Favorite lyrics

[2861U2]

Mods, feel free to close this thread if you think it's redundant.

I thought we could have a thread where we share our favorite lyrics. For me:

The Miracle- "music so I can exaggerate my pain, and give it a name" and "I get so many things I don't deserve"
Every Breaking Wave- the chorus
California- "I didn't call you, words can scare a thought away" and I actually really like the "Santa Barbara"s
Song For Someone- "You break and enter my imagination, whatever's in there is yours to take"
Iris- "Free yourself to be yourself, if only you could see yourself"
Volcano- nothing really stands out, though I suppose the "been out in the wild" part
Raised By Wolves- "I don't believe anymore" and "I'm gonna detonate and you're dead"
Cedarwood Road- "If the door is open it isn't theft"
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight- again, nothing really stands out. The chorus, I suppose
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now- "old man knows that I never listen, so how could I have something to say"
The Troubles- "I have a will for survival, so you can hurt me then hurt me some more"

 

[birdman]

"Is this your home, or is this a vacation" Well yes, Bono. I will want to travel to see your show

 

[Dane-Dane]

"And I'm a loooooong, long, long way from your hill of cavalry"

 

[Tim Wallach]

The chorus of The Troubles is a magnificent lyric.

 

[bono_212]

For whatever reason, I feel like, on paper, California has the strongest lyrics (besides the intro chant), but when I hear Bono sing them, I can't stand them .

Favorite Verse:

Every sailor knows that the sea
Is a friend made enemy
And every shipwrecked soul knows what it is
To live without intimacy

I thought I heard the captain’s voice
It's hard to listen while you preach
Like every broken wave on the shore
This was as far as I can reach


Favorite Chorus:

All the green and all the gold
The hurt you hide
And the joy you hold
The foolish pride
That sends you back for more
Up on Cedarwood Road
On Cedarwood Road




Annnnnnd, the portion that has been on my mind most, lately:
Iris standing in the hall
She tells me I can do it all
Iris wakes to my nightmare
Don’t fear the world
It isn’t there

Iris playing on the strand
She buries the boy beneath the sand
Iris says that I will be the death of her
It was not me

 

[Afliktor]

Love all of EBW, especially the line "Every gambler knows that to lose is what you're really there for"

"The ache in my heart is so much a part of who I am" is an amazing line that I can really identify with

I don't know why but I really like "Do you live here or is this a vacation?" It has this sort of casual indie/post-punk feel.

the second verse of Raised by Wolves is pretty exceptional. "There are some girls with a needle trying to spell my name." Very evocative

Upon first listen the line "You can't return to where you've never left" really stood out to me

love the chorus to Troubles, and the line "the trouble is you"

overall I think Bono really stepped up his game this album, there aren't any clunkers this time around

 

[RoKKeR]

"You're gonna sleep like a baby tonight,
In your dreams everything is alright,
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide,
But you're gonna sleep like a baby tonight."

Love that chorus. It's all light and playful until "tomorrow dawn like a suicide" hits you over the head with AB-era U2 darkness.

 

[deltau922]

Boy sees his father crushed under the weight
Of a cross in a passion where the passion is hate


Friendship once it's won, it's won

And the chorus/hook of The Troubles is exceptional


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Dane-Dane]

Actually I believe it's "friendship once it's won, it's ONE" which is rather beautiful.

Today's favorite lyric:
I've seen myself there's no end to grief, that's how I know that there is no end to love

 

[RobertWiscy]

"I don't believe anymore" and "the worst things in the world are justified by belief" from RBW. " Dreams, it's a dirty thing, dreaming / Where there's a silence and not screaming" from Sleep. "Iris standing in the hall / She tells me I can do it all" and "Something in your eyes / Took a thousand years, a thousand years" and "I've got your life inside me" from Iris.

Sent from my SPH-L720T using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[bort269]

Face down on a pillow of shame
There are some girls with a needle trying to spell my name
My body's not a canvas
My body's now a toilet wall

 

[purpleoscar]

The Miracle (of Joey Ramone): We got language so we can't communicate.
Every Breaking Wave: The first verse and the chorus.
California: Stolen days are just enough.
Song for Someone: You break and enter my imagination. Whatever's in there it's yours to take.
Iris (Hold me close): Don't fear the world, it isn't there.
Volcano: You were alone, now you're not alone. You were alone, but now you are rock 'n roll.
Raised by Wolves: I don't believe anymore...a passion where the passion is hate. The worst things in the world are justified by belief
If I open my eyes you disappear.
Cedarwood Road: Paint the world you need to see.
Still need an enemy. The worst ones you can't see. You can...You can.
Sleep like a baby tonight: Where there is silence and not screaming. Where there's no daylight, there's no healing.
Hope is where the door is, when the church is where the war is.
This is where you can reach me now: You don't lose if you don't play.
The Troubles: First chorus. And you think it's easier to know your own tricks. Well it's the hardest thing you'll ever do.

 

[prbiker15]

The Miracle
"Music so I can exaggerate my pain, and give it a name"
Every Breaking Wave
"If you go? If you go your way and I go mine. Are we so? Are we so helpless against the tide?"
"Every sailor knows that the sea is a friend made enemy....this is as far as I could reach"
California
"Words can scare a thought away"
Song for Someone
"I don't know how these cuts heal, but in you I found a rhyme"
"You break and enter my imagination, whatever's in there it's yours to take"
Iris
"Iris standing in the hall....Don't fear the world, it isn't there"
"Iris playing on the strand....It was not me"
Volcano
"Your eyes were like landing lights...The future's gonna land on you"
Raised by Wolves
"If I open my eyes, you disappear"
Cedarwood Road
"A friendship once it's won. It's won, it's one"
"Northside, just across the river from the Southside....Cedarwood Road"
"Sleepwalking down the road, not waking from these dreams"
"You can't return to where you've never left"
"Paint the world you need to see"
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight
"Dreams....Where there's no daylight there's no healing"
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now
"We've come to colonize your night. And steal your poetry"
"If you won't let us in your world. Your world just isn't there"
The Troubles
"Somebody stepped inside your soul....Till someone else was in control"
"To put your finger on the trouble....Well it's the hardest thing you'll ever do"

 

[RobertWiscy]

Face down on a pillow of shame
There are some girls with a needle trying to spell my name
My body's not a canvas
My body's now a toilet wall

That lyric suddenly grabbed me this weekend, particularly when contrasted with the prior verse which has a parallel first line ("Face down on a broken street").

Raised By Wolves was stunning on first listen and it remains so. One of the real standouts on this album.

Is it true that the song is essentially written from the first-person perspective of the guy who inspired Bad?

If so the needle and toilet wall references are even more powerful.

 

[last unicorn]

^ Makes me think of some of the lyrics in Moment of Surrender.

Personally, I like a lot of the album lyrics. What's stuck most in my head is, from Sleep like a baby:

Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain

And from The Trouble:

I have a will for survival
So you can hurt me
And then hurt me some more

And from Iris:

Hold me close
Like I’m someone that you might know

In that particular context, these lyrics almost make me cry. Beautiful.

 

[Rhiannon64]

Here are just a few favorite lines~
I love all of Song for Someone, but this is my favorite line:
"If there is a kiss I stole from your mouth
And there is a light, don't let it go out."

Volcano:
"Your eyes were like landing lights, they used to be the clearest blue
Now you don't see so well, the future's gonna land on you."

And my absolute favorite from The Troubles:
"God knows it's not easy
taking on the shape of someone else's pain.
God, now you can see me
I'm naked and I'm not afraid
My body's sacred and I'm not ashamed."

 

[BluRmGrl]

^ ...from Iris:

Hold me close
Like I’m someone that you might know

Here are just a few favorite lines~

Volcano:
"Your eyes were like landing lights, they used to be the clearest blue
Now you don't see so well, the future's gonna land on you."

And my absolute favorite from The Troubles:
"God knows it's not easy
taking on the shape of someone else's pain.
God, now you can see me
I'm naked and I'm not afraid
My body's sacred and I'm not ashamed."

Have to second these lines in particular. As for "Iris", that line brings me to tears every single time. It's just so raw.

 

[bobsaget77]

All of raised by wolves. Except for the chorus. I don't like the chorus. Rest is great.