Is Window indeed a mix of two beach clips?

[Utoo]

A week or two ago, there was a dubious new poster who claimed to have a copy of WITS, but didn't want to share it. He/she claimed that it was a mix of two beach clips. Since the poster was brand new to the forum & seemed to only be provoking us all, we labeled him a troll. That label may have been right...but listen to this:

Listen to WITS at 2:50-2:60. This is the

I know I hurt you and I made you cry
did everything but murder you and I


It sounds an awful lot like the chorus from beachclip 403/Thank You to me... It's only those two lines--nowhere else in the song does 403 seem to sneak in.

What's interesting is that if you listen to 400, the beachclip version of WITS, Bono sings this part differently (besides apparently different lyrics)----and it doesn't have the 403 quality to it. In 400, you can hear this part start at 2:43 for the first line, and then the second line starts around 2:50. That second line goes up at the end--while it goes down in the same section of WITS or in 403/Thank You.

 

[Utoo]

More specifically, compare the two lines starting at:

2:50 in WITS

with the two lines starting at

1:22 in 403

with most attention paid to the second lines in each pair.


I know, mountains out of molehills... But still

 

[u2boy_nl]

No offense but why is everyone so obsessed with these beach clips?

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

maybe he had the song after all? who knows only he knows

 

[Utoo]

No offense but why is everyone so obsessed with these beach clips?

A couple reasons:

1). they're leaks of new songs, giving them some exciting potential

2). they're works in progress. I know I love getting things like all 7 discs of the Salome Outtakes, the 30-second JT demos, soundchecks, etc. Personally, I think it's cool to hear versions of songs that are pre-production and still in development. I'm a nerd, I guess!



Two reasons why I'm interested in other people's thoughts about this are that 1). maybe that guy actually had a copy & was a good source of information, and 2). If Bono consciously borrowed a bit of melody from another of his songs, then perhaps that may mean 403 will be relegated to a B-side (like Always), or perhaps even never seen at all.

 

[djerdap]

Thank You is a song by Daniel Lanois, supposedly co-written by Bono. So, the answer is no.

 

[Utoo]

Thank You is a song by Daniel Lanois, supposedly co-written by Bono. So, the answer is no.

I don't quite see why that matters...

 

[dietcokeofevil]

No offense but why is everyone so obsessed with these beach clips?

You didn't hear? That's the name of the next album:

BEACH CLIP ANTHOLOGY

 

[dietcokeofevil]

The deluxe package will include Bono Blabber b-sides such as

"The Edge is on Fire"

 

[djerdap]

I don't quite see why that matters...

???

Two different songs, obviously. So, Window can´t be a combination of the two since the second song is a different piece of music.

And birds fly in the sky, of course.

 

[LemonMelon]

The deluxe package will include Bono Blabber b-sides such as

"The Edge is on Fire"

"Adam is cooler than liquid nitrogen"

 

[chadmac81]

Where can we find these beach clips?

 

[vaz02]

The drumming from WITS sounds like 402.

 

[Utoo]

???

Two different songs, obviously. So, Window can´t be a combination of the two since the second song is a different piece of music.

Wow, brilliant! Two pieces of music! Hence, something can be a mix of two different songs to become another one. No version that Lanois has performed live has been anything like the version seen in 403. Until the song is officially recorded, 403 and all of Lanois' live iterations are essentially demos---which can be discarded, can be altered, or can be combined with other bits to create something new. Until it is officially released as a song in its own right (and occasionally even then), any bits and pieces of a song are fair game.

Do you really think that every song by every artist arises from its own singluar, unique identity--and that no song has come from bits and pieces of more than one other musical idea? Go read about the creation of EPAA. Or listen to half of the Salome tapes, then listen to AB & Zooropa. Or do your own reading and find a good couple dozen of other examples, just with U2.

 

[Dorian Gray]

Thank You is a song by Daniel Lanois, supposedly co-written by Bono. So, the answer is no.

didn't Bono quote the lyrics to this song on some TV news clip, claiming it to be a song he wrote on the piano?

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

I heard Windows once today, and I made the exact same thinking..... that it is (at least for 2 lines) a mix of the Thank you song from the (now very famous) beach clips.....

Good point Utoo....

 

[Utoo]

didn't Bono quote the lyrics to this song on some TV news clip, claiming it to be a song he wrote on the piano?

Yep, and the lyrics of the version Lanois has performed are very different than the lyrics in 403--and the lyrics that he said on the Brian Williams intervew. (1. http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=163471&highlight=403+lyrics 2. http://www.atu2.com/newalbum/ 3. http://www.u2wanderer.org/rtss/viewthread.php?tid=273 )



"Work in progress."

 

[djerdap]

Wow, brilliant! Two pieces of music! Hence, something can be a mix of two different songs to become another one. No version that Lanois has performed live has been anything like the version seen in 403. Until the song is officially recorded, 403 and all of Lanois' live iterations are essentially demos---which can be discarded, can be altered, or can be combined with other bits to create something new. Until it is officially released as a song in its own right (and occasionally even then), any bits and pieces of a song are fair game.

Do you really think that every song by every artist arises from its own singluar, unique identity--and that no song has come from bits and pieces of more than one other musical idea? Go read about the creation of EPAA. Or listen to half of the Salome tapes, then listen to AB & Zooropa. Or do your own reading and find a good couple dozen of other examples, just with U2.

Salome tapes - composed and played by U2
Achtung Baby and Zooropa - composed and played by U2

Thank You For the Day- composed and played by Daniel Lanois
Window in the Skies - composed and played by U2

Unless there are credits that involve Lanois in the Window in the Skies creation, I disagree with you.

And I don´t hear slightest note of Window in the beach clip 403.

 

[Utoo]

Salome tapes - composed and played by U2
Achtung Baby and Zooropa - composed and played by U2

Sure, if you think so.

In truth, Lanois and Eno have had much more of an impact on the writing and playing of U2 songs than they get credit for on the liner notes.

Go listen to Danny Lanois' album Acadie and tell me that every idea from JT was U2's (or that every idea from Acadie is Lanois').



Beachclip 403 - performed by U2. Since the lyrics and music are different than Lanois' version, it's written by U2 as well. Until we see on a liner note for this unreleased bootleg that Lanois helped out, right? There's no reason to think that it's utterly impossible that the melody of two friggin' lines of a song influenced by work done by Bono & Lanois can be used in another of Bono's lyrical melodies.

If you don't hear it, that's fine. But there's no sense in making such a lame argument & big deal about it.

 

[Chizip]

i think its 400 and 409

 

[djerdap]

Sure, if you think so.

In truth, Lanois and Eno have had much more of an impact on the writing and playing of U2 songs than they get credit for on the liner notes.

Go listen to Danny Lanois' album Acadie and tell me that every idea from JT was U2's (or that every idea from Acadie is Lanois').



Beachclip 403 - performed by U2. Since the lyrics and music are different than Lanois' version, it's written by U2 as well. Until we see on a liner note for this unreleased bootleg that Lanois helped out, right? There's no reason to think that it's utterly impossible that the melody of two friggin' lines of a song influenced by work done by Bono & Lanois can be used in another of Bono's lyrical melodies.

If you don't hear it, that's fine. But there's no sense in making such a lame argument & big deal about it.

I disagree my arguments are lame.
Lanois was the producer of Achtung Baby - of course there are parts of his work in the Salome tapes and the AB songs. But "Thank You For the Day" is his solo work. Same as, for example, "Falling at Your Feet". Did Bono use those melodies for any other song? I doubt it.
We know nothing about the origin of the beach clip 403. Maybe Bono just played it for himself and improvised the lyrics.

We could go on and on... I do agree this discussion is practically useless.

 

[Utoo]

Again, I'm only talking about two lines.

But yes, our discussion is pointless, so I'm done.

 

[alanah]

I heard Windows once today, and I made the exact same thinking..... that it is (at least for 2 lines) a mix of the Thank you song from the (now very famous) beach clips.....

Good point Utoo....

Oh, and I always loved "Thank You" since I heard for the first time by Lanois.