Vertigo Tour version of Streets

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ImOuttaControl

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Why do people keep insisting over and over that "this song was written about africa." I really hope people aren't taking that interpretation from the book "Into the Heart," which is just someone's interpretation with a few sporatic quotes from Bono and others. (I've found that book to be full of inaccuracies.)

Here's Bono's version from 1987 on how he came up with "Streets." From "The Best of Propaganda", page 77.

BONO: "Where the streets have no name," that's more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP. Because it's asketch- I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location, I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustraphobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city, and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don't hold you down.

An interesting story that somebody told me once, is that in Belfast, by what street somebody lives on you can tell not only their religion, but tell how much money they're making- literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further you go up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side of that street they live on. That said something to me, so I started writing about a place whree the streets have no name..."

Does anybody have any quotes from the time the song was written that would indicate that "it's about africa" as a lot of people are saying? I'm just curious. I've no problem with it's "new meaning" in the vertigo tour, but to say the song was "always about africa" seems to be a huge stretch to me. Looks to me like that quote of bono is pretty clear where the song idea came from.
 
I think its more about how the songs themes can be applied to Africa as opposed to the song being concretely and finately about Africa....
 
xmarcx said:
I think its more about how the songs themes can be applied to Africa as opposed to the song being concretely and finately about Africa....

Yeah I agree that it can be applied to Africa, but there have been a lot of posters the last couple days saying directly that the Streets was written about Africa, which it was clearly not IMO from the quote I listed above.
 
ImOuttaControl said:
Why do people keep insisting over and over that "this song was written about africa." I really hope people aren't taking that interpretation from the book "Into the Heart," which is just someone's interpretation with a few sporatic quotes from Bono and others. (I've found that book to be full of inaccuracies.)

Here's Bono's version from 1987 on how he came up with "Streets." From "The Best of Propaganda", page 77.


An interesting story that somebody told me once, is that in Belfast, by what street somebody lives on you can tell not only their religion, but tell how much money they're making- literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further you go up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side of that street they live on. That said something to me, so I started writing about a place whree the streets have no name..."

Does anybody have any quotes from the time the song was written that would indicate that "it's about africa" as a lot of people are saying? I'm just curious. I've no problem with it's "new meaning" in the vertigo tour, but to say the song was "always about africa" seems to be a huge stretch to me. Looks to me like that quote of bono is pretty clear where the song idea came from.


Sounds like the Antrim Road or East Belfast, or Finaghy towards Malone ( alot of places in Belfast ), wonder if Bono has ever been around these areas then, I'd love to believe Streets is wrote about Belfast but I can't fully accept that
 
Palace_Hero said:
Think about it, he wants to go where the streets have no name. This can be applied to Africa in the equality sense, he wants everone to live where the streets have no name, Americans, Africans etc..

Doesn't mean I like this new African bollox.

It's not bollox. I've stated my opinion already, but it's the best version of Streets I've ever heard. And like all of us, I've heard a lot.
 
it sounds good, but to be honest, I'd rather have all those "bead curtains" turn red like all the other tours, it's been the pinnacle of their tours so why change it? People say the house lights don't turn on right at that opening climax, that kind of sucks.

But oh well, it is streets and it's awesome, so who cares I guess. I'd just rather have Bono separate his African work from the music.
 
God Part III said:


It's not bollox. I've stated my opinion already, but it's the best version of Streets I've ever heard. And like all of us, I've heard a lot.

I was a bit underwhelmed by it, but I will give it a second listen tonight (assuming they play it again). I like the connection with Africa, just missed the red screens. :reject:
 
I wrote a post about it. The performance turned me into a Streets fan. I never really liked the song before. AMAZING performance I tell you.

And curse all you naysayers saying that it's wrong dedicating it to Africa!
 
Don't you all know? Streets is about going to Hell. This was made perfectly clear to me in that post-Superbowl review a few years back when U2 played the halftime show. :wink:
 
I think there's a difference between about and inspired by. There are many accounts not only in the 'Into the Heart' where Bono talks about his time in Africa and how the 'towns' they worked in were nothing but shacks divided by dirt paths, no proper streets and no street names.
 
i always thought it talked about a place like heaven in the abstract. some may say more overtly.
 
I would say that rather than being about one particular subject/city/country in particular, the meaning of "Streets" incorporates elements of all of these (Heaven/Africa/Ireland). Just as "One" is about the end of a relationship, an AIDS-stricken son reconciling with a father, or a band on the verge of falling apart. Any/all, rather than either/or.
 
i think the thing about u2 songs is that they dont mean anything...what I'm saying is they have a universal theme to them.

"One" might be about Africa, but when I think of it I think about past relationships i've been in which is why it's so heart-wrenching for me. I'm sure some hear it and think racial equality or Africa or AIDS, and that's fine.

The same with streets, it's a beautiful song which can take on so many different meanings....I don't think it needs a "theme" to it to make it better.

I said it on another thread....18 years, same performance, still the pinnacle of the show.

Red backdrop, house lights on at the opening climax, crowd goes wild....stick to it boys :wink:

and no, I'm not bashing Bono and his work in Africa (that's such a sensitive subject here). I'm a college student and I find money to sponsor a child in Africa because of the education Bono has give me about the continent, but I just want a break from it during Streets...just during streets, bono. Before "one", make a 20 min. speech for all I care.
 
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I was reluctant to download the Streets performance, since I had heard it so many times before. But this version gave a fresh feeling to a very familiar song. I loved it.
 
I have a ton of Streets performance and this one doesn't sound very different than the other ones, i noticed the Bono doesn't hit the "burning down love" part like he used to, but he still gives some impassioned yells in the middle that sound good. I mainly miss the crowd roar where the house lights usually come up. Hopefully that was a technical error or something? I think that in future performances Africa stuff might be toned down a bit, and the transition will fit in better.
 
I read a cote once, that circa the JT era, where bono said that when he went to Ethiopia, all the huge tents where people were treated had these long aisles, called streets.

That's why I've always though there is SOME connection. However, if it were stronger, it would've come up live since the beginning, not now with the ONEe campaign. I don't see why they can't keep it africa - linked, but keep the blood red sky at the beginning. That's always the climax for me.

cheers
 
learn2kneel said:
i noticed the Bono doesn't hit the "burning down love" part like he used to, but he still gives some impassioned yells in the middle that sound good.

This version is played a half-step higher than their typical live key.... probably explains his not wanting to hit the high note :wink:
 
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