mikal
Blue Crack Addict
i couldn't disagree with this any more. i think the lyrics and idea behind this song are some of Bono's best ever.
FACT: Bono and his lyric writing is ruining U2
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i couldn't disagree with this any more. i think the lyrics and idea behind this song are some of Bono's best ever.
phillyfan26
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The idea's OK, but the technology specific lyrics ruin the whole thing. "Password, you enter here" and "force quit and move to trash" are just horrible, horrible lyrics. Some of his absolute worst. They actually really annoy me because if it weren't for them, I'd love that track.
financeguy
ONE love, blood, life
I had not even read the lyrics but scanning them quickly on at2.com, they are pretty good. Certainly much better than the last two records.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
nope. they're some of his best. he's reaching out of his comfort zone. but that's the thing about lyrics. some people like them, and some people don't. that goes with any writer.
Zoomerang96
ONE love, blood, life
wow.
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
the scene of the accident line/sat there waiting for me line in unknown caller gives me the absolute fucking chills every time.
phillyfan26
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Unknown Caller's verses are great. The chanting part would be fine if it was just stuff like "shout for joy if you get the chance." But that technology bullshit just completely kills it.
OP
OP
Dalton
Blue Crack Addict
This is the kind of crazy I hoped this thread would engender. Thanks.
erik_1099
The Fly
As I understand it, the idea of the song is that a suicidal junkie is using his phone to score some drugs and an "unknown caller" comes on the line and starts throwing words at him to get him to rethink his life, hence the "reboot yourself" stuff. Even before I was aware of that specific storyline, they made sense to me.
Let me ask you - does this bother you more or less than "when hip hop drove the big cars, in the time when new media was the big idea" in Kite? To me, those lines sounded dated when they came out, and I love that song.
Let me ask you - does this bother you more or less than "when hip hop drove the big cars, in the time when new media was the big idea" in Kite? To me, those lines sounded dated when they came out, and I love that song.
erik_1099
The Fly
erik_1099
The Fly
Luckily, it doesn't have to be good poetry - it just has to be a good rock lyric.
Lyrics are not the same as poetry.
Lyrics are not the same as poetry.
phillyfan26
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I understand exactly what the intention is supposed to be. And it would be one thing if it was something like "reboot yourself," which can at least relate to a person starting over. Entering in a password is something you can only do on technology, and for that reason completely ruins the whole line of "my cell phone sending me messages to get me thinking about my life" thing.
I find that whole verse in to be quite out of place on such an emotional song. However, that verse is almost an afterthought in its placement. The chorus and "I'm a man" parts are the key to the song. Unknown Caller is carried by the chanting, so the technology chants bug me more.
phillyfan26
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Lyrics are a type of poetry.
But that's beside the point. I think it's horrible rock lyric. The term "little old lady" should never enter a rock song. There's no possibly way to use it well.
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
what?
popsadie
Acrobat
i don't know...entering a password seems to me to be a metaphor for having new life with God...the whole Revelation stone with a new name thing.....
Sorry I should have taken more time with that, i do appologize. I thought it was self-explanatory and my english isnt the best, sorry.
i mean to say there was time not too long ago when Bono's voice made me believe in a God. the band's music was a celebration and a certainty of things that are very etherial and almost impossible to articulate. Now it seems it's mostly about their own successes and celebrity, which is OK, but they seemed to have been rooked by their own pathos - that rock music can aspire only so high before it becomes carnal and bound to the earth, and that's a disapointment to me. Sorry if that seems crazy.
U2's music remains important to me but they did not live up to their potential to change the world through music the way Dylan andthe Beetles did in their time. And the galling part is that they sold out their beliefs for something as common as money. Still a great rock band, but only a great rock band.
ozeeko
Refugee
After just discovering that U2 wants to be like The Killers because they are "part of this world" or something to that effect, I have to say I agree with most of what you say here.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Yeah, it still sounds crazy... and a little fanatical... fundamentalist...
How have the lyrics change from belief in God to their own successes?
popsadie
Acrobat
u2 want to continue being a band and continue getting heard. Yes, u2 want to be popular..because they want to be on the radio. They want their music to reach everybody, not just the "in the know" musicphiles. I agree with Bonovox...the whole u2 used to be separate from the "world" thing does seem a bit fanatical...
Salome
you are what you is
ShipOfFools
War Child
You're kidding me! I think the lyrics on the new album are some of the best he's done in years.
phillyfan26
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Looking at the last two albums, that's not saying much.
I think that's a lot of the reason that people aren't criticizing him: because they appreciate that at least it's a step in the right direction from the horrible lyrics of the last two albums. And they look good, if that's your comparison point. But compare them to the lyrics from 1984 to 1997, and they're still really not that good.
Marien
Refugee
Just a couple of questions: does anybody in this thread read regularly contemporary poetry written in English or are you just talking about this from the point of view of Bono's lyrics from the beginning of his career up to the present?
Another relevant question could be: which is your favourite period in poetry or your favourite poet?
I make these questions because I don't know how to take some of the answers and I think that having these clear could help me understand.
Another relevant question could be: which is your favourite period in poetry or your favourite poet?
I make these questions because I don't know how to take some of the answers and I think that having these clear could help me understand.
Minus the lyrics from Crazy tonight, Boots and Stand up comedy, agreed.
Yeah, it still sounds crazy... and a little fanatical... fundamentalist...
How have the lyrics change from belief in God to their own successes?
Yah OK but you're not perpetuating a discussion here you're simply making an inflammatory remark, judging, and drawing a conclusion that is very far off base, sorry to say.
I'd say all you have to do is seperate songs like "Miracle Drugs", Orignal of the Species", "Moment of Surrender", "Breathe", "Always", "Mercy", "Beautiful Day", "Take you Down", with "Numb", "Dirty Day", "Crashed Car", "Sexy Boots", "Vertigo", "New York", "Discoteque", (ok enough right?) to see clearly the difference between the U2 that could be and the U2 that is.
I am reminded of Larry Mullen's comment on the titel "All that you cant leave behind" I read or heard somewhere, I cant cite the source, but he said as far I recall he was reluctant for it because he didnt see how it could fit on a t-shirt. I mean, when is enough money enough?
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
I think you started that by all the U2 is of satan b.s.
I still have no clue what you are going on about...
You seperated MOS and Boots which are on the same album but you said this is the difference between U2 that could be and the U2 that is... How does that make any sense? They are both current U2.
Why don't you just come out and say what you are trying to say...
It's called tongue in cheek...
Rosebud
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
FACT: This thread is awesome.
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