Biggest WTF reactions to your favourite U2 songs?

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And to be fair, just about every artist out there has had at least some of their work inspired by something before that. Another song, artist, certain sound, whatever.


Led Zeppelin rearranged many traditional blues songs (and didn't credit the original authors but that's a topic for a B&C thread).

The Beatles played almost nothing but covers before Please Please Me (which itself was John Lennon trying to write a Roy Orbison song), and the rest of their early material is mostly a pastiche of 50s R&B and early Rock n Roll (Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly) with a more driving beat and an extremely charismatic stage persona to go along with it.

Bob Dylan has already been mentioned. Pretty much the entire folk scene in the 60s was various artists all playing the same basic set of songs with some minor variations. Dylan was different because he actually went out of his way to write new lyrics and arrangements on those songs and not simply perform them as they already existed. He still does this today, every time he plays a show he will change up the songs so that they aren't played the same way twice. Often he will start playing a song that is completely unrecognizable to anybody including fans that have been to dozens of shows over the course of 50+ years until people realize that the lyrics are actually Like A Rolling Stone. Can you imagine the reaction if U2 tried to do this and played Streets with completely different music and melodies from show to show?

A Canadian band called Great Big Sea became very famous in the 90s here simply by rewriting and rearranging traditional Newfoundland sea shanties in a more modern style, and throwing one or two originals (in the exact same style) on every album.

This has been going on forever. Composers in the 1700/1800s made entire careers off of rewriting hymns and other older works. So to say that WAS doesn't count as a "real" U2 song (whatever that is) is kinda silly, and ignoring an enormous chunk of music history.
 
Led Zeppelin rearranged many traditional blues songs (and didn't credit the original authors but that's a topic for a B&C thread).

The Beatles played almost nothing but covers before Please Please Me (which itself was John Lennon trying to write a Roy Orbison song), and the rest of their early material is mostly a pastiche of 50s R&B and early Rock n Roll (Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly) with a more driving beat and an extremely charismatic stage persona to go along with it.

Bob Dylan has already been mentioned. Pretty much the entire folk scene in the 60s was various artists all playing the same basic set of songs with some minor variations. Dylan was different because he actually went out of his way to write new lyrics and arrangements on those songs and not simply perform them as they already existed. He still does this today, every time he plays a show he will change up the songs so that they aren't played the same way twice. Often he will start playing a song that is completely unrecognizable to anybody including fans that have been to dozens of shows over the course of 50+ years until people realize that the lyrics are actually Like A Rolling Stone. Can you imagine the reaction if U2 tried to do this and played Streets with completely different music and melodies from show to show?

A Canadian band called Great Big Sea became very famous in the 90s here simply by rewriting and rearranging traditional Newfoundland sea shanties in a more modern style, and throwing one or two originals (in the exact same style) on every album.

This has been going on forever. Composers in the 1700/1800s made entire careers off of rewriting hymns and other older works. So to say that WAS doesn't count as a "real" U2 song (whatever that is) is kinda silly, and ignoring an enormous chunk of music history.

Well said. And great examples all around. :up:
 
I don´t say White As Snow is a bad song or that U2 arrangement is not nice, but the extent they copy the harmonic progressions and also melody of Veni, veni Emmanuel is so immense that it can be hardly considered as an original U2 song. That´s all.
 
So that's why he just made an entire post explaining why it is ignorant to say WAs doesn't count as a 'real' U2 song. He never said you said it was a bad song or anything about the arrangement. :doh:
 
So that's why he just made an entire post explaining why it is ignorant to say WAs doesn't count as a 'real' U2 song. He never said you said it was a bad song or anything about the arrangement. :doh:

Yep, I´ve read it all, but I cannot agree, because one thing is to use for example lyrics or one hook or a sample from a song and different thing is to use whole structure and melody of a song.
 
He did not mention using just lyrics or one hook or a sample... he mentions entire structures and melodies of songs. This has been happening since forever. There is no logical reason to not consider these songs actual songs performed by the artist whom performed them.
 
Yep, I´ve read it all, but I cannot agree, because one thing is to use for example lyrics or one hook or a sample from a song and different thing is to use whole structure and melody of a song.


Yeah, you didn't actually read my post past skimming it (at most).
 
He did not mention using just lyrics or one hook or a sample... he mentions entire structures and melodies of songs. This has been happening since forever. There is no logical reason to not consider these songs actual songs performed by the artist whom performed them.

Ok, so if I exaggerat a bit, then in your world everytime U2 cover band plays a U2 song, they basically create something original and they can be considered as the authors of that song, right? If no, so when is the limit for you, when it is a cover and when it is an original song?
 
Oh for fucksakes are you capable of going into a single thread, sticking to the topic or not trolling?


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Ok, so if I exaggerat a bit, then in your world everytime U2 cover band plays a U2 song, they basically create something original and they can be considered as the authors of that song, right? If no, so when is the limit for you, when it is a cover and when it is an original song?


Now you're just being obtuse.

I didn't think my post was all that difficult to understand. :shrug:
 
?..

A Canadian band called Great Big Sea became very famous in the 90s here simply by rewriting and rearranging traditional Newfoundland sea shanties in a more modern style, and throwing one or two originals (in the exact same style) on every album.

.


Which reminds me of what Ashley McIsaac did on how 90's album. He did many traditional songs in an alternative band style with the fiddle at the front.. Sleepy Maggie being a prominent one, featuring a women singing in Gaelic (if I remember correctly). When I think of it, I think it's an Ashley McIsaac song, and when I'm in an Irish pub and I hear a more traditional rendition of Sleepy Maggie or Drowsy Maggie, I thing it's a nice traditional song.

When I hear White As Snow, as arranged, produced and performed by U2, I think it's a U2 song. When I hear Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, I think that's a nice traditional song.





Sent from my fingertips.
 
Ok, so if I exaggerat a bit, then in your world everytime U2 cover band plays a U2 song, they basically create something original and they can be considered as the authors of that song, right? If no, so when is the limit for you, when it is a cover and when it is an original song?


Here's one better.. A cover band doing a cover of U2 doing their cover of a traditional hymn.

(It's still a U2 song)

http://youtu.be/7UXCnjCVNjY


Sent from my fingertips.
 
Ok, so if I exaggerat a bit, then in your world everytime U2 cover band plays a U2 song, they basically create something original and they can be considered as the authors of that song, right? If no, so when is the limit for you, when it is a cover and when it is an original song?

No when a U2 tribute band covers Ultraviolet, they are playing a U2 song. If they decided to use the introduction to The Fly and write different lyrics and a similar but not identical melody, it would be an original song with elements inspired by The Fly.

Quite simply, White As Snow is legally and universally recognised as a U2 song. Until this is contested and upheld in a lawsuit (which will be never) it will always be a U2 song.

And also refer to DaveC's well written explanation on the history of musical re-creation.

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Which reminds me of what Ashley McIsaac did on how 90's album. He did many traditional songs in an alternative band style with the fiddle at the front.. Sleepy Maggie being a prominent one, featuring a women singing in Gaelic (if I remember correctly). When I think of it, I think it's an Ashley McIsaac song, and when I'm in an Irish pub and I hear a more traditional rendition of Sleepy Maggie or Drowsy Maggie, I thing it's a nice traditional song.

When I hear White As Snow, as arranged, produced and performed by U2, I think it's a U2 song. When I hear Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, I think that's a nice traditional song.


Sent from my fingertips.

It´s funny too see the moment when a song breaks the line of being considered as a traditional...

Some people would even argue that Knock On Heaven´s Door is a GNR song or All Alomg the Watchtower is Jimmy Hendrix
 
No when a U2 tribute band covers Ultraviolet, they are playing a U2 song. If they decided to use the introduction to The Fly and write different lyrics and a similar but not identical melody, it would be an original song with elements inspired by The Fly.

Quite simply, White As Snow is legally and universally recognised as a U2 song. Until this is contested and upheld in a lawsuit (which will be never) it will always be a U2 song.

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Of course, it is a matter of opinion, the extent, I mean. The legal aspect is then different criterium.
Anyway, in the end I think White As Snow isn´t so worthy song for such a overanalyzation :)
 
I was just reading the story of the girls on the bus, it reminded me of a girl I used to work with. She didn't know who Queen were, she thought David Bowie was in queen... And then when the new tour was announced I put the bed picture on Instagram and she replied: "So this is queen!" I have no idea why she thought this!


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Sorry guys. Didn't know that my comment about WAS would lead to all of this......


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
It´s funny too see the moment when a song breaks the line of being considered as a traditional...



Some people would even argue that Knock On Heaven´s Door is a GNR song or All Alomg the Watchtower is Jimmy Hendrix


Go to YouTube and look up Veni, Veni Emmanuel.

Then Knockin' oh Heaven's Door. Then All Along the Watchtower.

Then do the same with Wikipedia.

If anyone argued KOHD or AATW were GNR and Hendrix songs, respectively, you might understand why, but they would be wrong.

If anyone argued Veni Veni Emmanuel was a U2 song, they'd be wrong.

If anyone argued White as Snow wasn't a U2 song, they'd also be wrong.




Sent from my fingertips.
 
Ok, so if I exaggerat a bit, then in your world everytime U2 cover band plays a U2 song, they basically create something original and they can be considered as the authors of that song, right? If no, so when is the limit for you, when it is a cover and when it is an original song?

Please remind me where I stated this rather than put words in my mouth that follow your riciculous line if thought rather than mine.

U2 created something original with WAS, based on a traditional hymn.

U2 coverbands cover U2 songs. They don't create original material because it is not their purpose to do so. Their purpose is to cover U2.

The limit would be that a cover song is a cover song. If the original song can hardly be heard in it, there are a lot of new arrangements in the song, lyrics, everything, then it's a different song. Not that hard to understand.
 
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