Stay...how does the song end?

[CarriemeU2]

Hey All! I was wondering what you guys think. At the end of stay when "The angel runs to ground" is he becoming a person to come to earth because he loves her, or is he coming to earth as an angel to take her to heaven because she was killed from being in an abusive relationship? I'm not sure although the video suggests the first theory. Just wondering your interpretation. =)

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"One life with each other. Sisters,brothers..."

 

[thefly]

I believe it's an angel returning to earth in human form. The movie from which it was taken was about an angel who becomes human again if I'm not mistaken, so I think that's what the song is echoing.

 

[spleeen]

I think it's the first.. falling to Earth so as to become human.

Very much like the film City Of Angels as well.

 

[MrBTH]

Yep, the song was used in "Faraway So Close" by Wim Wenders, which was a sequel, as such, to the utterly amazing "Wings Of Desire". The plot of this film is about Angels observing our every move. In the film one Angel becomes obsessed with a particular woman and becomes mortal just to be with her. It is a really beautiful film and I would reccomend it to anyone. Of course Hollywood as given it the remake treatment as "City Of Angels" but it is sooo crap in comparison to the original.

 

[Ants]

You're damn right City of Angels was crap! I didn't even see it (which would make my argument null and void really) 'cause it was so crap! I would rather see the original (which I did) and then not understand it until go off and THINK about it. Actually I didn't do that but I thought about the movie 'cause it was good. I liked it. Still I'd complain about the theology involved in the movie but that's not relevant 'cause it's a "what if"....

sorry if I seem psycho here...

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There's no business like ZOOTV business.

 

[spunkyspike]

carriemeu2 and all,
i think it's an angel becoming a human (since the song was done for faraway, so close where the angel just wants to experience humanity). i did see "city of angels" and it was crap compared to "wings of desire".

-spunkyspike

 

[Achtung Bubba]

Not much to add to the question of the last line of "Stay", but I'd like to add that -- just like so many other movies -- City of Angels was a mediocre movie with a pretty good soundtrack. Peter Gabriel's "I Grieve" is particularly haunting (and only on this soundtrack), and I seem to remember some band doing "If God Will Send His Angels"...

If you're into getting rarities and you're looking for the single version of "If God...", try to find the single instead of the soundtrack. The single has three great B-sides:

* Slow Dancing, with Willie Nelson
* Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad, sung by Bono on Sinatra's birthday
* Sunday Bloody Sunday, live in Sarejevo, performed by the Edge

And the cover's nice too.

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- Achtung Bubba

 

[bleeargh]

I think that the whole line is a metaphore for a life that has fallen short of its potential. That an angel living as a human would result in the same travesty as the characters life

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go to a concert

 

[bleeargh]

I think that the whole line is a metaphore for a life that has fallen short of its potential. That an angel living as a human would result in the same travesty as the characters life

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go to a concert

 

[captive]

ooooohhhhhhhhh........ i grieve.... beautiful song......

 

[Salome]

I think 'the Angel' is Bono (or any other Popstar who people look up to / want to identify with - 'with satellite television you can go anywhere', '(if I could) stay than the night would be enough') who, at the end of the day, is nothing more than a normal human being - 'Just the bang and the clatter as an angel hits the ground'.

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[This message has been edited by Salome (edited 07-13-2000).]

 

[pearlriveru2fan]

IMO, i would think that the thought of something or someone, in this case an angel, hitting the ground, would be more negative than positive. it's hard to imagine an angel coming to life as a human "hitting" the ground. i would think an angel would land on the ground or something to that effect. the song on the whole is pretty pessemistic and bitter. what about if the angel he's talking about isn't really an angel? a lot of people call their daughters angels, meaning that they're righteous people. it could be that it's the story of a girl rebelling, or going bad. if she's going to a 7-11 and she doesn't smoke, she's obviously looking for something. the ending could be the sad ending of her story. she went the wrong way and ended up in the gutter.

that's just my opinion though. sorry for getting too much into the song. LOL

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"I hear Bill Clinton was out seeking foreign policy advice from the rock group U2. You may not know this, but they try to call me every night at the white house...when it comes down to it, I'll be meeting with Boris Yeltsin and John Major. Bill Clinton can stick with boy george." -George Bush Sr. (beware, THERE IS A JR.!)

"We're an Irish band. WE come from Dublin City, Ireland. Like every city, it has it's good and it has it's Bad. This is a song called Bad." -Bono, right before U2 took over Live Aid

 

[Alisaura]

I think I saw bits of Faraway, So Close on SBS once... then I saw bits of Wings of Desire, then I saw City of Angels (mediocre but I did like the falling scene), then I watched Wings of Desire properly... I dunno why I'm replying to this since I haven't actually SEEN the video clip to Stay (curses! I wanna see it... Who wants U2 to release a video full of film clips for their songs??), but the last line(s) in the song remind me powerfully of a poem we did in German Literature...I think it's by Goethe, I can't remember what it's called, but the last line of it stuck in my mind (even if the grammar didn't)... It's something like
"Auf Himmel zu die Erden
Falln sich die Engel tot."
Which means approximately 'From Heaven to the Earth, the Angel falls dead'... An angel falling isn't a positive experience, in the broad picture, since you have this heavenly being, all grace and light and virtue and everything, descending down to Earth, to our level, us grotty, crude, often unpleasant humans... but I guess the point there is that the power of love (both human and angelic) is enough to bridge those boundaries and make it worthwhile...
Sorry again!!


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Deeper into Black
Deeper into White

 

[Alisaura]

Oops! Had to mention, on the City of Angels soundtrack, the second song... WOW!! It's "Uninvited" by Alanis Morisette, and it blew me away... I crank it up LOUD and just absorb it... Wow.