf wore white snow cammouflage.

"Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true, it's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one"

This is a reference to Soviet propaganda. Things looked bleak for the Soviets at the end of 1941 as the country was split into two fronts in the north and south. In the north, the German Wehrmacht was at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad was cut off and under seige. In the south, the Axis were driving toward Stalingrad. Despite this, the newspapers, actually just one "Pravda" kept proclaiming that the Red Army was resisting (which they were) and that the great push to drive the Germans back was coming. But, as the song and the soldier laments, "nothing changes on New Year's Day."

BTW...The little boy on the album cover for War is from a Soviet Propaganda film about a Russian boy who becomes a Partisan (guerilla) fighter against the Germans.

Log in to reply
MonkeyGirl75
04-06-2005

Rated 0 
I hate to be argumentative, but isn't this about the New Year's Day civil rights march from Belfast to Derry in 1969, which sparked off the modern Northern Ireland Troubles?

Log in to reply
Canada
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
How about this? My losing weight analogy was probably not a wise one. But maybe on the day before Christmas vacation I could have an F in one of my classes, and then on New Year's Day, suddenly all that is wiped out and all my poor test grades are discarded. Maybe that would be nice if the world worked like that.

Log in to reply
Canada
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
The problem with this song is that it's taking a belief in a new day/a new year and totally exaggerating what that means. Of course nothing changes on New Year's Day if you're talking about the dead or old hurts. People don't suddenly come back to life, pain doesn't all of a sudden disappear. It's a fresh start but that's really just a way of being optimistic and saying "I will change, I will put the past behind me". Change is a very personal thing and on top of that it doesn't come about over night. That is obvious and there has never been anyone stating otherwise. For example, World War II. Do you think people just woke up one day and found themselves being persecuted or persecuting others? It's a very gradual process. This song is saying that you don't just wake up on New Year's Day and all of a sudden it's "The Golden Age" or all of a sudden it's "The Renaissance". Actually, isn't every new year a renaissnace in a sense. Anyway, no duh. It's like saying "Tomorrow I'm going to suddenly drop fifty pounds". Yeah right. So is this song saying that when people do nothing they shouldn't expect something in return? Or is it saying that this world sucks because nothing ever changes on New Year's Day? I've been thinking it's the latter in which case it would be a pointless song because of course nothing happens at the drop of a hat. If that was the case then wouldn't life be just grand all around? If that was the case then we'd be living in Shangri-La.

Log in to reply
thisfuckingsong
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
that's a big opinion for someone who can't spell. but song'meanings' could mean that the song means to that person, perhaps? also the two people up there who tried to comment on new years day, ahahaha jan 2nd, worst luck.and my view is that just because it's new years day and we're supposed to be celebrating, it doesn't mean that wars are going to end and bad things will stop happening for that day, or that with the new year everything starts afresh and gets a new chance, just because it's new years it doesnt mean he's going to get over someone and it doesn't mean that we're all going to make resolutions to change ourselves and change the world

Log in to reply
jbj_42
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
theres some good stuff said already. calm in the eye of the storm, yeah i felt that one. and also there is a certian poland link. sure there is a love song part aswell. but given the date and the fact since the 1 of the 1 the first couple a lines have been staining my mind ill go with what i got... theyre, as well as all the other gear, pointing out that new years day isnt really anything big, its just a day. nothing really happens. after all, our calander is based on somthing that is verry possibly a total myth.
id also like to add in how badly it shits me to see ppl who post "this is a great song" and "i herd it raving" i mean, no personal attack but, songmeanings.net not trivialeventsandopinionsonsongs.net

Log in to reply
Iamthegirl
01-02-2005

Rated 0 
This song is ..... very real. Yeah, real is a good word because its how I feel. I know i can begin again, but i still want some things in my life to stay the same.

Log in to reply
IWishYouWereHere
01-02-2005

Rated 0 
i think it's about how everyone's unsure about the new year and no one knows what to make of it

Log in to reply
moggybreath
01-02-2005

Rated 0 
hehehe, i've never really listened much to the verses of this cos i've only ever heard it mixed as a rave song. it makes a really good rave song too, they played it about 3am at utopia and everyone went nuts!!

Log in to reply
albanyankee
01-02-2005

Rated 0 
The song's original inspiration was the Solidarity movement in Poland, but this being a U2 song there's more to it than that. There's a strong apocalyptic element to the whole affair. (Remember all the trepidation we experienced leading up to New Year's Y2K? Remember how silly we all felt when nothing happened?) I think the "you" in the song is God and the singer is impatient to be with Him again. The bit about "arms entwine the chosen few" could refer to the Christian idea of the Rapture, in which at the end of the world the righteous are translated from earth to the presence of God in heaven. The singer continues to wait for that new beginning, but God hasn't yet brought it about, so he is left in this world where "gold is the reason for the wars we wage." This element of waiting (im)patiently for God to regenerate humanity and bring peace (Though torn in two/We can be one) appears throughout the War album (e.g. "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Drowning Man", "40") and throughout U2's entire catalog. Yes, it's also a love song, but it becomes much more powerful when the lover is God.

Log in to reply
Sexual Incision
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
Me Too! New Years Day

Log in to reply
Sexual Incision
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
Me Too! New Years Day

Log in to reply
Bertxx
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
i shall comment on new years and be cool. :)

Log in to reply
sunskateboarder
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
I will begin again. That says a lot: maybe nothing changes on new year's day in the sense that you wake up and you are still the same person in the same body, in the same place, same job, same friends, same family. But the beauty of being human is that you can always begin again, no matter what it is you are beginning. It could be about love and brushing yourself off if you need it, or even looking at your current love and being refreshed. But it can be also that no matter what fucked up things we have done to ourselves in this world/global economy, if we really wanted, we could begin again or begin to make the changes that we need to make. But by being inert, nothing will ever change.

Log in to reply
Lexy1820
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
what great lyrics..."i will be with you again, nothing changes on new years day" it definetly has something to do with people wanting to make amends and change starting for a new year but in the end they're still the same

Log in to reply
happygonuts
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
happy new years day!

Log in to reply
camil
12-30-2004

Rated 0 
hugh U2 fan , I 2 like new year's day ! & has always been 1 0f my fav(es.). How many have the new vertigo though title track rox Camil . ;)

Log in to reply
camil
12-30-2004

Rated 0 
hugh U2 fan , I 2 like new year's day ! & has always been 1 0f my fav(es.). How many have the new vertigo though title track rox Camil . ;)

Log in to reply
camil
12-30-2004

Rated 0 
hugh U2 fan , I 2 like new year's day ! & has always been 1 0f my fav(es.). How many have the new vertigo though title track rox Camil . ;)

Log in to reply
Ambular_rox
12-30-2004

Rated 0 
i first heard htis song a few days into the new year some years ago now, and that new years eve, my car had been broken into and smashed up, and i was highly aware of the war issues, so this song had some irony in it and pain...and it brought me to discover the wonders of U2...this and Sunday Bloody Sunday...

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here