Flower Child appreciation thread

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LemonMelon

More 5G Than Man
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I ADORE this song. I don't just like it...I think that leaving this song as a mere demo was a horrible mistake; if it would have made it onto ATYCLB, it would have had to battle with Beautiful Day as my favorite on the album. Let's examine it:

1. Great lyrics.

On the fifth day of may, she was breaking away
When the moon came and sat on your shoulder
She was still young, not yet highly strung
As you need to be when you get older

What's on your breath is the fear of death
That makes such a man promiscuous
Your mouth was dry like when you were about to lie
And her lips are so luscious
You've seen it before, you hurled at her door
Like a dog when she needed a man
Now she aches and she breaks, and she takes
On the weight of your world, 'cause she almost can


:drool: :drool: :drool: Really good stuff. Not necessarily genius, but it's sweet, simple and natural.

2. It's refreshingly experimental. Think about it...how many other U2 songs sound exactly like this? 2 or 3? (Wild Honey and Summer Rain are the only examples that come to mind for me) If U2 seriously wants to take on the Beatles' sound, this is the way they should go about it.

3. It features Bono's "rough" vocal sound done correctly. No missed notes, very natural, laid back and fun.

4. Awesome production. It's very clean and warm...some nice little sonic tricks are thrown in here and there to liven up the track as well.

So yeah...this demo rocks. :drool:
 
Great song. I can't listen to it too many times in a short timespan, but it's refreshing when heard every now and then. Good point on the lyrics----it's really phenomenal how he gets some darkness into a song that could otherwise seem so saccharine on the surface.

I agree on the "rough" vocals, too, though I think that In A Little While is the perfection of it. IALW demands and delivers on the "out all night partying and sorry to wake you, please let me in to crawl into bed with you" feel---lyrically, sentimentally, and realistically (since the song was recorded in the middle of the night after drinking).
 
:no:!!!! Just yesterday I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and then told a friend of mine that I wished I could erase Flower Child from my mind.

It's not horrible. I don't hate it like I hate a few other U2 songs. But it just gets stuck in my head and won't leave :banghead: And then I can't sleep, and all I can hear in my head is "The seeeeds that you sooow, you wanna watch them growing, wiiiild, you grow wiiiiild, you grow wiiiiild in my heaaaart!" and it's horrible.

As you can see, I've clearly been traumatized by this song. I'll reiterate that I don't hate it, the lyrics are quite creative in some places, and such. I might actually like it if it didn't have such a penchant for getting caught in my head, and if it weren't like some sort of overly sweet cake that tastes good, but will make you sick an hour later.
 
Scorpionac said:
I've always found this one of the superior lyrics of the 00s. They are quite rare.

Nice thread LM!


:yes: One of my favorite. Most people who aren't ahem....die hard fans unfortunately don't know about this great track.

Heres the rest of the lyrics:

On the fifth day of May
She was breaking away
When the moon came and sat on your shoulder
She was still young
Not yet high-strung
Which you need to be when you get older
George was the street
When you first faced defeat
You put money on the colour of her sky
Well the cold of her voice
Left you there with no choice
But to drink the Liffey dry

The seeds that you sew
You want to watch them grow
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart

Here comes Holy Joe
Now, how would he know
How laughter can make a man cruel
The harder you work to put them out
Well, you know that you’re similar
There’s fire on fire,
When lovers conspire
To either a duet or duel
When it's on fire
The flames just get higher

Sugar and weak
In a boat heading north facing south

The seeds that you sew
You want to watch them grow
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart

Wild

What’s on your breath
Is it fear of death
That makes such a man promiscuous
Your mouth was dry
Like when you’re about to lie
And her lips are so lucous
You’ve seen it before
You’re hurled at her door
Like a dog when she needed a man
Now she aches and she breaks
And she takes all the weight
Of your world, she almost can

The seeds that you sew
Well, you want to watch them growing
The wind, where will it blow
My flower child
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart

Wild

The sky was still gray
Up on Albion way
As the yellow hats took up the road
Didn’t hear what she said
As the lights turned red
On a love that should have stayed gold
Gold

Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
Wild, you grow wild
You grow wild in my heart
 
DreamOutLoud13 said:
:no:!!!! Just yesterday I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and then told a friend of mine that I wished I could erase Flower Child from my mind.

It's not horrible. I don't hate it like I hate a few other U2 songs. But it just gets stuck in my head and won't leave :banghead: And then I can't sleep, and all I can hear in my head is "The seeeeds that you sooow, you wanna watch them growing, wiiiild, you grow wiiiiild, you grow wiiiiild in my heaaaart!" and it's horrible.

As you can see, I've clearly been traumatized by this song. I'll reiterate that I don't hate it, the lyrics are quite creative in some places, and such. I might actually like it if it didn't have such a penchant for getting caught in my head, and if it weren't like some sort of overly sweet cake that tastes good, but will make you sick an hour later.


I agree with you, as much as I love it you can't listen to it over and over or else you will get a tummy ache. :huh: It does have great words and should be discovered by other fans.
 
:yes: I just heard this on the way to work this morning, I had been on a Flower Child diet after imbibing too much in too short a period, but it was great to hear it again.
For some reason my favorite lyrics are "in a boat heading north facing south" and
"You’ve hurled at her door
Like a dog when she needed a man
Now she aches and she breaks
And she takes all the weight
Of your world, she almost can"
 
I have a collection of U2 b-sides that I pop in once a month or so and completely drool over. It's just so...wow. It's mostly stuff from the Complete U2, but it has some other odds and ends also:

1. All Because Of You (Alternate)
2. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
3. Ave Maria
4. Beautiful Ghost
5. Fast Cars
6. Flower Child
7. Jesus Christ
8. Levitate
9. Love You Like Mad
10. Mercy
11. Native Son
12. Neon Lights
13. Smile
14. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (Alternate)
15. Stateless
16. Xanax And Wine
17. Yahweh (Alternate)

:cute: It's one of my favorite U2 albums now.
 
I LOVE this song. I can listen to it over and over and over :love: I love it for all of the above reasons but also because of how I found it.....I bought the complete U2 but was so excited to finally have an iPod (that has since died and been replaced :happy: ) and the complete U2 that I didn't realize there was an entire playlist of unreleased tracks that I'd never heard before. :der: I had my entire iTunes library on shuffle one evening and there it was. I was so stunned to hear that song that I listened to it nonstop for days. :heart: I could still listen to it nonstop for days. I take it for what it's worth, a B side. I don't expect perfection from a B side song. Maybe that's why I think it sounds so good.
 
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I would like to express my appreciation for this song. Flower Child is VERY Kink-esque to my ears, but better and has got a real catchy vibe to it. Reminds me of wild honey and Halalajuah (here she comes) etc, which is something u2 do brilliantly
 
gman said:
I would like to express my appreciation for this song. Flower Child is VERY Kink-esque to my ears, but better and has got a real catchy vibe to it. Reminds me of wild honey and Halalajuah (here she comes) etc, which is something u2 do brilliantly

Hallelujah Here She Comes...:drool: That's another thread for the not-so-distant future. :D
 
LemonMelon said:
I have a collection of U2 b-sides that I pop in once a month or so and completely drool over. It's just so...wow. It's mostly stuff from the Complete U2, but it has some other odds and ends also:

1. All Because Of You (Alternate)
2. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
3. Ave Maria
4. Beautiful Ghost
5. Fast Cars
6. Flower Child
7. Jesus Christ
8. Levitate
9. Love You Like Mad
10. Mercy
11. Native Son
12. Neon Lights
13. Smile
14. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own (Alternate)
15. Stateless
16. Xanax And Wine
17. Yahweh (Alternate)

:cute: It's one of my favorite U2 albums now.


Me likey Smile too!
 
Flower Child is one of the few songs that after repeated listenings I fall asleep.

It's just U2 being a cover band.
 
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