'Window In The Skies' -- The "Eternal Song"

[The Slow Loris]

“It’s a song that every generation has to sing, it’s the eternal song. It’s about what’s possible and still everything is possible.”

- Bono

Wow.

 

[Kildare]

“It’s a song that every generation has to sing, it’s the eternal song. It’s about what’s possible and still everything is possible.”

- Bono

Wow.

LOL...

 

[The Slow Loris]

By the way, I can post the full article which is from Melbourne's Herald Sun. It didn't appear on their website, but it did appear in the paper's Saturday edition....

Back to the topic... If this is indeed a "generation" song, one that people from every generation will be singing, could it really be 400? Sounds more like 404 to me, but redone with piano. Of course, it may be none of the beachclips at all!

The speculation continues....

The "eternal song"....wow, Bono really outdid himself this time....I mean, wow.... just wow.

 

[Niceman]

Man, if it HALF lives up to the hype......I'd pay 13-14 bucks for just that......

 

[DontExpect]

i just started singing through All My Life while playing the "Orchestral Strings" preset on my MIDI keyboard and it actually works if you slow the tempo down a bit. The prospect that Windows could in fact be a totally altered version of All My Life/404 would be really incredible. I also discovered that edge's guitar solo is easily transcribable to strings, as a friend of mine plays violin and was trying to figure it out earlier. It seems possible that instead of having edge solo twice, one of the solos could be on strings....

somebody, please wake me up!! i think i am drifting into the land of u2 dreams

 

[2861U2]

Good lord, this has to leak NOW!

 

[Lancemc]

I really don't think this is a beach clip song. Or if it is, it has to be a heavily modified 400. But wow, that's really a ton of hype, even from Bono. Can't wait to hear it.

 

[phillyfan26]

Does it matter anymore? Whatever it is will be much different from any of the clips anyway.

 

[U2freakboy]

I still think it will be 400, but the thought of it being a re-worked 404 makes me drool.

 

[Aygo]

Well, it seems that the new song can be another uplifting song in the same way Beautiful Day and Streets are. Cool

 

[chocky]

Bono says he wrote 8 songs on the piano and brought them to the studio. I presume Window is one of these (given it has piano/orchestra) but it could be a leftover from previous album sessions.

So why is everyone so caught up in trying to fit 'Window' into one of the beach clips when:

1. we know they have at least 8 new songs plus any leftovers from HTDAAB (ie far more songs than there are beach clips)

2. clearly none of the beach clips sound like the descriptions of 'Window'

 

[tomtom]

Dudes, it's Bono. Bring mountains of salt with ya. You know how on he's been about this stuff for the last deade...just dont have lofty expectations.

 

[Swan269]

By the way, I can post the full article which is from Melbourne's Herald Sun. It didn't appear on their website, but it did appear in the paper's Saturday edition....

Back to the topic... If this is indeed a "generation" song, one that people from every generation will be singing, could it really be 400? Sounds more like 404 to me, but redone with piano. Of course, it may be none of the beachclips at all!

The speculation continues....

The "eternal song"....wow, Bono really outdid himself this time....I mean, wow.... just wow.

could you post the article?

thanks

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Damn, now that's a hyping a song to the extreme. Maybe it IS this good! Or maybe I'm a fool!

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Yes, please post the article. This is an exciting quote, but consider the source.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Saturdays Herald Sun? I might have it here at work... *runs off*

 

[The Slow Loris]

The article is posted at...

http://www.lyptonvillage.org/u2/?p=231

Here's the entire posting:

Bono Talks on New Songs
9:29 am In Aussie News, Vertigo Tour, Vertigo Oz, BonoVox, Melbourne
From today’s Melbourne Herald Sun

For some reason it is not on the Herald Sun Website but Saturday’s edition has an interview with Bono. Amongst Bono’s usual “two crap albums and were out” type banter the article includes a passage where he talks about the two new songs from U218 for the first time:

“It’s never been done (duet with Greenday), oddly enough. Two bands like this, two bands having a baby… and were not the chick,” he chuckles. “The Edge was the one who found the song and it was one of my favorite songs and it turns out one of his, from that time. And the lyrics couldn’t be more apt”.

The other new song is Windows in the Skies. With Soaring strings and a haunting piano melody, this tune is remarkably different to the stadium rock sound of their smash hit album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It’s huge but in a very different way for a very different reason; Bono is learning to play piano.

“I’ve been taking piano lessons with my kids and every time I took a piano lesson, I wrote a song. I had eight piano lessons and eight songs. They (the rest of U2) were all like, ‘He’ll never have any songs this time’, and In I bring eight. Whoa! Of course, they have much improved it.

“I think that is going to be our biggest song in a long time. It’s a psychedelic pop song with 6/8 timing. You never hear that, it’s very, very rare,” he says.

“It’s a song that every generation has to sing, it’s the eternal song. It’s about what’s possible and still everything is possible.”

Let’s hope that he continues with the piano lessons!

 

[Swan269]

The article is posted at...

http://www.lyptonvillage.org/u2/?p=231

Here's the entire posting:

Bono Talks on New Songs
9:29 am In Aussie News, Vertigo Tour, Vertigo Oz, BonoVox, Melbourne
From today’s Melbourne Herald Sun

For some reason it is not on the Herald Sun Website but Saturday’s edition has an interview with Bono. Amongst Bono’s usual “two crap albums and were out” type banter the article includes a passage where he talks about the two new songs from U218 for the first time:

“It’s never been done (duet with Greenday), oddly enough. Two bands like this, two bands having a baby… and were not the chick,” he chuckles. “The Edge was the one who found the song and it was one of my favorite songs and it turns out one of his, from that time. And the lyrics couldn’t be more apt”.

The other new song is Windows in the Skies. With Soaring strings and a haunting piano melody, this tune is remarkably different to the stadium rock sound of their smash hit album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It’s huge but in a very different way for a very different reason; Bono is learning to play piano.

“I’ve been taking piano lessons with my kids and every time I took a piano lesson, I wrote a song. I had eight piano lessons and eight songs. They (the rest of U2) were all like, ‘He’ll never have any songs this time’, and In I bring eight. Whoa! Of course, they have much improved it.

“I think that is going to be our biggest song in a long time. It’s a psychedelic pop song with 6/8 timing. You never hear that, it’s very, very rare,” he says.

“It’s a song that every generation has to sing, it’s the eternal song. It’s about what’s possible and still everything is possible.”

Let’s hope that he continues with the piano lessons!

thanks for posting that for us loris.

 

[Hoodlem]

I hope I am wrong but it seems that this song can only disappoint with as much hype as they are giving it.

Like I said, I hope I am wrong.

 

[Yahweh]

Its hype that nobody other then on Interference is seeing anyways. I will wait to hear the song, then make a comment on what has been said about it.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Thanks for posting that. I'm expecting something better than the last two albums but not "greatest song ever" type stuff.

 

[The Slow Loris]

Bono says he wrote 8 songs on the piano and brought them to the studio. I presume Window is one of these (given it has piano/orchestra) but it could be a leftover from previous album sessions.

So why is everyone so caught up in trying to fit 'Window' into one of the beach clips when:

1. we know they have at least 8 new songs plus any leftovers from HTDAAB (ie far more songs than there are beach clips)

2. clearly none of the beach clips sound like the descriptions of 'Window'

Point 1: It's all about possibilities, and the beach clips are too good to ignore.

Point 2: Maybe not the versions we have heard, but before we attempt to make further conclusions, let's examine the factual descriptions we've heard so far (yes, even Bono's statements shall count in this regard )....quotes made by people who have not actually heard the actual studio recording will not make this list:

"...an epic in the style of city of blinding lights, with rich vocal harmonies" -- Rolling Stone

"With soaring strings and a haunting piano melody. The tune is remarkably different to the stadium rock sound of their recent smash hit album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." -- Kathy McCabe article

"It is huge but in a very different way and for a very different reason; Bono is learning to play piano." -- Kathy McCabe article

"I think that is going to be our biggest song in a long time. It’s a psychedelic pop song with 6/8 timing. You never hear that, it’s very, very rare" -- Bono

"“It’s a song that every generation has to sing, it’s the eternal song. It’s about what’s possible and still everything is possible.” -- Bono

Now, let's assume that all of these sources, even Rollingstone ( ), are legit.

First, if it's an epic, it's not a diddy of a pop song like 'Sweetest Thing', which doesn't mean it isn't pop music. It's just not light and fluffy. Secondly, if it's in the syle of 'City of Blinding Lights (which is quite the epic pop song, by the way), then it likely has a massive chorus, since that's the first thing that comes to mind with that style of song. The description of "rich vocal harmonies" makes me think of 404, and we all know 404 has a huge chorus which also fits the quote.

Now, you're thinking, yes, but where's the soaring strings and haunting piano melody? That does pose a problem, doesn't it? One answer is they have now added them to the song, and totally reworked it, but keeping the original melody in tact. Could they have changed the tempo of the song to 6/8 instead of 4/4? Someone who has more music background can answer that one for us. If they did, for argument sake, then I can see why this would be "remarkably different to the stadium rock sound of their recent smash hit album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." But even if this is the case, it seems to contradict the Rollingstone quote, since 'City of Blinding Lights' is very much a stadium song which happens to be from HTDAAB. This is where these descriptions lose me. (I think it's just another case of people having differing opinions on music.)

Yet Bono says it's a big song, one that generations will be singing. This could be a ballad even; it doesn't have be epic like 'Streets' or 'Pride' or 'Bad' to be "eternal". The Beatles' 'Let it Be' or 'Yesterday' were just as eternal as 'Hey Jude', for example.

I would not be surprised if this wasn't a beach clip at all. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of one, or a reworked beach clip either. I want to formulate a conclusion, but it's really all up in the air.

 

[The Slow Loris]

thanks for posting that for us loris.

No worries, no worries....

The hype machine has to have some once of credibility after all!

Oh, wait....

 

[Lancemc]

Well, I just want to hear the damn thing. From the sound of things the best songs on HTDAAB to compare this to are City of Blinding Lights and Original of the Species, which is excellent, because they are the two best songs on that album.

But honestly, does anyone remember my inspiration for the "Ultimate U2 pop album" I was throwing around a while back? Well, this is sounding more and more along those lines. Man, if I'm right about that one, I'll shit a gold brick! I certainly hope so though.

 

[The Slow Loris]

Well, I just want to hear the damn thing. From the sound of things the best songs on HTDAAB to compare this to are City of Blinding Lights and Original of the Species, which is excellent, because they are the two best songs on that album.

But honestly, does anyone remember my inspiration for the "Ultimate U2 pop album" I was throwing around a while back? Well, this is sounding more and more along those lines. Man, if I'm right about that one, I'll shit a gold brick! I certainly hope so though.

No, fill me in....now I'm curious! (I've turned into such a geek.)

 

[Screwtape2]

But honestly, does anyone remember my inspiration for the "Ultimate U2 pop album" I was throwing around a while back? Well, this is sounding more and more along those lines.

Was that when you were saying that U2's best move would be to make a pop record like Pet Sounds?

If so, we are totally on the same wave length. An ambitous and exciting pop record is what the beach clips hint at. A song for all generations would be the perfect lead into a classic pop album. Listening to the band's demos, I hear that kind of potential in thier music.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Anyone else get a bit of an Arcade Fire feel from 400?

 

[The Slow Loris]

The arcade is fired.

 

[Lancemc]

Was that when you were saying that U2's best move would be to make a pop record like Pet Sounds?

If so, we are totally on the same wave length. An ambitous and exciting pop record is what the beach clips hint at. A song for all generations would be the perfect lead into a classic pop album. Listening to the band's demos, I hear that kind of potential in thier music.

That's just about what I was saying yeah, I think I used Rubber Soul as my example though, but it doesn't really matter. I'm way too tired to explain it all again right now Loris, but I'll fill in the details "tomorrow" i.e. whenever I get up and moving.

 

[The Slow Loris]

Lancemc, okay okay, you can rest....for now. But I expect a full report in the morning.

It's funny that Rubber Soul was mentioned. I've always wanted to see U2 go that route, and to some extent, All That You Can't Leave Behind was a blueprint of that idea -- their first pop record. Songs like 'Stuck', 'Wild Honey', 'In A Little While' and 'Beautiful Day' were quite new territory for them, and if you include some of the b sides like 'Are You Gonna Wait Forever', they were very close to having a pop classic on their hands. I think U2 learned a lot about craft on that album, and I have a feeling that experience will really shine through on the next record if the beach clips are any indication. What I like about them, is how loose they feel. There's no forced choruses, and even the verses sound naturally melodic....which, regarding the latter, is something I find U2 has sometimes struggled with recently.