U2 nominated for Best Original Song with ‘Winter’ ?

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U2 enters the race for Best Original Song with ‘Winter’ from Jim Sheridan’s ‘Brothers’

Last week when canvassing the various FYC sites that are hitting the web as of late, I misspoke (er, mistyped) when I disregarded the eligibility of a certain original song contender in this year’s race. Allow me to explain.

U2’s “Winter” did indeed show up on Anton Corbijn’s “Linear,” a short film that accompanied the album “No Line on the Horizon” (which the band is touring vigorously across the US right now). But I’m told the song was, in fact, written specifically for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” and that it will indeed be eligible for consideration in the Best Original Song category.

The film has been completed for quite some time, mind you. It took a while for it to secure distribution (though I have no idea why — it’s a fine film). MGM picked it up maybe a year ago, and over the summer, Lionsgate bought the film in a three-picture distribution deal. So just because “No Line on the Horizon” has been in stores for a number of months doesn’t mean “Winter” (which isn’t an official track inclusion on the album, by the way) wasn’t conceived far in advance of its release.

Sheridan and U2 go way back, of course. WAY back. They first met in the 1970s, when the director ran Dublin’s alternative club the Project Art Center and bands like U2 were playing their first live gigs. The original tune “Time Enough for Tears” was included in Sheridan’s 2003 film “In America,” but it unfortunately didn’t make the Oscar cut.

“Winter” could be a different story. And the lyrics certainly make it clear the song was conceived for the story of a man changed by a war (see below).

As for the film itself, well, I wasn’t as impressed as Pete Hammond was, but I do think it fits nicely in what has become a great trio of Middle East war films this year. I was less enthusiastic about Tobey Maguire’s performance than I was by Jake Gyllenhaal’s more natural portrayal. In fact, it seems that every time I see Gyllenhaal in something, I’m reminded of how underrated he is as an actor.

The real story of the film, however, is the casting of Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare, two absolutely amazing young girls who knock it out of the park. Much credit is due to Sheridan, of course, who has shown in the past his ability to get great performances out of children. But these two ladies have talent to spare. It was a really nice surprise.

I’ll get into “Brothers” more throughout the season, I’m sure. For now, take a look at the lyrics to “Winter” below. We’ll feature the song soon enough as we’ve been doing the other contenders in the category.

The yellow sun
Well it took the hand
Of a country boy
To a city in a far off land

We made no mark
No shadow at all
On the ancient holy streets
Where I learned to crawl

Looking at the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused all here

Words will land on me
Then abandon me
Mangle, untangle me
Leave me on the floor

Rhymes they sprang in me
Summer sang in me
But summer sings in me no more

Now I’m 25
and trying to stay alive
In a corner of the world
With no clear enemies to fight

It’s hot as hell
We’re like butter on toast
But there’s no army in this world
Can fight a ghost

Looking at the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused all here

Words will land on me
Then abandon me
Leave me stranded
And knocking on the door

Rhymes began in me
Summer sang in me
But summer sings in me no more

At 21
I was born a son
And on that day I knew
I could kill

To protect the ones
Who put bullets in guns
Or anything it takes
To take a life until it’s still

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U2 enters the race for Best Original Song with ‘Winter’ from Jim Sheridan’s ‘Brothers’
 
I'm not a huge fan of the song, but I'm glad that this is a possibility. I love the Oscars...it's one of my favorite nights of TV every year, and it would be an added bonus to see our favorite drunken Irish geezers at the ceremony. And, honestly, if they get the nomination, they've got a great shot at taking home the statue. Everyone loves to suckle at the U2 teat.


Oh, and Natalie Portman is the hottest thing since sliced bread. God DAMN.
 
Yeah, I know it's been brought up a thousand times but I could never get past the fact that the intro is so reminiscent of the intro to Viva La Vida.
 
uh oh.

*waits for everyone to go :panic: because the "butter on toast" line is still there.

omg!!111 i am good at lyrics and bono isnt!!!111


so yeah, i wonder if the song sounds any different than the version we got on Linear. i personally love the song in its Linear form, so either way, i don't care.
 
Um, I don't understand. I thought "White as snow" was written for "Brothers" and "Winter" was written for "Linear"? How can it be nominated as best song when it's not even part of the movie or soundtrack? And wasn't there a story some months ago that "Bad" would be included in "Brothers"? I'm confused.

And I agree about "Winter" not being a good song.
 
"Winter" was written for "Brothers". it's a common mistake that people here make, thinking that "White As Snow" was written for "Brothers".
 
"Winter" was written for "Brothers". it's a common mistake that people here make, thinking that "White As Snow" was written for "Brothers".

Makes no sense. I've seen a bunch of sources say "White as Snow" was written for "Brothers". The song's tone and the lyrics of a dying soldier makes sense - Tobey Maguire's character is presumed dead in the movie when fighting in a war (at which point, the who-is-sleeping-with-Natalie-Portman drama begins).
 
Makes no sense. I've seen a bunch of sources say "White as Snow" was written for "Brothers". The song's tone and the lyrics of a dying soldier makes sense - Tobey Maguire's character is presumed dead in the movie when fighting in a war (at which point, the who-is-sleeping-with-Natalie-Portman drama begins).

a lot of sources were incorrect, unfortunately. i think a lot of them were confused when WAS replaced Winter on the album. i will agree that the lyrics for WAS would fit the movie very well.
 
I don't like the song either (not in it's Linear form anyway). I really hope they have reworked it for the film but I doubt it.
 
The song is brilliant. I bt it got a bit of a remix for the film (as much as I like it, I have to admit that on the Linear version Bono gets a coughing fit in the last few lines..._
 
This is great news as long as they finish the song first. The rough version is still a little...rough.
 
This is great news as long as they finish the song first. The rough version is still a little...rough.
I agree. Really hope the band tinkered around a bit in the studio w/ the song (the lyrics especially). I feel, at its heart, "Winter" is a good song... just doesn't seem finished.
 
really surprised to see the hate. i've made a lot of alternate NLOTH tracklists, and Winter has been on every single one of them. i am a blind sheep though.
 
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