FACT: Bono and his lyric writing is ruining U2

[Dalton]

It's time to come out and say it. Bono is a wonderful man who has been helping the world in many different ways, but because of this has not been spending enough time working on his craft. The lyrics on the last two albums have been less than spectacular and its time for the band to say enough is enough.

Now, I'm not advocating kicking him out of the band, but the band needs to have veto power over the lyrics.

 

[Salome]

I think they do have veto power

 

[zwervers2]

yes, the lyrics suck for most part but you can not blame Bono.

It is Chris Martin's fault

 

[MMP]

Should I be smelling sarcasm?

 

[zwervers2]

Should I be smelling sarcasm?

Stop helping God across the road, like a little old lady

oehoehoehooehoeeeehoeeee


I can Adam just look at Bono and think : My God, I gave up booze for this?

You are the man Adam! Do something aout it!

 

[Popmart Shopper]

I totally disagree with original poster I think Bono has written some of his best lyrics on last few albums.

 

[Mr. V]

yeah nah.

 

[MMP]

This album has NLOTH/MoS/UC... this alone can make up for all Bono's bad lyrics.

 

[erik_1099]

I for one, love that lyric.

Stop helping God across the road, like a little old lady

 

[phillyfan26]

I totally disagree with original poster I think Bono has written some of his best lyrics on last few albums.

Compare the Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby (albums where he was consistently good with only a few low points) with the last three (where he was consistently mediocre with only a few good spots). It's a total change. He's been awful lately, with Bomb probably being the low point.

 

[phillyfan26]

I for one, love that lyric.

Really? It's clumsy, forced, and a poor piece of poetry.

 

[mikal]

i don't really care. i like his singing. plus, i'm a guitar player, so that's where my priorities are.

keep up the great work U2.

 

[DeVaul]

he needs to get less clever, more abstract.

 

[coolian2]

nloth is a huge step up....and now a thread like this turns up?

i'm actually really fond of the majority of the lyrics on the album. the last two, they sucked. this? much better.

 

[mikal]

nloth is a huge step up....and now a thread like this turns up?

i'm actually really fond of the majority of the lyrics on the album. the last two, they sucked. this? much better.

my feelings too. i'd rather celebrate the improvement rather than say that he'd "ruining" U2.

Dalton, you're a little out of your element on this one.

 

[coolian2]

my feelings too. i'd rather celebrate the improvement rather than say that he'd "ruining" U2.

Dalton, you're a little out of your element on this one.

and i agree with you, too. largely i'm more interested in how solid an album is musically. you can have the best set of lyrics ever, but bland music....you've got nothing special. bad in studio is a good example of this. at least if the music is good you can gloss over the lyrics.

 

[Dalton]

Dalton, you're a little out of your element on this one.

Do explain, Michael.

 

[mikal]

Do explain, Michael.

i'm watching The Big Lebowski.

 

[Dalton]

i'm watching The Big Lebowski.

We're talking about unchecked aggression here, Michael.

 

[mikal]

We're talking about unchecked aggression here, Michael.

shut the fuck up donnie!

 

[phillyfan26]

No Line on the Horizon, Moment of Surrender, White as Snow, and Cedars of Lebanon are all good lyrics. The rest range from above average to neutral to poor, for the most part.

 

[Bono's shades]

I'm just happy Bono wrote amazing lyrics on some of the songs this time, even if some of the others are bad. It's a step up from HTDAAB. I can't think of a single song on there that has what I would call amazing lyrics, and some of the songs have lyrics that absolutely make me cringe.

 

[U2DMfan]

We've got to figure a way to blame Larry.

 

[last unicorn]

Wow, so Bono bashing has taken over this forum as well.



Yes, U2, really, get rid of this guy, he's ruining everything. Horrible songwriter, sucks as a singer, I mean Larry could do a better job. What were you thinking?






Most people here don't know much about songwriting. In recent interviews Bono has talked a lot about his approach and I found it really interesting to see where he's coming from as a writer. Writing is not always about the intellect, it's about intuition, and he has both. I strongly disagree about the assumption that the last two albums were "bad" in terms of songwriting. They were more personal, more direct, sometimes you need to be more direct and less poetic. NLOTH is a highlight, as far as songwriting is concerned.

It always annoys me when people who don't know much about writing complain about a person's writing.

Can we now have a thread about every other band member and how they are ruining U2, please? As FACT, of course.

 

[phillyfan26]

Wow, the half-joking nature of this thread has gone over some heads.

While NLOTH is an improvement, it's still no comparison to most of the other albums, especially Unforgettable Fire through Pop.

 

[cobl04]

This album has NLOTH/MoS/UC... this alone can make up for all Bono's bad lyrics.

"it's not linear"/"tongue in ear"
"atm machine"
"password"/"you enter here"/"right now"

nloth is a huge step up....and now a thread like this turns up?

i'm actually really fond of the majority of the lyrics on the album. the last two, they sucked. this? much better.

this.

 

[Zoomerang96]

well... as has already been said, there's some good music going on, but again it's the lyrics that are probably keeping me between really liking this album and ignoring it altogether.

for some people lyrics don't matter... for me, some of the songs have good lyrics, but others... such as stand up comedy, no. i just can't listen to that.

 

[partygirl43]

FACT: This thread= FAIL

 

[ozeeko]

it's too easy to come up with "good" lyrics, but it takes real hard work coming up with "amazing" lyrics, and it takes real hard work coming up with "fucking horrible cheesy" lyrics. It's not that Bono isn't trying...the sad thing is he truly does think these cheesy lyrics are great, and i think he's been spending a lot of time on them, trying to find some transcendant lyrical realm where both the darkness and the light can coexist, where both Dylan and Barney(as in i love you you love me) can coexist. Unfortunately, this isn't working, and it all comes out as the same thing. Stinkin' fricken cheese.

Bono should go out of his way to avoid these words: Love, God, light

It's true he can still write a gripping lyric. Just look at MOS, NLOTH, COL, WAS, BB. I bet you these are probably ones he isn't spending too much time on. I think the songs with the horrible lyrics are the ones that are overworked.

 

[phillyfan26]

This album has NLOTH/MoS/UC... this alone can make up for all Bono's bad lyrics.

NLOTH and MOS are great, but Unknown Caller is awful.