Cedars Of Lebanon appreciation thread

[4U2Play]

This is the last song to get it's own appreciation thread...

Does everyone not like it?

Not sure how it'd work live, but it's got a "New York" feel to it

Cool Edge/Bono harmonies

 

[ozeeko]

Darkest U2 song of the decade. Love the darkness.

 

[AtomicBono]

Based on three listens, Cedars is my favourite. Beautiful. Haunting. As perfect as I thought it'd be.

imo the only closer (possibly) better is LIB.

 

[mobvok]

"I haven't been with a woman for what feels like years"

Haha, weird.

It's my favorite so far. The guitar is gonna be sweet live.

 

[last unicorn]

Beautiful song, love the lyrics, love Bono's voice.

 

[AtomicBono]

Return...the call...to home

very Radiohead. haunting.

The rest of the song doesn't remind me of Radiohead at all though.

I have no idea what it reminds me of. Nothing, I guess.

I love all the noises going through it.

fuck, I really love this song.

 

[MMP]

That "return the call home" part is not nice to the ears but it works great on this song. And it has such a strong mood, its darkness is beautifully sad. U2's best closer since LIB. Really beautiful.

 

[innocent_eyes]

Really like it, great closer. Kinda "walk to the water" + "Your Blue Room"

I love that style of sing-speak, the first verse from walk to the water could fit into this song, I was going nuts since the walmart clips were released, but it is walk to the water that this song reminds me of soo much.

She said it wasn't cold
She left her coat unbuttoned
She wore canvas shoes
White canvas shoes
Around her neck
She wore a silver necklace
'It was given to me by my father' she said
'It was given to me'

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

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

 

[4U2Play]

Excellent, thanks GAF

 

[Tripoli]

the rose on that shitty album

 

[AtomicBono]

thanks for posting the lyrics GAF I think they're fantastic. the shitty world line is kind of weird, but I think it works.

 

[Niceman]

Such a powerful song, so deeply dark. The things he has to say leave me thinking... It's the gut punch on your way out the door.......

 

[last unicorn]

thanks for posting the lyrics GAF I think they're fantastic. the shitty world line is kind of weird, but I think it works.

It totally fits. I was in doubt about it before I heard the song, but it doesn't bother me.

The lyrics are great. COL is one of my top 3 songs on the album.

Or maybe top 5? I cannot make up my mind.

 

[Niceman]

"Return the call to home" feels like a reference to Sometimes You Can't make it On Your own. "And it's you when I don't pick up the phone."

There are a few times it feels to me like these songs are talking to previous songs...

 

[Varitek]

absolutely brilliant lyrics, love love love the picture it paints, and the abrupt ending to the song and album.

favorites -
I'm here 'cause I don't wanna go home
I got a head like a lit cigarette

and the last verse.

 

[paulrg]

The bass line plays a very significant part in the mood of this number

 

[david]

"This shitty world sometimes produces a rose"

damn

 

[vaz02]

Love the vocals !! That bassline is top dog !

 

[jajanee]

Wow.. i hope one day they make an album with only this kind of songs.
This could be the way to a new audience. Great, great song.

 

[xaviMF22]

my favorite so far, so simple yet so haunting

 

[xaviMF22]

anyone else love those sounds at 2:20 ?

 

[RademR]

this song is a PERFECT closer!!! just pure beauty.....and perfect production also helps
all the sounds going on. love the vocal delivery.

 

[Cask]

Is anyone else annoyed by the noise at the beginning of this track?

 

[AtomicBono]

my favorite so far, so simple yet so haunting

yay someone agrees with me

Who does the vocals on "return...the call...to home..."? Is it Edge? That's one of the most beautiful moments on the album and a perfect contrast to Bono's dark, low vocals.

What an amazing closer. Love is Blindness, you have a contender on your hands.

 

[u2girlcj]

YES. Totally reminiscent of Love is Blindness, and that's why it is why Cedars of Lebanon is one of my very favorite tacks on this album. Certainly the best lyrics of the lot.

And I love it when Bono swares in a song.

 

[AtomicBono]

okay listening again I think Bono is doing one vocal part and Edge is doing the falsetto (on return the call to home)

 

[cdirani]

The vocal harmonies come out of nowhere and the effects are really the wildcard.
Larry's martial drumming...fab.

EDIT: now I see the point of Jimi Hendrix' on the drums' sound.

 

[innocent_eyes]

I think the music fits perfectly with the way bono delivers the vocals in a noirish narraration. Very cool. I think the song is about a reporter in the middle of a bad place, looking for God among the cedars of Lebanon. Just great.

 

[smileymbcastard]

where did you guys hear this song? am i missing something