Decipher Vertigo's lyrics

[ADecentMelody]

Unos, dos, tres, catorce
Turn it up loud, captain

Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head
Can't rule your heart
A feeling so much stronger
Than a thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can't be bought
Your mind can wander

Hello, hello (¡Hola!)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿Dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something
I can feel, feel

The night is full of holes
As bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle as the boys
Play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance
At least they know

I can't stand the beats
I'm asking for the check
The girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus around her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music

Hello, hello (¡Hola!)
I'm at a place called Vertigo (¿Dónde está?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
But you give me something
I can feel, feel

All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want
And no one gets hurt

Hello, hello (¡Hola!)
We're at a place called Vertigo (¿Dónde está?)
Lights go down, and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel, kneel

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, (yeah)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, (yeah)

 

[DaveC]

Wow, I think you have it right!!

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Thanks ADecentMelody

I love the part that says:

Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt

 

[ADecentMelody]

I really think that part refers to Christ's temptation in the desert by the devil. Again, U2 not straying too far away from their spiritual side. It's a deeper song than some people think.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Í don't get how it could be linked to the Temptation (Showdown in the Desert). Could you explain it a little better?

I'm really interested in that.

 

[ADecentMelody]

"All of this, all of this can be yours" is a loose reference to what the serpent was promising Christ as he was fasting in the desert. I think Bono likes to insert these references in his songs and they mean something different to someone. This is my immediate interpretation of it.

It does coincide with the idea of this place called Vertigo where things aren't as they seem, where temptations may come from. It's a place that I wish I didn't know. It's one of many ideas wrapped up in this song.

Again, just my opinion. That's exactly what's profound about U2 songs. Different people see different things from one song. Certain words, certain phrases bring out our own interpretation usually drawn from our own experiences. That is the true gift that Bono's songwriting brings, I believe. So, that was my immediate gut reaction upon hearing that bridge.

 

[learn2kneel]

The serpent promised Christ the world and everything in it three times if he would give up his mission of dying for the sins of others....if Christ would have given the serpent what he wanted he wouldn't of been hurt (on the cross), this scene is portrayed well in the movie, The Passion of the Christ and i also belive it is what Bono is referencing in the lyrics

 

[Jim]

What's the middle bit that Bono has sung on TOTP and CDUK? Sounds to me like:

Check-mate-ey!
Hours of fun!

No doubt I'm totally of the mark! Cheers
Jim

 

[sue4u2]

In the Bible- James: 1,2,3 & 14 speak specifically of temptation.
This is one reference to it being in the scriptures - I have read, somewhere.
I don't know if this is factual, however. Makes for interesting reading and or speculation, in any case.


Edited to say: There is no chapter 14 in James, so it has to be one of the verses in the 1st 3 chapters. I suppose

 

[ADecentMelody]

What's the middle bit that Bono has sung on TOTP and CDUK? Sounds to me like:

Check-mate-ey!
Hours of fun!

No doubt I'm totally of the mark! Cheers
Jim

I'm hearing the same thing. I think the third part in the live version sounds like "...many many more!" But, I think Bono does a lot of what he calls "scat" singing specially in live versions lately.

 

[Jim]

I'm hearing the same thing. I think the third part in the live version sounds like "...many many more!" But, I think Bono does a lot of what he calls "scat" singing specially in live versions lately.

Well Bono is chess fan after all!

 

[U2_Guy]

if God will send his angels...i'll do better next time...

 

[bcrt2000]

I'm hearing the same thing. I think the third part in the live version sounds like "...many many more!" But, I think Bono does a lot of what he calls "scat" singing specially in live versions lately.

Check me in!
Hours of fun!
Your mad (at/i'm?) (unaudible?) (many/any?) more

he actually says something there during the studio version and i think its a little differen't

 

[babyman]

to me the refrain sounds so:
hello hello (hola!)
i'm at a place called vertigo (donde estas?)
it's everything i wish i didn't know but you
give me something, i can feel