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I don't know you
And you don't know the half of it
I had a starring role
I was the bad guy who walked out
They said be careful where you aim
'Cause where you aim you just might hit
You can hold onto something so tight
You've already lost it
Dragging me down
That's not the way it used to be
You can't even remember
What I'm trying to forget
It was a dirty day
Dirty day
You're looking for explanations
I don't even understand
If you need someone to blame
Throw a rock in the air
You'll hit someone guilty
From father to son
In one life has begun
A work that's never done
Father to son
And love...it won't last kissin' time
And love...it won't last kissin' time
And love...it won't last kissin' time
Get it right
There's no blood thicker than ink
Hear what I say
Nothing's simple as you think
Wake up
Some things you can't get around
I'm in you
More so when they put me in the ground
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill...
And you don't know the half of it
I had a starring role
I was the bad guy who walked out
They said be careful where you aim
'Cause where you aim you just might hit
You can hold onto something so tight
You've already lost it
Dragging me down
That's not the way it used to be
You can't even remember
What I'm trying to forget
It was a dirty day
Dirty day
You're looking for explanations
I don't even understand
If you need someone to blame
Throw a rock in the air
You'll hit someone guilty
From father to son
In one life has begun
A work that's never done
Father to son
And love...it won't last kissin' time
And love...it won't last kissin' time
And love...it won't last kissin' time
Get it right
There's no blood thicker than ink
Hear what I say
Nothing's simple as you think
Wake up
Some things you can't get around
I'm in you
More so when they put me in the ground
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill
These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill...
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"I don't know you - and you don't know the half of it. I had a starring role - I was the bad guy who walked out"" Fathers never get kids. I think Bob Hewson might have stepped back after his wife died. I think the whole song is first person from Bob.
"They said be careful where you aim, Because where you aim you just might hit. You can hold onto something so tight, You've already lost it" He might be saying watch where you throw your anger, you might not like where it lands. I don't know about the last powerful "hold onto" line...not that I truly know anything I am saying.
"Dragging me down - that's not the way it used to be. You can't even remember what I'm trying to forget.It was a dirty day - a dirty day" Awesome lines of lyrics. Adults remember things better than kids. As I said sounds like Bono was take it all out on his father...."dragging me down" not the way it used to be before your mom left us.
"You look for explanations, I don't even understand. If you need someone to blame, throw a rock in the air your bound to hit someone guilty". I think he says bound in this lyric, but I might be wrong. In this father / son relationship the father doesn't know what to make of his son and less so when the mother passes so early. I'm Sure Bono expressed his aggravation in life and blamed his father as all teenagers do. Father tells him what to do to satisfy his discontent.
"from father to son, in one life has begun. A work that's never done, Father to son". A father/son relationship is usually complicated. Never settled.
"get it right, there's no blood thicker than ink. Hear what I say- nothings as simple as you think". here I believe ink simply rhymes with think and sounds cool. father telling son cant give son all the answers.
"Wake up - some things you cant get around. I'm in you more so when they put me in the ground". When the father dies, any thing left unsaid, unsettled eats at the son. The father is in the sons soul more so after he passes on and no longer available. He, the father is in him more intense. He is gone.
It was a dirty day...............
//Hear what I say, nothing's as simple as you think//
This line summarize everything for me about this song. Dirty Day is about commnunication gone wrong, and the end result is missnunderstanding in some way.
The song could also refer to the story in the Bible about the Prodigal Son.
The lyrics deal with a confrontation with his son. The father has some remorse ("Be careful where you aim, 'cause where you aim, you just might hit"), but he continues to justify his decisions that led to distance himself from his son and the rest of his family by saying "Everyone makes mistakes in life, so don't judge me."
Typical of an abandoned son, confronting his father in hopes that they can reconcile and mend the holes in their hearts, although the relationship is tarnished for life ("I'm in you moreso when they put me in the ground").
Musically it's a fantasitic synergy of brooding riff and lyrical content...a real walking tune for sucking reflectively on a cigarette and wondering where it all went wrong. Because of the rushed release of the album the ending was pretty poor though...Flood's production must take some of the blame here because by the time of the Summer tour of 1993, they had a much better climax to the song than the '...horses over the hills'.
Nevertheless, a brilliant song which has a lot of personal meaning for me.