"The Hands That Built America": Questions and Comments (Super-Merged MegaThread)

[IWasBored]

the whispering sounded like "wishing and dreaming" on the dvd but it sounds like "russian italian polish german muslim chinese jewish" and probably a couple others that i forgot on the cd...

at first i thought the title was cheesy and that it was an ok song, but i really liked how it fit in the movie (cos scorsese's just cool like that, with putting music in various different scenes in different movies he's made), and then i went home and listened to the song on repeat and it's become one of my favourite songs lyrically and i really love the keyboard intro-y thing...it's such a great song...yeah and then i read a review of the best of in which it was described as "drivel" and felt compelled to track down the person who wrote that and...heh, i don't know, do something bad to them...

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Okay...

FallingStar said that the "innocence dragged across a yellow line" bit was referring to, in her opinion, the security lines around the remains of the World Trade Center.

And now every time I hear that part, I think of that, and I feel like crying.

As for the whole whispered lines thing, I haven't heard that, so I'll listen closer next time and see if I can make out anything.

Angela

 

[IWasBored]

yeah, i thought it was about caution tape too...

 

[mad1]

Hi everyone .....yup, me again!

Ok, now that I found this thread I do have a question.

It is, what does the line 'to hanging steel in the sky' mean?

Of course it represents the country to the building of the city, right? But this line, stands out to me, because Im tryin to work out where I have heard it before, or rather that I havent heard it before but its reference to old cities, like 'newly-built/new-born cities'......I guess I think of my city, Belfast, the old Belfast, pics or high steel factory chimneys (almost like a Mary Poppins vision - the chimney dance (ya know, tall chimneys? - silhouetted against the sky)!!!!!!) Or like tall steel 'scaffolding'.
So am I right in saying they are talking about New York being built, in the early early years with tall steel factory chimneys, etc?

I can almost see the steam trains and massive factories and tall tall buildings.......

But, am I right? Or if not, what does the line mean, this whole 'hanging from the sky?'

If you know, I'd appreciate the answer.....




It is a wonderful song and I actually truly prefer their Best Of version to the DVD version....its more haunting...the intro that is.....

Beautiful song and very beautiful lyrics.......


it reminds me of a pic of old New York, the Empire and buildings around it, you know, old docks close to it, and big shelters and factories - all in this big picture Im really planning on buying now! Its a huge black and white print and its absolutely gorgeous, for it is a photo, and the sun is shining on the buildings, just the way it is captured, with the old bricks used for building etc..................right thats it! Im gonna ask him to hold it over for me!

 

[irelandwhispers]

Here are the whispered lines:

Russian, Sioux, Dutch, Hindu
Polish, Irish, German, Italian

The Irish, the Blacks, the Chinese, the Jews
Korean, Hispanic, Muslim, Indian

They have been posted in the U2.com lyrics section for a long time, but I didn't read through this thread until today.

I think the video on U2.com shows Edge whispering the lines. Don't take my word for it, though.

 

[irelandwhispers]

Ok, now that I found this thread I do have a question.

It is, what does the line 'to hanging steel in the sky' mean?

Of course it represents the country to the building of the city, right? But this line, stands out to me, because Im tryin to work out where I have heard it before, or rather that I havent heard it before but its reference to old cities, like 'newly-built/new-born cities'......I guess I think of my city, Belfast, the old Belfast, pics or high steel factory chimneys (almost like a Mary Poppins vision - the chimney dance (ya know, tall chimneys? - silhouetted against the sky)!!!!!!) Or like tall steel 'scaffolding'.
So am I right in saying they are talking about New York being built, in the early early years with tall steel factory chimneys, etc?

I can almost see the steam trains and massive factories and tall tall buildings.......

But, am I right? Or if not, what does the line mean, this whole 'hanging from the sky?'

If you know, I'd appreciate the answer.....

I think 'hanging steel from the sky' sounds a lot like the word 'skyscrapers'. I believe this line is just referring to the building of New York City. I remember learning in history class that at first nobody believed anyone would be able to erect these tall tall structures in such a small space when cities like New York started building UP instead of OUT. Steel made it possible to do so. Other materials would simply collapse if used for structures as tall as skyscrapers. Skyscrapers were invented so they could fit more people in a smaller space, to enable more people to be closer to the jobs and other opportunities found in a city.

 

[Danospano]

The final verse of "Hands That Built America"

Does anyone have an opinon on meaning of the last verse of "The Hands That Built America"?

The line in question was changed during their Oscar performance, but either verse has left me wondering what Bono intended to mean by using the color yellow to describe "innocence is dragged across a yellow line" , and "There's a yellow cloud over the desert sky"?

What does the yellow line/yellow cloud represent? Is it a biblical reference? Does yellow represent lies, anger, purity? What?

 

[irelandwhispers]

There's a merged thread for this already...some other people had some thoughts on the yellow line. Look here:

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70163

I think "yellow" is just another lemon reference.

 

[sue4u2]

I have seen or heard Bono talk (on one show or interview somewhere )about the US not having the same experiences with terroism as maybe Ireland and the Israeli/Palisti conflict. Since 911, you could say the innocence of the US has been dragged across that yellow line. IMO

 

[U2girl91289]

At the Oscars version,where Bono usualy yells"dreams"(before it's early fall, etc) it sounded like he was yelling something in Arabic, or something about the war in english. What was it?

 

[drumkeeran]

After watching a very intense "Gangs of New York" the familiar intro started. About thirty seconds into the video passage of time, the shots of the building of New York, I knew it was coming. I knew that Bono had penned the lyrics soon after 9/11. I burst into tears. I knew the picture of the towers would arrive. My husband had to help me out of the theatre.

I wish that all the Oscar voters could have shared my experience. I wish that song had won the Oscar.

Yes, the yellow meant the police tape. Yes, now America knows a huge bit of terrorism, no more innocence.

Bono seems to have a thing for yellow, as in the new album is full of "mad yellow". Mad hope?? I guess that would describe my views these days.


Isn't yellow supposed to mean hope and friendship??

From the rose growers: Joy, gladness, friendship, delight, the promise of a new beginning, welcome back, remember me, "I care" and jealousy

From the historical http://members.tripod.com/ClanofDanu/colors.html
Yellow,
is cheerful but can become irritating if alone for too long. dark yellow can be oppressive while light yellow is breezy. The bright golden color yellow lies between green and orange on the visible spectrum and is, along with red and blue, one of the primary colors. Since about A.D. 900 the color yellow has been integrated into the English language, stemming from closely related words in the Latin and various Germanic languages. In heraldry, where it is called for (for gold) the color yellow stands for the positive virtues of faith, constancy, wisdom, and glory. It also has been thought of as being a color that represents playfulness, light, creativity, warmth, mental powers, charm, confidence, vision, joy, enthusiasm, optimism, and an easy going attitude about life. The color yellow also has many negative associations as well, among them are jealousy, treachery, cowardice, aging, and illness. Yellow represents the direction East. In Hindu belief, it represents the solar plexus chakra.

 

[Joshua_Tree_Hugger]

The lines are;

"...And there's a cloud in the dessert skyline.
Someone's son,
Is it yours or is it mine?"

I'm not sure about the first line (missed it when I was expecting the normal lyrics). I've only heard it once but am sure that the above is right.

It's clearly a reference to the war in Iraq (the dessert). The "someone's son" is a reference to the soldiers being killed. Bono is saying that not only their biological fathers suffer when the die, but also that he (and everyone else) suffers.

It's poetry once again. But would I expect anything less from the world's greatest lyricist?

 

[wertsie]

Here are the whispered lines:

Russian, Sioux, Dutch, Hindu
Polish, Irish, German, Italian

The Irish, the Blacks, the Chinese, the Jews
Korean, Hispanic, Muslim, Indian

They have been posted in the U2.com lyrics section for a long time, but I didn't read through this thread until today.

I think the video on U2.com shows Edge whispering the lines. Don't take my word for it, though.

Cool! Thanks for posting this...the mystery is solved! And you know what? Now that I listen, it DOES kinda sound like Edge...

 

[U2FReAk]

I don't think the "some father's son" line is meant to describe the soldiers, but rather the civilian children. just my interpretation.

 

[Ultraviolet Light]

I always thought "dragged across a yellow line" was a reference to the yellow lines on the middle of the road.

Don't really know why though.

And I thought "yellow cloud on the desert skyline" could be a reference to chemical or biological warfare, although that could be just because I associate mustard gas with actually being yellow, even though it's colorless.

Also, maybe "some father's son" could be
some father's:

son:

 

[AvsGirl41]

I totally got the George Bush 1 & 2 interpretation also.

 

[AvsGirl41]

Here are the whispered lines:

Russian, Sioux, Dutch, Hindu
Polish, Irish, German, Italian

The Irish, the Blacks, the Chinese, the Jews
Korean, Hispanic, Muslim, Indian

They have been posted in the U2.com lyrics section for a long time, but I didn't read through this thread until today.

I think the video on U2.com shows Edge whispering the lines. Don't take my word for it, though.

U2.com had the lyrics! And no one posted them?

Is there a smiley slapping it's forehead?

Mystery solved, thank you!

 

[IWasBored]

Is there a smiley slapping it's forehead?

no but there's a picture of edge that would work pretty well:

 

[Moonriver]

no but there's a picture of edge that would work pretty well:

[/B][/QUOTE]

 

[irelandwhispers]

U2.com had the lyrics! And no one posted them?

Is there a smiley slapping it's forehead?

Mystery solved, thank you!

Yw wertsie and AvsGirl

I used to check U2.com all the time for news, lyrics, videos, etc. until I found the U2 Lyrics Archive and then Interference, not to mention all those great fan sites by Interferencers. The lyrics section on U2.com has a lot of typos and mistakes, but they seem to add new songs as soon as possible. I'll e-mail whoever's running the U2 Lyrics Archive to see if we can get the "Hands" lyrics fixed on there.

 

[Danospano]

I think the Oscar telecast version of the line was misquoted by myself. As was pointed out in a preceding post it was "There's a cloud over a desert skyline", not "a yellow cloud...".

That being said I think the cloud represents the smoke of the bombs...the fires that are being set to buildings, etc.

The line describing a father's son...."is it yours or is it mine" would, in my opinion, be describing the soldiers who are fighting AND secondly the civilians. Bono has written about the plights of refugees many times, which leads me to believe he intended to include this section of Iraqis, but considering the state of the war at Oscar time, I believe he was sending the line toward the soldiers who were composing the majority of the casualties.

The yellow line has garnered a couple of opinions from Interferencers. The first being the assumption that it refers to a yellow road line. The second being a reference to yellow police tape. While the police tape reference seems most logical, we all know that Bono could have drawn the metaphor to literally anything. The yellow line of traffic could be seen as a metaphor for separting two directions of traffic. To clarify: America was moving in the wrong direction with their foriegn policy (i.e. going toward the oncoming traffic, and 9/11 made us cross the yellow line to straighten out our ethics in global relationsions. Joining the "correct" flow of traffic. ?????

Here's a third....out-of-left-field theory: You know those yellow ribbons that everyone ties around trees during wars? What if Bono was saying that when 9/11 occured he foresaw an inevitable war in the future of Americans, and that our innocence was bound to be dragged across those yellow lines of ribbon? That's a bit of a stretch, but worthy of consideration. Again....who knows the correct answer....I suppose we'll all agree that there isn't ONE, SINGLE, CORRECT answer to this obviously subjective question, but it's worth a discussion all the same.

Cheers, Dano

 

[Danospano]

I think the Oscar telecast version of the line was misquoted by myself. As was pointed out in a preceding post it was "There's a cloud over a desert skyline", not "a yellow cloud...".

That being said I think the cloud represents the smoke of the bombs...the fires that are being set to buildings, etc.

The line describing a father's son...."is it yours or is it mine" would, in my opinion, be describing the soldiers who are fighting AND secondly the civilians. Bono has written about the plights of refugees many times, which leads me to believe he intended to include this section of Iraqis, but considering the state of the war at Oscar time, I believe he was sending the line toward the soldiers who were composing the majority of the casualties.

The yellow line has garnered a couple of opinions from Interferencers. The first being the assumption that it refers to a yellow road line. The second being a reference to yellow police tape. While the police tape reference seems most logical, we all know that Bono could have drawn the metaphor to literally anything. The yellow line of traffic could be seen as a metaphor for separting two directions of traffic. To clarify: America was moving in the wrong direction with their foriegn policy (i.e. going toward the oncoming traffic, and 9/11 made us cross the yellow line to straighten out our ethics in global relationsions. Joining the "correct" flow of traffic. ?????

Here's a third....out-of-left-field theory: You know those yellow ribbons that everyone ties around trees during wars? What if Bono was saying that when 9/11 occured he foresaw an inevitable war in the future of Americans, and that our innocence was bound to be dragged across those yellow lines of ribbon? That's a bit of a stretch, but worthy of consideration. Again....who knows the correct answer....I suppose we'll all agree that there isn't ONE, SINGLE, CORRECT answer to this obviously subjective question, but it's worth a discussion all the same.

Cheers, Dano

 

[Ultraviolet Light]

MSNBC reported the lyrics as:

?Late in the spring,
Yellow cloud on a desert skyline.
Some father?s son
Is it his, or is it mine??

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74672

(not that they couldn't be wrong)

 

[irelandwhispers]

MSNBC reported the lyrics as:

?Late in the spring,
Yellow cloud on a desert skyline.
Some father?s son
Is it his, or is it mine??

I just watched the video of the performance again. MSNBC's lyrics are correct.

 

[mad1]

this may sound completely naff but I figured 'yellow cloud in the desert sky' was in ref too the desert sands blowing up into the sky (sand is yellowish!) from all the bombs, etc........therefore it 'hangs' with dust/yellowness of the sand over a city that is obviously mainly full of it, and because it hangs due to a bomb dropped, etc, some fathers son was prob innocently or deliberately killed somewhere under it.


am I making sense?

Prob not, I never do!!!!!!!!