has anyone actually sniffed a newborn baby's head?

[starsgoblue]

 

[u2valleygirl]

my son is 2 months old. When I kiss his head, I can't help but smell his head. it's a wonderful scent that I'll never forget.

Congratulations!! I have a four year old and an eight month old. Baby smell is so fresh and absolutely sweet!This lyric really stood out for me because it struck home! All babies have this miraculous scent.

 

[Numb1075]

u2valleygirl - thanks !! I couldn't agree more.
So, to all of those who don't get the "baby head" reference, go out and have yourself a baby !

 

[Flying FuManchu]

LOL at

obviously what bono is trying to convey here is that freedom smells like a mixture of poop, milk and cheerios... i'd have to agree.

and

They smell great......but taste even better.

 

[FullonEdge2]

Seriously, why are people saying baby heads smell great, but taste even better???

I think I'm missing something, but no one's saying what.

ps. I was just joking when I said that cannibalism is a viable theme for this album.

 

[FullonEdge2]

ok. once again people are refusing to explain themselves.


this is really, REALLY buggin' me now.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I laughed b/c it was Southparkian in humor (I like Southpark), I was reminded of Tyson's ridiculous baby-eating claims to Lennox Lewis, and for some crass jokes I read/ heard when I was younger which although crude were clever to me. Dark humor is something that I sometimes enjoy (maybe I shouldn't but I do) alah a movie like Todd Solondz's Happiness.

 

[FullonEdge2]

ok. That sort of explains it. I was just wondering if there was some sort of huge inside joke going on. maybe not.

 

[elciojg]

As a man, I will never know what is like, you know, a mother hold her baby for the first time and smell it. Smell his newborn child. That's the thing about U2. I cry every time I listen to Miracle Drug.

 

[swandiver]

But a father (i.e, Bono, Edge ... you) can smell their newborn's head just as well as the mother!

 

[Ethans Dad]

I have to say - as you can tell by my handle that I am a dad - that this lyric shot through me when I first heard it. It's beautiful.

Perhaps I am affected by this album so much because I am a dad - knowing that Bono lost his dad recently (2 yrs ago or so). You can hear the grief in this album. Especially and obviously on SYCMIOYO. It's kind of weird to think ahead of my son being without me and what I will feel like when my old man goes. But that's what I think of when I hear it and for some reason i tie this lyric into that.

Sting's Soul Cages had the same feel to me regardless of it's musical differences from HTDAAB.

Bottom line - there is nothing better than smelling your newborn's head. I do it to my 4 yr. old son and my 10 mth. old daughter. It's full of life. It's a perfect line. It captures that feeling perfectly and leave it up to Bono to find it...

- October

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I wanna sniff a baby's head.

 

[Evalicious]

Me too!

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Are we looking at a potential fetish started by U2?

 

[macphister]

I'm getting hungry.....

 

[starsgoblue]

This is just me being me...but I'm sure this ties in the whole rest of the song. Cause the song is rooted in the story of Christopher Nolan's mother refusing to believe that her own son was incapable of being able to share his own thoughts with her and others, that his soul wasn't trapped inside his broken body....maybe the scent of a newborn can be connected to Mrs. Nolan's own memories of the day her son was born and how she held him close to herself and imagined the wonders and potentials that this new and beautiful life could accomplish? I know if I ever become a mother, my mind would be reeling with similar thoughts....

 

[Tip Top Prince]

The scent of a newborn's head is a "nasal" reminder of how pure a baby's love is.

Nothing is better than how much my baby boy loves me. Not even U2.

I love this lyric.

 

[deltau922]

After reading this thread yesterday, I made it a point to smell my baby's head last night when I was holding him.

 

[AtomicBono]

Are we looking at a potential fetish started by U2?

this whole thread is bloody brilliant.

Seriously, though, at first I was kind of "eh" to that lyric, but after reading this thread I understand how much power it has... thanks for helping me understand. Interference is good for things like this.

I need to go smell a newborn baby's head. I wonder where I can find one.

 

[Dalton]

seriously new borns stink. they smell that sticky sweet mixture of breast milk and tar crap.

Give em a couple of weeks and they smell great though.

 

[U2FAN4LIFE]

seriously new borns stink. they smell that sticky sweet mixture of breast milk and tar crap.

Give em a couple of weeks and they smell great though.

OK... I don't mean to change the direction of this thread, but if a new borns head really did stink, then what would be a good substitute for this lyric?

Personally I like "freedom has a scent, like a pint of guiness making its way to my head"

 

[innocent_eyes]

I don't think he literally means the smell of a baby's head...maybe the 'sense' of new life, youth, innocence, etc....or whatever a baby's scent would denote to you.

 

[caragriff]

it's important to note bono's clear directions here:
smell the TOP of the newborn baby's head.
do NOT smell the bottom......
i honestly cringed when i first heard this lyric, but now when i hear it, it makes me laugh at what a goober bono is.
i mean that in a good way.
really.
the next time he pull out his "i'm from the northside" tough guy bit i think i'll laugh and remember this lyric.

 

[quadcaster]

obviously what bono is trying to convey here is that freedom smells like a mixture of poop, milk and cheerios... i'd have to agree.

since when do babys shit with their heads?

and cheerios? wtf how can a baby eat cheerios?

milk......... well it depends which part of their head u smell lol

personally i think its conveying the new found freedom of a newborn, u know... the learning that goes on, the new experiences etc

 

[beegee]

as a parent, this lyric makes perfect sense.

i still smell my daughter's head and she's eleven.

 

[shart1780]

Aw you're all just a bunch of tree huggers and head sniffers!!!

 

[wolfeden]

heh.. she's 5 now but I still remember....

most infant mammals have an almost intoxicating scent.. puppies, kittens, foals, humans alike.
in the grand scheme of life it makes sense to help insure survival...

also, the chemistry involved means that one's own baby smells best to you, and someone else's not so much. this is true from penguins and deer to humans as well.

but yeah, it's a lyric you'll "get later" if you're not at that stage of life, or maybe won't get at all if you never have the experience. not the first time he's done so after all.....

 

[carrieluvv]

wolfeden said "also, the chemistry involved means that one's own baby smells best to you, and someone else's not so much. this is true from penguins and deer to humans as well."

I was gonna add that there is probably a hormonal exchange between mother/father /child that makes this possible...but i think babies smell good in general when they havent made a stink ..the products we use on em ..the soft down on thier heads = ) its a peaceful sort of thing..
ofcourse newborn probably doesnt suggest that the baby has just hatched-
i love when they fall asleep in your arms ,,,ahhh..i remember just sitting and watching my babies sleep..so serene

 

[mdw3935]

I have a 3 year old and a 9 year old and I miss that smell. I don't miss everything else that goes along with newborns: nasty poop, sour milk being spit up, getting up every few hours to feed them, etc....
I do agree with carrieluvv about falling asleep in your arms though, so peaceful.

 

[silenus]

Aw you're all just a bunch of tree huggers and head sniffers!!!

glad they're not baby butt sniffers...
changed dipers last week and got solo of BTBS flashbacks