Cedars Of Lebanon appreciation thread

[adrball]

I love both the emotional White As Snow and Cedars. I (think) I prefer White As Snow but Cedars is still very powerful.

 

[Diane L]

On my iTunes, POP follows NLOTH. The segue from Cedars of Lebanon with its abrupt ending into the intro to Discotecque...wow. Just. WOW!

 

[RademR]

lol funny...have it going into MOFO

 

[Popmart Shopper]

I wish this song was a few minutes longer.It kind of feels more like a track 11 than a track 12 but since U2 only makes 11 track albums now go figure.I do like this song.

 

[Rosebud]

I am getting addicted to this song right now. The delivery of that line "You say you're not gonna leave the truth alone/ I'm here 'cause I don't want to go home" is so powerful, yet understated. And the guitar before the final verse is just

 

[Diemen]

This has become my favorite song on the album. Damn near flawless.

 

[rihannsu]

Hell, yes. I love the quote from NME where they mention Rolling Stone rating Edge the 24th best guitarist of all time -- Edge responds with 'silly'.

Not sure if he meant the fact guitarists were rated at all or because of the fact he was 24th. lol.

Unfortunately Edge thinks it's silly because he doesn't think he should be there at all. The thing about all of these guys is that they don't really consider themselves musicians. Both Larry and Edge in interviews during the Vertigo tour talked about not considering themselves professional musicians. They are artists and they do use instruments but they don't really think of themselves as musicians in the traditional sense of the word. I think that is actually one of their strengths because they are never bound by the rules and rote that musicians have ingrained in them from the way they learn to play.

Dana

 

[bonoz]

Song reminds me like it could have been off of Passengers.

 

[Unknown Caller]

One word: Subtle

This song does not jump out and grab you. The first few times I heard it it seemed so simple like nothing was really going on at all. Slowly the pieces are revealing themselves. I sound here, a guitar line there. Like I said, subtle. This one does not reach out and grab you but rather makes you search for it. And when you do you will find a million brilliant things going on.

return the call to home

 

[sue4u2]

Unfortunately Edge thinks it's silly because he doesn't think he should be there at all. The thing about all of these guys is that they don't really consider themselves musicians. Both Larry and Edge in interviews during the Vertigo tour talked about not considering themselves professional musicians. They are artists and they do use instruments but they don't really think of themselves as musicians in the traditional sense of the word. I think that is actually one of their strengths because they are never bound by the rules and rote that musicians have ingrained in them from the way they learn to play.

Dana

Everything they've done is reflective of this. This is also what pisses off alot of people who seem to think U2 doesn't struggle enough for their status.
They didn't get there and remain there by being the most popular, they are there by talent alone.

 

[RademR]

This has become my favorite song on the album. Damn near flawless.

not my favorite yet, but its up there. its just incredible.

love the talking/rapping in the background and larry's drumming.

 

[redhill]

I love both the emotional White As Snow and Cedars. I (think) I prefer White As Snow but Cedars is still very powerful.

Personally, I can't understand how one could consider that they are in the same league.

WAS seems like a Peace on Earth 09 and I don't see anything good about it.

COL is, IMO, the obvious standout track on the album (along with MOS and NLOTH fighting for 2nd place.)

Sometimes there is a thing line between genius and crap.

 

[danondorf]

My interpretation of...

Cedars of Lebanon

Yesterday I spent asleep
Woke up in my clothes in a dirty heap
Spent the night tryin to make a deadline
Squeezin complicated lives into a simple headline
I have your face in an old Polaroid
Tidyin the childrens clothes and toys
You smilin back at me I took the photo from the fridge
Can't remember what Emily did
Haven't been with a woman, it feels like, for years
Thought of you the whole time, your salty tears
This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers but then it just goes

RETURN THE CALL TO HOME

The worst of us are a long drawn-out confession
The best of us are geniuses of compression
You say you're not gonna leave the truth alone
I'm here 'cause I don't wanna go home

Child drinkin dirty water from a riverbank
Soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank
Waitin on the waiter, he's takin a while to come
Watchin the sun go down on Lebanon

I got a head like a lit cigarette
Unholy clouds reflect in a minaret
So high above me, higher than everyone
Where are you in the cedars of Lebanon?

Choose your enemies carefully, 'cause they will define you
Make them interesting 'cause in some ways they will mind you
They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friends

Amazing lyrics.......

The song is incredible to drive home late at night to. Listened to it at 2 AM and it was just.........

 

[redhill]

Great except I think its :
"Can't remember what then we did"

 

[youarenotimmune]

LOVE this song!!

 

[monsieur fly]

One of the darkest songs U2 have made. Bono sounds very much like he's been without a woman in years! I love it when they do songs in this haunting vein- Velvet Dress, Stateless, Love is Blindness, Dirty Day etc.

 

[djerdap]

Best closer since Wake Up Dead Man. It ain't saying much, since the last two were crap, but it is a really good song. Love this style of U2, that was sorely missed for some time.

 

[last unicorn]

One of the darkest songs U2 have made. Bono sounds very much like he's been without a woman in years!

I'm sure he wasn't.





Sorry.


GREAT song, haunting, perfect closer.

 

[Achtung_CJ]

I love how haunting this song is. Bono's vocals are perfect. It's such a gorgeous song.
I hope they make this sound great live.

 

[santiago]

Has anybody else noticed how there is no bass on the return the call to home section?

That's a nic etrick that suddenyl creates a lot of space. When the bass comes back it sounds particularly powerful (a bit like in With or without you).

Just goes to show how subtle the production and performance are in this song.

 

[thelaj]

* "Cedars of Lebanon" includes a sample of the recording "Against The Sky" performed by Harold Budd and Brian Eno from the album "The Pearl" (Virgin/EMI 1984 - ENOCD13). Licensed courtesy of Virgin Records Limited.

The composition "Cedars of Lebanon" contains elements from "Against the Sky" written Harold Budd and Brian Eno and published by Universal Songs of Polygram International Inc / Toyon Music / Opal Music London. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

[what a bomb!]

never been a fan of spoken songs, would like this to have been bono singing...but still listening thru pc speakers, when I get the album next monday and put it through my sound system (which is shit hot! ) and pick up more of whats going on in it, may like it more

 

[eas]

I love the drums in this song!-especially when the bass drum and splash cymbal come at the same time, really well done.

 

[AtomicBono]

I love the drums in this song!-especially when the bass drum and splash cymbal come at the same time, really well done.

me too, I knew I was gonna love this song from the first 30 sec clip.

I love the organ, Edge's parts, the way things go in and out ...

I've posted in this thread like 20 times

 

[what a bomb!]

I dunno what happened....didn't like this at first now I'm loving it! So theres not a track I dont like on NLONH anymore!

 

[catlhere]

I actually liked this song a lot the first time, but I'm becoming less fond of the "return the call to home" part. I love everything but that. It just doesn't fit for me. The way the vocals are. I would have rather it just be Bono singing it in a way similar to the verses but with more a melodic voice than the out of place falsettos of whoever it is (Edge or Lanois or both)

 

[what a bomb!]

I actually liked this song a lot the first time, but I'm becoming less fond of the "return the call to home" part. I love everything but that. It just doesn't fit for me. The way the vocals are. I would have rather it just be Bono singing it in a way similar to the verses but with more a melodic voice than the out of place falsettos of whoever it is (Edge or Lanois or both)

Its that "return.." bit that gets me after the verses you don't expect that in the song's context

 

[namkcuR]

From 3:36-3:46, right before Bono sings the last four lines, there's a little bass fill, that has a really funky/jazzy feeling to it, has a really great rhythm to it. One of my favorite moments on the record.

 

[mikal]

From 3:36-3:46, right before Bono sings the last four lines, there's a little bass fill, that has a really funky/jazzy feeling to it, has a really great rhythm to it. One of my favorite moments on the record.

agreed. i truly believe that this song and White As Snow are the difference makers that make this one of U2's best albums.

 

[U2387]

Edge's little solo on this is one of the best, more important -- one of the most COMPLIMENTARY -- on the album.

It really takes the mood to another level.

When I was listening to it the first time I remember thinking, "Man I hope this album ends with a more epic version of that little guitar solo."

Of course that didn't happen, which, perhaps, makes that little solo even better.

Edge is perhaps the most subtle lead guitar player of any successful band, ever.

Very good post

If we can recall LIB, the album version solo is just kind of there as well!

However, we all know that live, it is easily a contender for Edge's best, and IMHO, is the best solo edge has done.(LIB, live from Sydney-absolutely gorgeous).

Edge is very subtle, and most importantly, he understands where subtle best fits and where letting loose best fits much more than any guitar player I have ever listened to.

Anyone else think I am on to something when I speculate that maybe, just maybe, there is an extended, epic solo in Cedars when they play it live? I dont know that it would fit the song, but then again, there are those who would have said that about LIB back in 1991.