Love Is Blindness

[theSoulfulMofo]

Hmmm... I don't post here much, but this past week this song has struck me hard in the head.

When I first got Achtung Baby, I loved almost every song, but could remotely care for the ending track.... Too depressing, was my first emotional impression. But back then, I didn't know what U2 were saying.

Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me
Oh my heart
Love is blindness

The mood is set. The lover is in pain, yearning for some comfort (ie, the night).

In a parked car
In a crowded street
You see your love
Made complete
Thread is ripping
The knot is slipping
Love is blindness

My interpretation: this verse portrays a betrayal of love... snippets of a lover seeing the beloved's secret rendevous with another ("In a parked car/In a crowded street/You see your love/ Made complete") ... The relationship starts to rip apart, the thread that holds them, the wedding knot that binded them.

Love is clockworks
And cold steel
Fingers too numb to feel
Squeeze the handle
Blow out the candle
Love is blindness

An unspoken betrayal of love between lover and beloved, or husband and wife, leads to silence and alienation... Their love becomes a relationship of mechanical reciprocity. Yet they still hold onto it, beacuse it's all they have left. Thus, their love is blindness-- they refuse to acknowledge the truth of their failure.

A little death
Without mourning
No call
And no warning
Baby...a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense

Jaded love leads to other ideas of love... on-the-spur casual one-nightstands, anything for a feelgood sex ("A little death/without mourning") where neither one would owe anything to the other nor regret it ("No call/ And no warning")... Since the 60s, sex is so prevalent in every culture that it becomes indeed "a dangerous idea/ That almost makes sense."

Love is drowning
In a deep well
All the secrets
And no one to tell
Take the money
Honey
Blindness

Even if we have that someone special, could it be that we be so sucked into a relationship with the other person... that we are burdened with pain and suffering from that very relationship, we do not have anywhere or anyone else to go to expiate our pensive thoughts.

In sum, I think this song is about the blindness that people fall into, by holding onto their ideals of love... I know I have.

 

[bonosloveslave]

I really love this song

Nice thoughts on it - although the boys have talked about their original meaning for it, not quite what you would think.....

 

[hippy]

Nice thoughts on it - although the boys have talked about their original meaning for it, not quite what you would think.....

care to elaborate?

 

[arw]

The words aren't too important to me. Especially after hearing the song live. The solo is, live, is incredible. The version off of the Stay single from 8-30-92 is the absolute best ever.

 

[IWasBored]

The words aren't too important to me. Especially after hearing the song live. The solo is, live, is incredible. The version off of the Stay single from 8-30-92 is the absolute best ever.

ah yes, you mean the version refered to as

yeah you beat me to it, i was going to say that...

 

[bonosloveslave]

care to elaborate?

Well, I know the guys are often reluctant to talk about their original intent/thoughts on their songs because they would like us to interpret them each in our own way, like Soulful did. They have said that this was written about the turmoil in Ireland. Not remembering my source at the immediate moment however.....

 

[hippy]

Thanks, Beth! I was just curious

 

[FallingStar]

Hmm, I've never heard it was about the turmoil in Ireland....strange.....

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Hmm, I've never heard it was about the turmoil in Ireland....strange.....

Oh, yeah, they said something about that on that Mysterious Ways site...something about how that song deals with all the turmoil, and toward the end of the song, the last few vocals from Bono along with the music-particularly the sort of ticking sound you hear, is kinda like the sound of a bomb ticking down to the last second.

I could go find that exact thing that talks about that and post it here.

When I read that, and then heard that song later...it was eerie.

Angela

 

[Joshua_Tree_Hugger]

"Love is Blindness" is one of my favourite AB songs (and that's saying something!)

I don't know what it's fully about but lyrically but some of the lines are brilliant. My favourite is "love is drowning in a deep well, all the secrets and no one to tell". Not so much because of the meaning but because of the great image Bono puts acrosss. Imagine having all the secrets in the world and no one left to tell them to!

I also love the piece where Edge joins in on the guitar with the kind of "weirdly-out-of-place" lead part. At first I thought it sounded pretty awful, totally out of place. But I then came to realise that that's the beauty of it. It's like Edge plugged into his amp there and then and just played what came to his head, pourring his whole heart into each note to achieve the mood of the song.

Just my two cents

 

[MixingBliss]

Hmm, I've never heard it was about the turmoil in Ireland....strange.....

In very subtle shades, the song describes the "love" or the fanatical loyalties that are blindly followed by the more radical members of the IRA who think death is the best way to express their message and propel the "revolution" forward.
The image of "wrapping the night around me" and of "secrets, and no one to tell" suggest the secrecy in which groups like the IRA, Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists operated. Then there's the images of violence and destruction -- a parked car in crowded street (car bomb); the thread is ripping, the knot is slipping; clockwork and cold steel (more bombs, guns); squeeze the handle, blow out the candle (more guns, death imagery); "death without mourning, no call and no warning" (the suddeness and randomness of terrorism attacks).
"Fingers too numb to feel" suggests the mentality of fanatics who essentially have to de-humanize themselves to carry out their senseless attacks.
The central part of the song, naturally, is in the chorus, which says these types of people are blind followers who "don't want to see," and again, wrap the night around themselves, which also suggests shrouding themselves in ignorance and insensitivity.
What it all amounts to is "a dangerous idea that almost makes sense"--that the argument that the IRA and Sinn Fein makes for a "united, independent Ireland," to some, seems legitimate.

The song sounds like a precursor to "Please," which also equates the concept of love to one of fevrant loyalty: "Love is big, it's bigger than us, but" ultimately, "love is not what [the terrorist] is thinking of."

Parts of both songs were sort of prescient of the 1998 bombing in Omagh, the bloodiest act of violence in 30 years of the Irish Troubles. That act, naturally, inspired the song "Peace on Earth." So the three songs all fit together as a trilogy of sorts.

And obviously all three of them have taken on new relevance since Sept. 11, 2001, now that much of the world lives under the fear of further acts of terrorism.

Sorry to have spoiled the meaning for anyone who felt a connection to the song as a more personal story of love's struggles. But you can always hear what you want to hear in a song, so it doesn't have to change people's personal connections to it.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

In very subtle shades, the song describes the "love" or the fanatical loyalties that are blindly followed by the more radical members of the IRA who think death is the best way to express their message and propel the "revolution" forward.
The image of "wrapping the night around me" and of "secrets, and no one to tell" suggest the secrecy in which groups like the IRA, Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists operated. Then there's the images of violence and destruction -- a parked car in crowded street (car bomb); the thread is ripping, the knot is slipping; clockwork and cold steel (more bombs, guns); squeeze the handle, blow out the candle (more guns, death imagery); "death without mourning, no call and no warning" (the suddeness and randomness of terrorism attacks).
"Fingers too numb to feel" suggests the mentality of fanatics who essentially have to de-humanize themselves to carry out their senseless attacks.
The central part of the song, naturally, is in the chorus, which says these types of people are blind followers who "don't want to see," and again, wrap the night around themselves, which also suggests shrouding themselves in ignorance and insensitivity.
What it all amounts to is "a dangerous idea that almost makes sense"--that the argument that the IRA and Sinn Fein makes for a "united, independent Ireland," to some, seems legitimate.

The song sounds like a precursor to "Please," which also equates the concept of love to one of fevrant loyalty: "Love is big, it's bigger than us, but" ultimately, "love is not what [the terrorist] is thinking of."

Parts of both songs were sort of prescient of the 1998 bombing in Omagh, the bloodiest act of violence in 30 years of the Irish Troubles. That act, naturally, inspired the song "Peace on Earth." So the three songs all fit together as a trilogy of sorts.

And obviously all three of them have taken on new relevance since Sept. 11, 2001, now that much of the world lives under the fear of further acts of terrorism.

Sorry to have spoiled the meaning for anyone who felt a connection to the song as a more personal story of love's struggles. But you can always hear what you want to hear in a song, so it doesn't have to change people's personal connections to it.

Wow.

Geez, I'll have to put those three songs together sometime on a CD and see that whole connection there.

It's eerie how those songs can still relate to various other things going on now...are U2 psychic or something?

Angela

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Wow... U2 disguises these songs pretty well...

 

[FallingStar]

>>>>>Then there's the images of violence and destruction -- a parked car in crowded street (car bomb); the thread is ripping, the knot is slipping; clockwork and cold steel (more bombs, guns); squeeze the handle, blow out the candle (more guns, death imagery); "death without mourning, no call and no warning" (the suddeness and randomness of terrorism attacks).<<<<<<<

A parked car and a crowded street can mean also the simple thing of the singer seeing his lost love in a parked car. Very simple, but can be. A ripping thread/a slipping know can mean the ripping bond of marraige or trust. Clockwork/Cold steel could be the time that is slipping away connected with suicide thoughts - but that's very vague. Handle/Candle: No use in going on living without her.


So, I don't think it's neccessarily a song about the turmoil. At least these guesses of you aren't enough for you to believe it..........

 

[MixingBliss]

You're exactly right - the song can be interpreted many different ways. Hurrah for ambiguity.
This is why I still can't figure out if "With or Without You" is a cliche song about love's struggle or an earnest Christian's ethical dilemma.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

You're exactly right - the song can be interpreted many different ways. Hurrah for ambiguity.

Yay, ambiguity! .

Plus, all these various interpretations make us look at the songs in so many different ways, so many different aspects, perhaps making us appreciate them even more.

I like hearing various interpretations of these songs. It's fun and interesting.

Originally posted by MixingBliss
This is why I still can't figure out if "With or Without You" is a cliche song about love's struggle or an earnest Christian's ethical dilemma.

I've always thought of it as the first thing you said, the whole deal with love's struggles.

Never looked at it as a Christian's ethical dilemma, though-I'm interested to hear that interpretation.

Angela

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Umm... I didn't know if anyone would notice or realize this but-->

"A little death"= la morte petite (French) = sexual orgasm

therefore, "without mourning" = no regrets about one night stands

"no call" = no phone calls after one night stands
"and no warning" = one night stands are spontaneous moments.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Umm... I didn't know if anyone would notice or realize this but-->

"A little death"= la morte petite (French) = sexual orgasm

therefore, "without mourning" = no regrets about one night stands

"no call" = no phone calls after one night stands
"and no warning" = one night stands are spontaneous moments.

Hmmm...

I don't know any French, so I wouldn't have caught that...

That's interesting.

*Ponders this one*

Angela

 

[MixingBliss]

I've always thought of [With or Without You] as the first thing you said, the whole deal with love's struggles.

Never looked at it as a Christian's ethical dilemma, though-I'm interested to hear that interpretation.

Angela

A lot of people have written about it before, so I won't go very deeply into it, but there's some fans who think the "you" in With or Without You is Christ, or the spirit of Christ. So Bono is suggesting he can't live up to the standards of Christ or can't be sufficiently Christ-like (a goal of many Christians) and yet can't foresake Christ or a Christian lifestyle either.

It may seem far-fetched, but it's a common theme in old U2 songs, when Bono was conflicted between his Shalom Christianity and his desire to be a rock musician, when factions on both sides saw the two pursuits at odds. I always thought that was a theme behind "I Threw a Brick," "Like a Song," and "Two Hearts Beat as One."

The fact that there's so many Biblical references in "With or Without You" seems to support a Christ-related theme: "the stone set in your eye, the thorn twist in your side ... sleight of hand and twist of fate ... through the storm we reached the shore..." The pronouns are a clue as well. In the song there's a "you" and there's a "she," suggesting that "you" may not be the woman, the lover of the song "on a bed of nails SHE makes me wait, and I wait without YOU."

And "waiting" conjures a very Christian idea, the idea that they are waiting for the coming of Christ, a very central idea to the faith.

But then again, maybe it's merely about not knowing whether you can stand being around someone you love. "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." That seems to be too simplistic an idea for Bono to latch onto, though.