Cedars of Lebannon

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j72

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Nov 26, 2011
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Hi folks

Listened to this song in the middle of the night on headphones and was moved more than ever before by it's texture and beauty within the weariness and pain. I suspect i have missed an awful lot of both subtelty and power through not listening through the phones, time o rectify that i think.

I cannot remember much of what Bono said about the song now but i remember i found his angle interesting. For me that ghostly pleading of the line "Return the call to home" is the exquisite centre piece. Below is my personal take, would love to hear others views on it and whether it moves them or not, love the thought and perspectives on this forum, together with being shown different versions of songs i didn't know about, it, Thank You.

I have no idea what it is like to be an actual war correspondent but i do recall the sense of myself unable (through guilt, depression and self hatred) to return the call "Home" to myself. Because of this i could not connect with the people i loved more than anyone in the world.

The war within may just as well have spirited me to another land even when i was only a few feet away from them, so utterly unable to form lucid thought, feeling, words and connection.

I suspect Bono may well have had themes such as this and others in mind when he penned it but it matters little whether he did or not. All i know is (for me) it is a special song with some genius lyrics.
 
Great thoughts :up:

Love the song and think it's the perfect closer, one of the best they could have chosen.

Normally I'm not fond of "spoken" lyrics but in the case of COL they fit the mood of the song.

There's so much bitterness and resignation there, the lyrics are very authentic, poetic and at the same time full of disillusionment. To me, it's one of Bono's finest lyrical works, full of strong imagery.
 
Thanks Unicorn for your thoughts. I think for me a key word you use is the feel of the song feeling "authentic" Bono, as far as i know, has never been a war correspondent though he says he knows some and has obviously been to some far out paces. But yep there is something in that song that catches so many true resonant angles for me, like turning a piece of quartz rock and being hit in different but powerful ways in how the light catches it. That'ts what interests me in how that lyric and melody (among other songs) affect people here in their different and individual ways and how they listen and receive it.

The lyrics and timing of it as a closer are i agree perfect, sometimes i wonder about Leonard Cohen singing, composing with Bono but maybe that's just me?

Another one (music, words at that point and what follows) that gets me EVERY time is the simple "and the water it was icy" from White as Snow but that's another song and time i guess.
 
"Cedars" is easily my favorite track from NLOTH. The lyrics are just perfect, and the musical backing is very evocative. I don't necessarily think the narrator has to be a 'war correspondent', he could just be any sort of journalist stuck in Lebanon, covering anything. Fantastic track. When they're not trying to conjure radio hits, U2 still come up with remarkable stuff.
 
This is the one track from NLOTH I just cannot get in to. It just bores me to tears, which is sad as I LOVE the rest of the album. Yes, even Crazy Tonight and Stand Up Comedy.
 
Hate this track , worse track on the album by a mile for me the album ends on breathe when i listen to it
 
Enjoyed the responses that have been put so far. I get what you say about the journalist thing Panther. I also think you're right about the danger of perhaps overtrying for a hit which i hope the band don't lapse in to. I love a whole mixture of their stuff whether it is deemed 'commercial' or not but hope whatever comes, comes naturally.

I also appreciate others may find Cedars "boring" or the worst song on NLOTH. For myself (although i could say this of a lot of music in different degrees) it is very much a song i can only listen and be receptive to at certain times. Having some time alone at night or in the wintertime perhaps, such as last night although i have no set rules.
Finally (before gasbagging on and on) it interests me that it is a song that (perhaps like other tracks on the album as perceived by some) that could be seen as slightly distanced and Bono's writtten in character comment etc) is becoming swiftly and increasingly personal to me,after repeated listening. It didn't feel quite like that before. Hope i haven't sent you to sleep folks -take care
 
I know exactly what you mean about it being a song you can only listen and be receptive to at certain times. I feel the same way. There are times I can't listen to it after Breathe. I find it a complicated and sometimes difficult song to hear. But other times, for some reason it's absolutely the perfect closer. Very intimate, simple and clear. I know that's totally contradictory, but it's one of the only songs I can think of at the moment that have made me feel that way.
 
I love the spoken lyrics bit, it's like Bono talking intimately to you about subject(s) beyond the mundane. The praise heaped on COL's baseline is also a reason why I love it :)

But bigger than the song itself, COL represents my faith in this band and their capacity for emotional depth. You know that stupid fake "leaked U2 song" light speed going around on YouTube? That's the lame shit that other boy/rock bands sing; COL is what out band is capable of
 
I struggle with this song, I think because I can't find a way to relate to it. The beauty of Bono's lyrics are often in their ambiguity, they can be interpreted in so many different ways, that almost anyone can see themselves in them, which is why U2's songs are so far-reaching. COL seems to be written about a very specific character/setting/moment in time, which isn't at all bad, it just doesn't really mean anything to me personally. I could forgive it if the music was particularly driving (see Bullet the Blue Sky, also pretty specific in its setting), but I find the music boring.

That being said, I respect COL for being really dark and deep, and I can totally see how someone in the right situation or frame of mind would be completely moved by it. I'm happy to have it in my U2 catalog- maybe someday under different circumstances it will finally speak to me.
 
LadySpinHead said:
I struggle with this song, I think because I can't find a way to relate to it.
Click to expand...
That could be it, I guess. When the album came out, my life consisted of living in a foreign country, squeezing complicated lives (and things) into headlines, and it felt like I hadn't been with a woman for years.

So, yeah, it kinda hit home.
 
LadySpinHead said:
I struggle with this song, I think because I can't find a way to relate to it. The beauty of Bono's lyrics are often in their ambiguity, they can be interpreted in so many different ways, that almost anyone can see themselves in them, which is why U2's songs are so far-reaching. COL seems to be written about a very specific character/setting/moment in time, which isn't at all bad, it just doesn't really mean anything to me personally. I could forgive it if the music was particularly driving (see Bullet the Blue Sky, also pretty specific in its setting), but I find the music boring.
Click to expand...

You sort of hit it on the head why I could never get into this track. As a poem or a story of sorts alone, it could be interesting. But as a song? It doesn't work for me at all.
 
The Panther said:
"Cedars" is easily my favorite track from NLOTH. The lyrics are just perfect, and the musical backing is very evocative. I don't necessarily think the narrator has to be a 'war correspondent', he could just be any sort of journalist stuck in Lebanon, covering anything. Fantastic track. When they're not trying to conjure radio hits, U2 still come up with remarkable stuff.
Click to expand...

You are one of the very very few ppl who is still making sense here, sir.
 
I listen to this song like poetry with music. For me, there's nothing boring about it. But then again, I read a lot of poetry that others may find boring. Listening to COL (same with White as snow) on headphones in the dark is haunting. I'm not always in the right mood for it, but when it happens, it leaves a lasting impression.

Only shame is that songs like COL are on an album that would almost be perfect if it wasn't for Crazy Tonight and, to a lesser degree but still, Stand Up Comedy.
 
last unicorn said:
Great thoughts :up:

Love the song and think it's the perfect closer, one of the best they could have chosen.

Normally I'm not fond of "spoken" lyrics but in the case of COL they fit the mood of the song.

There's so much bitterness and resignation there, the lyrics are very authentic, poetic and at the same time full of disillusionment. To me, it's one of Bono's finest lyrical works, full of strong imagery.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, LU. I think NLOTH was a real return to form for our favourite lead-man!
A perfect album closer, something U2 used to be masters at! COL is the best one since WUDM. This is my favourite song from NLOTH, well it's tied with Magnificent.
Just a personal opinion this, but if the album had been more like COL and FEZ than it could have been as good as TUF which is one of my top 3 albums.
 
Hi folks

Enjoyed your latest thoughts. Bono Comet i liked what you said about how sometimes the song can feel kind of hard to receive, or a bit complex, at other times so clear. I get that, for me, it also feels a bit like life for me. I also get that for some this does not feel enough of a "song" for them, fair play to you.

I guess this might sound daft to some but to me the presence and feel of the cedars (a significant emblem for lebannon if i understand it right) which Bono i suppose had, at least partly, in mind when he wrote this. The nature of trees themselves are special, both grounding and creative. By this i mean walking through a forest or a stand of pine trees at night in my local park help me solve problems, write etc.
I hear you like reading poetry Last unicorn and when i think of "Cedars" like last night i also think of Kahil Gibran, a very special poet and human being from around that region and connects with the song (for me) in many ways and themes in what he wrote about. Do you or others on this forum like him or agree/disagree with this connection? His work seemed grounded around themes such as external/internal conflict, dislocation, belonging, life, beauty suffering, spirituality and will David Becham stay in Major league Soccer, Sorry being a bit daft with last one. take care -jules
 
Note that the correct spelling is "Lebanon" (in case any Lebanese, of whom a huge number live in my country, are out there).
 
Songs like MOS, F-BB, WAS, COL, and Winter (Anton Corbijn version) give me an idea of what the original vision for No Line on the Horizon was going to be. Would've been an awesome album, although probably better suited as a Passengers 2 type of thing.

COL is my favorite song on the album for reasons I cannot even explain. A true masterpiece of a song, one that is too great to be tarnished by being played live in some heartless, hollow stadium.
 
When I first listened to the album (up until its release, I had only heard Boots), the two songs that struck me the most and left me thinking "whoa" were the title track, and this track.

It's not a song I want to listen to all the time, but I love that it's out of the norm for what they've done lately, I love Bono using his lower range (even in speak-singing), I love its sparseness, I love the way the lyrics put us into the character's head.
 
The Cedar of Lebanon is pictured on the Lebanese flag:
LEBA0001.GIF
 
Thanks for the spelling lesson Panther, (but don't worry on my account anybody, if anybody spells England wrong, i will handle it) Seriously though i get your angle. I really enjoyed the flag image you inserted. I will look into the Cedar connection further. ps if anybody can let me know how to edit title or do it for me would be great.
 
The Panther said:
When they're not trying to conjure radio hits, U2 still come up with remarkable stuff.
Click to expand...

:up: Cedars is just about my favourite from the album, for the simple fact that it proves U2 can still make incredibly good songs at this point in their career when they're not so worried about business.

Tom Waits is 62 and put out a great album late last year. That's what happens when you're unimpeded by commercial needs.
 
I vividly remember one music critic who wrote in an album review that Lebanon was in North Africa and that the album was shit because Bono would try to force his political campaigning onto every single U2 song :lol:

The guy had to deal with some reader comments. Geography (and probably everything else) FAIL.
 
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