Elvis
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
by Michael Griffiths
The timing of the release of U2?s cover of The Ramones? Beat On The Brat couldn?t have been any better. Being the politically savvy band that U2 are, one has to ask if Bono and the boys haven?t released a tongue-in-cheek reaction to (at the time of its release) the inevitable US invasion of Iraq. The song starts with Bono crooning in sugar coated fashion, ?Beat on the brat, beat on the brat?with a baseball bat, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh oh?? and later declaring, ?What can you do? With a brat like that always on your back, what can you do? What can you lose?? Of course, the ?brat? can be interpreted as Saddam Hussein, and depending on your politics, the question asking, ?what can you do, what can you lose?? suddenly becomes quite cynical. Taken in this context, the song takes on a richer flavor: It becomes a satire, ripe with irony.
And to take this irony to a whole new level, as fate would have it (I?m not making this up), the very next song in my laptop?s music player is Miss Sarajevo, and the very first questions that emanate from the blissful organ intro are, ?Is there a time for keeping your distance, a time to turn your eyes away?? Is there a time for cutting hair, a time for a high street shopping, to find the right dress to wear?? And so, the subject of the song has become much more personal (in this case about a woman of a war torn nation) and is no longer simply about the ?brat? that we would like to beat up. We are taken behind the superficial, into the world that the ?brat? controls, to the people that he affects, and to the people who would be affected by a fight with such a brat. This juxtaposition of the two songs perhaps sheds some light on a particular depth behind Beat On The Brat, forcing one to ask the question if there is indeed more to it than simply a song about beating someone up who is ?always on your back.? We must assume U2 covered this song for a reason, probably several, but this band has never performed songs that are blatantly advocating the use of violence, even if they aren?t U2 songs. Therefore, we must assume such depth.
Yes, U2 have always been fans of The Ramones, and have been influenced by them, but there is more going on here. There is a lovely tongue-in-cheek quality behind Beat On The Brat that U2 attempts to capture, and politics aside, they succeed in doing so. It?s a sexy, loud, slightly cool and detached perspective on the world. It may only be 2:35 seconds of attitude, but it?s not wasted attitude. You can feel the restraint in Bono?s voice, in Edge?s minimal guitar riffs, Larry?s marching tune.
Musically, U2 successfully take on an old punk rock song and bring out the playfulness of The Ramones into a modern perspective. They sound as tight as ever, the rhythm section right on cue, and Edge has rarely brought simple chord arrangements out with such brashness. The song may rock, but is held back for the desired effect. Through this detachment, we are left with a feeling of cool self-assuredness that there is something else going on. Whether this is simply an illusion, designed to create the desired effect, or if there truly is something more, is beside the point. In Beat On The Brat, through this restraint, we get the feeling that there is a deeper commentary just beyond the sugar. And ?feeling? has always been the element that has made the best U2 songs so compelling ?and is also what makes Beat On The Brat as relevant as it is tasty.
The timing of the release of U2?s cover of The Ramones? Beat On The Brat couldn?t have been any better. Being the politically savvy band that U2 are, one has to ask if Bono and the boys haven?t released a tongue-in-cheek reaction to (at the time of its release) the inevitable US invasion of Iraq. The song starts with Bono crooning in sugar coated fashion, ?Beat on the brat, beat on the brat?with a baseball bat, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh oh?? and later declaring, ?What can you do? With a brat like that always on your back, what can you do? What can you lose?? Of course, the ?brat? can be interpreted as Saddam Hussein, and depending on your politics, the question asking, ?what can you do, what can you lose?? suddenly becomes quite cynical. Taken in this context, the song takes on a richer flavor: It becomes a satire, ripe with irony.
And to take this irony to a whole new level, as fate would have it (I?m not making this up), the very next song in my laptop?s music player is Miss Sarajevo, and the very first questions that emanate from the blissful organ intro are, ?Is there a time for keeping your distance, a time to turn your eyes away?? Is there a time for cutting hair, a time for a high street shopping, to find the right dress to wear?? And so, the subject of the song has become much more personal (in this case about a woman of a war torn nation) and is no longer simply about the ?brat? that we would like to beat up. We are taken behind the superficial, into the world that the ?brat? controls, to the people that he affects, and to the people who would be affected by a fight with such a brat. This juxtaposition of the two songs perhaps sheds some light on a particular depth behind Beat On The Brat, forcing one to ask the question if there is indeed more to it than simply a song about beating someone up who is ?always on your back.? We must assume U2 covered this song for a reason, probably several, but this band has never performed songs that are blatantly advocating the use of violence, even if they aren?t U2 songs. Therefore, we must assume such depth.
Yes, U2 have always been fans of The Ramones, and have been influenced by them, but there is more going on here. There is a lovely tongue-in-cheek quality behind Beat On The Brat that U2 attempts to capture, and politics aside, they succeed in doing so. It?s a sexy, loud, slightly cool and detached perspective on the world. It may only be 2:35 seconds of attitude, but it?s not wasted attitude. You can feel the restraint in Bono?s voice, in Edge?s minimal guitar riffs, Larry?s marching tune.
Musically, U2 successfully take on an old punk rock song and bring out the playfulness of The Ramones into a modern perspective. They sound as tight as ever, the rhythm section right on cue, and Edge has rarely brought simple chord arrangements out with such brashness. The song may rock, but is held back for the desired effect. Through this detachment, we are left with a feeling of cool self-assuredness that there is something else going on. Whether this is simply an illusion, designed to create the desired effect, or if there truly is something more, is beside the point. In Beat On The Brat, through this restraint, we get the feeling that there is a deeper commentary just beyond the sugar. And ?feeling? has always been the element that has made the best U2 songs so compelling ?and is also what makes Beat On The Brat as relevant as it is tasty.
