Drugs song?

[marik]

i've heard that discotheque can be taken as a drugs song. i can see that interpretation, (is bubblegum supposed to be drugs? what drug? if your in a disco trippin it ain't to weed, maybe E?)but no more so that a reference to partying in general. so i'm looking for an analyisis of this. or any quotes os stories that might help explain this seemingly simple, song

 

[lady luck]

where did you hear this?

 

[meital]

You can find the interpertation of what you are looking for at the Moll site:

hem.bredband.net/steverud/U2MoL/Pop/disco.html

There are even some more interpetation to this song but drugs.

 

[starsgoblue]

Hmmm....I find the interpretation that Pedro guy had about God vs. Religion to be more accurate based on what Bono has said before in interviews and whatnot. Besides Ecstacy wasn't the big thing back during Pop...it was a few years after if I recall correctly.

 

[Numb1075]

Starsgoblue, i can claim that E was huge in NYC around the time Pop came out.

I'm not saying Discoteche was about E or drugs, but letting you know that the E scene was around (At least in NYC) back in 1997

 

[LMP]

I thought it was referring to the Studio 54-like 70s atmosphere and all the craziness that went on there

in the video they dress like discodudes and the village people to back up my point

 

[Numb1075]

LEmonMacPhisto, you certainly could be correct. That's the beauty of U2 lyrics - they are often open for interpretation.

 

[starsgoblue]

Starsgoblue, i can claim that E was huge in NYC around the time Pop came out.

I'm not saying Discoteche was about E or drugs, but letting you know that the E scene was around (At least in NYC) back in 1997

Yucky stuff...bleh Thanks for the clear up, Boston's slow bout some stuff.

 

[BVS]

It's funny, I never thought of drugs when I heard this song. I always thought this song was about the state of pop music. Wanting something more out of pop music...

 

[mobonofo]

I read an interview with Bono where he referred to the fact that - People chew bubblegum when they take certain drugs to keep their teeth from grinding when dancing.

As insane as that sounds, this was going on a lot in the mid-to-late ninties dance culture.

That's what the lyric refers to.

 

[starsgoblue]

I always think bubblegum = pop music I always thought that's what U2 who emulating during Pop....they were being self imposed ironic

 

[Inner El Guapo]

it's certainly about more than one thing. That's generally how I see most of Bono's lyrics. Most songs are about more than one thing. They are written that vaguely, and I think it is a clever and difficult way to write. Especially without sounding really cluttered.

To me, anyways, it's about disposable "pop" music in disposable "pop" culture, and the drug references goes along with both. I knew of Ex as far back as 95, so if it can make it to my town in 95, then it was certainly in his mindframe. Also, cocaine or other methamphetimens make you grind your teeth.

But it was written with a cool duality "just can't get enough of this lovey dovey stuff". Electronica/dance music, drugs.

It's funny the song could have been written in 1978, about the disco subculture, which was absolutely ridden with cocaine.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I think the whole song fits in with a lot of Pop's themes of consumerism etc, and really just how society is getting shallower and shallower. I mean, what defines people now? What you do, or how much you earn doing it? What type of person are you? Is that decided by your personality, your beliefs etc or is it decided by how you dress, what type of 'style' and therefore grouping you fit into? The labels etc, the need to have the latest and best...

So thats one of the themes of the album (and the title and the tour) and I think where Discotheque fits into that is how that shallow society, shallow culture is affecting peoples love lives and search for each other. So, it's the shallowness of "looking for a night of love in a nightclub" basically. A place where all of those things; looks, dress, income/status factor very highly in that decision making. So, that obviously is completely shallow.

The person in the song knows they are doing this though. Smart enough to be aware of it, but resigned to doing it anyway, and thats where I think the bubblegum line comes in. You know what you are doing, you know what's wrong with it, but you'll do it anyway. Same with the lines "You take what you can get/Cause it's all that you can find/but you know there's something more."

I think there is room in there for a bit of double meaning in relation to drugs, particularly ecstacy, seeing as it truly is the "lovie dovie stuff" and it fits right in with that shallow/pick up idea. I mean, you go out to find love, and you find it by taking a drug. It's a pretty good reflection of what the song is about. I don't think it's just a 'drug song' though.

I'll be honest, in a past life I had ecstacy a few times, and know the feelings and the things that go on and the whole scene, and the words of Discotheque (along with Mysterious Ways for some reason) were often ringing in my head later on.

 

[Inner El Guapo]

I pretty much agree with everything you said Earnie Shavers.

That was my reference to "pop" culture. IMO, the whole album and tour was about consumerism. More, more, more without regard to consequence.

 

[LMP]

The consumerism was touched on a bit in the Zoo TV Era but more seriously delved upon in the PopMart Era, IMO