Wake up Dead Man

[wertsie]

It has such a foreboding, solemn feel to it, but it always makes me feel better...I guess because it's nice to know that other people have felt that way, ya know?

"Jesus, Jesus, help me...I'm alone in this world, and a fucked up world it is, too. Tell me...Tell me the story...The one about eternity...and the way it's all gonna be..."

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

 

[Bonochick]

I remember buying "Pop"...it was my first new U2 album experience because I'd only been a fan for just under 2 years. I listened to the entire thing straight through, of course. Then..."Wake Up Dead Man"...the last song. Those first lines grab you and kind of make you feel numb for the rest of the song. I think the song is very powerful...perhaps underrated by many, as are many songs on "Pop".

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"Hallelujah, Heaven's white rose,
The doors you open...I just can't close..."

 

[wertsie]

Oh, yeah! POP is underrated in general, but especially "Wake up Dead Man." We never hear about it!

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

 

[zooropamanda]

Its a heavy mother as Bono would put it, thats why!
I couldn't handle listening to it at first. I adore PoP but that was a cruel cruel way to end the album, and they were very clever in doing that. To start with such silliness and upbeats of Discotheque and finish with WUDM, its a real journey of an album.

I never really understood it until last year where I saw Bono perform live alone in London. It kinda left a stale feeling in my mouth befre then. I never understood why He'd want to sing about the subject of the song. Until that night, when Bono performed hours after his father had died. The band were not in focus, just Bono walking around the heart and stage alone with a guitar, singing Wake Up Dead Man. It was incredible. I thought about how it would be the last song, he'd want to sing that night, but when he did, it was perfect.

I've loved it ever since.

The power of live music and a man with soul.

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*I am a cowgirl of funk*

 

[RufusYoungblood]

Originally posted by zooropamanda:

The power of live music and a man with soul.

Amen.

 

[MixingBliss]

I'd love to hear more about the manifestations of the song. In the Berlin Bootlegs (Axtung Beibi Outtakes) there's a song or two when Bono hollars out "Wake up, wake up, wake up dead man." (I think the working title of the song was "Wake Up.") So apparently this is a concept Bon had tossed around long before "Pop."
The song itself echoes a lot of sentiments from other songs, past and present, but its severity and rawness make it like no other U2 song, which is why it's so extraordinary. In it, I hear tones of Tomorrow, October, New Year's Day, The Fly, The Wanderer and of course If God Will Send His Angels and Staring at the Sun. "Wake Up Dead Man" also seems to preface "Peace on Earth."
Also, the last verse:
"If there's an order in all of this disorder
Is it like a tape recorder
Can we rewind it just once more" (or "Rewind and just watch more...")
is reminscent of the movie "Until the End of the World," which makes sense if you've seen it.
So, yeah, I totally dig the song, but partly because there's a mystery to it.

 

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by wertsie:
POP is underrated in general,

Not on this board it ain't!

But about WUDM, I've always kind of liked the music, but the lyrics I have a problem with. I was completely astonished when they started to play it after One at my concert last year (Vancouver, a year ago yesterday.) I was like "They're going to end with their most depressing song ever?" But then of course they did Walk On. And though I'm really not a big fan of WUDM, it was an interesting transition between the two songs and worked well.



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Your sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars
Carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

 

[oliveu2cm]

Originally posted by zooropamanda:

I never really understood it until last year where I saw Bono perform live alone in London. It kinda left a stale feeling in my mouth befre then. I never understood why He'd want to sing about the subject of the song. Until that night, when Bono performed hours after his father had died. The band were not in focus, just Bono walking around the heart and stage alone with a guitar, singing Wake Up Dead Man. It was incredible. I thought about how it would be the last song, he'd want to sing that night, but when he did, it was perfect.

I've loved it ever since.

The power of live music and a man with soul.

This is interesting to me... so Bono was walking around the stage, singing at the same time? with the guitar? he usually if he has the guitar, sings at the mic. Was it listless walking? I haven't been able to get myself prepared to listen to this boot, it must have been an incredible show.

here's what a friend and i had to say about WUDM:
this one is almost the opposite of IGWSHA, in the sense that the title is what is the snapping retort, and from the first stanza you almost believe that he really is looking for help.. in IGWSHA He said "will everything be all right?" NOT, "If God would send his angels, everything would be all right." He's not even SURE God can help him! Also like a child here, "tell me, tell me a story". It's funny, but as bitter as this song is, in a way it's less accusatory than God Angels, because he's giving God the benefit of the doubt (maybe your hands weren't free, were you working on something new?) rather than saying "would he even pick up if he could"?

really a heart wrenching song, though, and his voice on it just digs its fingers into you and grabs a fistful of heart, you know?

ok i'll keep it short lol.

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She never really belonged to me

U2 Take Me Higher
Macphisto's Mansion

 

[U2sPrincess]

I love the song. It?s a shame they only play a little part of it on the Boston DVD.

 

[wildwildhoney]

WUDM is a very powerful song,it leaves me feeling sort of numb and bitter after it..need to play the album again to get the high of Discotheque lol.

 

[Zoocifer]

Dearest Zoonationals,

"Wake up Deadman" has always been one of my all-time favorite songs in the U2 category. I think it hosts some of Bono's (and Edge's ?) most powerful lyrics. Everything from the ringing guitar to the first time Bono uses "fuck" (you have to admit, it struck you off-guard because he'd never truly used profanity in any album so outloud and in color before) and the excellent musicianship by Larry & Adam.

Those who play guitar probably have an even greater love for the song - for it is a wonderful song to sit on the edge of your bed or corner of your room and play.

I love the way that Bono does not hold back in what he is saying to Jesus. We all get to a point in our lives where we want to know what the hell is going on and we want to know now. We all get to a point in our lives where we want answers to a dozen of questions that have been asked many times before. We all get to a point in our lives when we lose it.

"Wake up Deadman" is not just a calling-out to the Lord above, no - it is more of a vision of Apocolypse. Throughout the Pop album it is noticeable. "Last night on Earth" with the ground giving way and "Gone" when the singer prefers being up with the sun instead of being with those on the ground (that then makes you think that perhaps he wants to be up with the sun because that ground was previously giving way). "If you wear that Velvet Dress" is tormented and haunted by a battle between the Sun and the Moon - and "please", with its shards of glass and bended knees, leads very well into the gothic tune that is "Wake up Deadman".

Everything about the song is perfect. The vocal distortions, the lyrics, the drums. Every little thing is absolutely perfect. It is the ultimate album closer and with that - we also have to remember that "Love is Blindness" runs in the same vein as "Deadman". I suppose that'll be for another discussion.

- The Zoocifer -

 

[ouizy]

doesn't he also say fuck in MOFO?

Anyway - I love this song too and it was my second favorite after Gone when I first purchased this disc.

The best part for me is that he is calling out for help - for him Jesus. But it can strike a chord for anyone, I am not Christian, yet I feel a connection to the song...

I dunno...

 

[Swan269]

I have always wanted to hear the Zooropa version of "Deadman"...it supposedly rocked really hard and Adam's bass was fantastic. The song wasn't the direction the band was going at the time but I have always wanted to hear the other version...along with "God send angels", and "Velvet Dress"...the only evidence is you can see some of these titles in the Zooropa cover.

 

[FallingStar]

Wake Up is indeed an amazing song. Sometimes when I feel like shite and would really like to beat something up - when not even myself for stupid self-pittiness - and I listen to the song, then everything seems so unimportant......and it feels okay then.

Yep, it really helps to know that also other people were stuck somewhere, but got it right with the time........

 

[adamswildhoney]

Wake Up Deadman is an awesome song! I listen to it sometimes to know that there are people that feel the same way that I feel sometimes.