Always

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INSTCUWSUMVC

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Do you think that if U2 would have had Always instead of Beautiful Day that it would have been as big of a hit or close to that big of hit?

I for one love Always. In my opinion it is the greatest B-side ever and I think it is as good as any song from that era with the exception being In a Little While.
 
it wouldn't have been 10% of what Beautiful Day was

I think its a great b-side
though as a rule I'm not a big fan of b-sides with the same guitar part as the actual single
 
It's got a good melody, but it's quite cheesy, which might be why have shelved it for BD.
 
Always is a very incomplete song. It makes Lady with the Spinning Head look complete. It had ideas that evolved into BD. But it's not a good song by itself. It's an outtake, and outtakes are usually outtakes for a good reason.
 
though as a rule I'm not a big fan of b-sides with the same guitar part as the actual single

Agreed. It just seems like a rough draft of Beautiful Day.

And points off for the line "always wear a safety belt." It just strikes me as another clue that it's just a demo version.
 
I agree that it wouldn't have been as big as beautiful day. It wouldn't have really worked at Super Bowl Halftime either.
 
Agreed. It just seems like a rough draft of Beautiful Day.

And points off for the line "always wear a safety belt." It just strikes me as another clue that it's just a demo version.

Actually they were looking at branching into a new market, the road safety advertising campaigns.

The original chorus for Vertigo was:

Hello hello
I'm in the lockup because i drank and drove
It's everything i wish i didn't know
Can you come and pay my bail?
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil
 
It's interesting just to hear the beginning of BD, but the verses are pretty weak IMO. Same chord progression (not sure about the key...) as WOWY. That seemed a bit dodgy at the time. Of course, they went back to that progression for the verse of Miracle Drug.

Do you think Always would have been the lead-off single if it hadn't morphed into BD?

Man, BD has become such a key element in their "comeback." Who knows what would have happened...
 
it's a pretty good song, but I think what makes it a good song is that it wasn't complete yet. BD is definately the bigger hit and Always would've never gotten the same success, but I still enjoy listening to it cause it's different.
 
it's a pretty good song, but I think what makes it a good song is that it wasn't complete yet. BD is definately the bigger hit and Always would've never gotten the same success, but I still enjoy listening to it cause it's different.
I totally agree with you. In all honesty I love "Always", but it also sounds unfinished to my ears. :)
 
it's a pretty good song, but I think what makes it a good song is that it wasn't complete yet. BD is definately the bigger hit and Always would've never gotten the same success, but I still enjoy listening to it cause it's different.

:yes:

i dont hear the 'unfinished' bit as much as you all seem to do, but it is extrememly cheesy.
 
well it's not as if it obviously sounds unfinished... I think what I hear is that some parts are so cheesy, that it would never be released... as mentioned before the seatbelt lyric, and some others too... those seem like just fillers for lyrics Bono hadn't written yet, like he usually just sings along with the band in so called bongolese..
 
Yeah, agree with that. Not unfinished musically, but definitely lyrically. Some of those lyrics are atrocious. Nice enough song though.
 
i'd hate to know what other U2 songs you like then. :wink:

it would have been the worst first comeback single release ever.

agreed, it's a truly terrible unfinished piece of throwaway garbage that didn't deserve to see the light of day even as a b-side with lyrics like that.
 
I think Always is a decent tune but Beautiful Day is a far superior track.
 
I like "Always"...but "Beautiful Day" was a smarter choice. I think that just has a lot more mass appeal.
 
Always is awesome. I like it just as much as I do Beautiful Day (although that may be just because Beautiful Day has gotten old). I actually like the cheesiness in Always. Songs like Beautiful Day and Window in the Skies are already pretty cheesy, a little more doesn't hurt. It's already a pretty cheesy theme in the first place, might as well embrace it.


But no, it would not have been as popular as Beautiful Day. I still think Always would have been a pretty decent song had it been finished, and it definitely wouldn't have been the worst comeback single ever...
 
It's interesting just to hear the beginning of BD, but the verses are pretty weak IMO.

.........

Man, BD has become such a key element in their "comeback." Who knows what would have happened...

QFT. Maybe they would've worked a little more on Always if it didn't make the change into BD. But as it is, there's just so little to Always compared to BD--both sonically and thematically. In both respects, Beautiful Day so perfectly matches the rebirth of U2 from the dark, satirical 90s.
 
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