Invisible Discussion Thread II (Do not post song requests - discussion only!)

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Some pretty good reviews, overall. No one seems to be overwhelmed or blown away by the song, but still sort of quietly impressed that they still are able to make a real good tune with a contemporary style. Just when everybody expects them to wither and fade away, they pop right back up with good stuff.

The fact that they just...won't...die surely seems to both impress and utterly annoy people out there! :love:
 
JoRu said:
Some pretty good reviews, overall. No one seems to be overwhelmed or blown away by the song
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Are you reading the same threads I am? I am getting everything from people being profoundly disappointed with it to being giddy like a 15 year old Belieber. And everything in between.

I like the song, but what I'm really excited about is the promise of what's going to be on this record, because it really does seem like they've entered a new (their last?) "phase." It's not as dramatic a shift as TUF, or AB or ATYCLB, but the U2 that was reborn with Beautiful Day have once again made themselves into something new. That alone is cause for excitment. Ultimately Invisible (RED version) is going to be footnote to all this...albeit an important one.
 
Nick66 said:
Pretty enthusiastic review.

But I'm going on record now. I am not...fucking NOT...chanting "There is no them, only us" at the concert. No, no, no, no, no, fucking no. The line must be drawn here, no further, and it's one line I won't cross.
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:doh: I drew the line back at those fucking masks.

I will cry, I will sob, I will sing 40. I will not sing THIS.


last unicorn said:
I wonder what will happen after the download won't be available any more. They simply cannot just let the song disappear.
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:hmm: Anyone else gonna stay up until 11:59pm EST and see what happens? I am seriously considering it. :lol:
In case they pull a Beyonce. :lmao:
 
Earnie Shavers said:
That amounts to a 5-star review from the Guardian (or UK press in general). Their standard U2 articles are more along the lines of: “Fresh from the gates of hell, worlds worst band U2 and their fuckhead lead shouter return with more overblown bullshit for 45 year old suburban middle managers who don't actually like music.”
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:applaud:This made me laugh so hard I shot coffee out my nostrils
 
Nick66 said:
Are you reading the same threads I am? I am getting everything from people being profoundly disappointed with it to being giddy like a 15 year old Belieber. And everything in between.
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Well, I meant critics, since that was what I thought this thread was about. There hasn't been a lot of reviews (I have read a few reviews in Swedish publications in addition to the ones from Forbes and The Guardian), but most of them seem to agree that it's a pretty good song. As in, not amazing or mindblowing, but still good stuff.
 
gvox said:
I can't wait to sing it, personally.
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Nope. My favorite lyrics are the "you don't see me but you will" bit. Those will be sung and will most likely be accompanied by either a giddy grin or tears of joy. :lol:

Nick66 said:
Oh sweetie we really need to get you out more.
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Pfft. Mr CK works 60 hr weeks and I've got Lil'CK and LilMiss to keep me busy, thanks. ;)
 
I think people seem to be missing the fact that he's re-contextualized the "there is no them, only us" bit from how we've heard it used before, it isn't a plea to the world or about the charity angle, they're not going to drop that into the song that isn't about such things. It's about his struggles with his family, beyond all the other struggles going on in the world he (in the time of the song) hasn't put aside his conflict with his father, he puts himself on a world stage trying to be seen when he can't escape the fact that he really only wants his father to see him as an individual and perhaps to reconcile with him.
 
powerhour24 said:
I think people seem to be missing the fact that he's re-contextualized the "there is no them, only us" bit from how we've heard it used before, it isn't a plea to the world or about the charity angle, they're not going to drop that into the song that isn't about such things. It's about his struggles with his family, beyond all the other struggles going on in the world he (in the time of the song) hasn't put aside his conflict with his father, he puts himself on a world stage trying to be seen when he can't escape the fact that he really only wants his father to see him as an individual and perhaps to reconcile with him.
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The reason I didn't respond to the "It sounds Buddhist" comment is b/c I think it's pointless to try to speculate as to the "meaning" of this song, especially this early on. Fair enough to say I'm not sure I agree with your analysis...or that the sentiment as intended in the song is Buddhist (though I agree in general it can be interpreted the latter way). There is no "right" answer, and if the song is any good then in can be interpreted in many ways. Though my suspicion is that U2 intends it to be about the world's poor.

In any event, at the moment, the "There is no them, there is only us" is attached very much to the "charity" song, and Africa AID, all all the other sentiments U2 has been associated with along those lines...and for now I'll take it at face value that that's the way they intend it here.

BTW, despite the "father" reference in this song, I largely thought of it as Bono speaking in the third person. It's hard to imagine Bono is singing about himself here. If he's singing about his own father, I guess I'd be a little disappointed that he's returning to that thematic ground yet again. And I'm not quite sure I'm willing to concede that every time Bono yells out "Father" he's talking about Bob Hewson. I'd like to think he has more lyrical range than that.
 
see, i had thought that in his past work, he'd been pretty charitable towards his father, and this is the first time, if we're to take the person he's addressing in this song as Bob, that he's spewing some real anger towards him. "sometimes" is very empathetic and he takes some of the blame for the strained relationship; here, it seems he's saying that his father literally drove him away because he had no faith in his son. Bono's talked about this, and always with sympathy -- "growing up in Ireland, my father was taught not to dream big because you'd be disappointed" -- but maybe now he's expressing the fact that it was more anger than understanding. that his relationship with Bob was much worse than we might have thought. however, he also has to be grateful. for without that withholding of parental love and approval and encouragement, it drove him to become who he was always meant to be -- the reason why the opera is in him.

i'm actually a fan of "sometimes." i think it plods along for it's first few minutes, but when it takes off with that high note, it's really very powerful in it's lyric simplicity and the most successful sonic "clench" on the album.

anyway ...
 
Nick, other than RED being focused on in the ad, please tell me how the rest of the song could have anything to do with Africa or a world kumbaya moment.
 
ClaytonsKitten said:
:hmm: Anyone else gonna stay up until 11:59pm EST and see what happens? I am seriously considering it. :lol:
In case they pull a Beyonce. :lmao:
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I don't think it's that crazy...seems (slightly) plausible, think about this:

1. They release Ordinary Love
2. They tease an album for Spring '14
3. They've changed management, a HUGE paradigm shift
4. They release a very good and interesting song for FREE
5. They made a video for said song...commercial is one thing, video seems to suggested they want to market said song
6. They claim it's the first song they finished, which is a strange statement to make considering they've already released Ordinary Love (album track or not)
7. They also start throwing out mis-directions (album in June, not finished) but...
8. They've been recording with Danger Mouse for 3 1/2 YEARS
9. Surprise releases are en vogue...:hmm:

I'm with the Kitty...anything is possible...you never know...:shifty:
 
powerhour24 said:
Nick, other than RED being focused on in the ad, please tell me how the rest of the song could have anything to do with Africa or a world kumbaya moment.
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Again, I'm loathe to get into arguments about "interpretations" of songs, because as I said there's no "right" answer, and trying to interpret rock lyrics for the most part is a fools game. But if you must have something, you could argue that the poor of Africa, or the countless dying of AIDS there, are the "invisible" ones, that they are there but no one sees them b/c it's easier to ignore them (this was often said of the holocaust, and Bono has made this comparison before). Pretend they're not there and they're "invisible".

And McCormick (who knows a bit about the band) made a similar observation in his comments about the song:

Lyrically, the song seems a subtle comment on the world's dispossessed, and by that I don't think Bono means old rock stars. He is addressing the global poor, especially perhaps the immigrant populations who work for low wages yet attract so much political opprobrium. "There's only us, there is no them," sings Bono in the coda. But while the artistic intent may be to speak for the invisible masses, the commercial drive is surely all about putting the U2 brand where a younger audience will not be able to avoid it.
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I'm not saying McCormick and I are right and you are wrong. Merely just observing that there is no one way to interpret the song...though I think the way I've interpreted "There is no us, only them" is a pretty fair reading given the band's history and the context of the song in relation to the ad.
 
Irvine511 said:
i'm actually a fan of "sometimes." i think it plods along for it's first few minutes, but when it takes off with that high note, it's really very powerful in it's lyric simplicity and the most successful sonic "clench" on the album.
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I've always championed SYCMIOYO as one of their best songs. Definitely one of - if not the - best from that album. :up:
 
I think Sometimes has the bones of a great song, and a sweet chorus, I just think they ruined a lot of it with faux-90s guitars when a more Stuck-y production aesthetic would have suited it better.
 
music is especially subjective since it's such an emotional thing. all you can really do is present your case and defend it the best you can.
 
Well, the LA Times likes it. And, no the reviewer wasn't Hilburn.

Review: U2's "Invisible" presents band at its aspirational best - latimes.com

Produced by Danger Mouse and taken from the band's forthcoming album, it's both a pleasant surprise and a fairly typical track by the world's biggest rock band. Relying on the Teutonic "motorik" beat as the propellant, it features the kind of grand, aspirational chorus that Bono and buds were born to birth and flies on the wings of a typically sticky guitar melody courtesy of the Edge.
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The band has yet to confirm a release date for its still untitled new album, but don't be surprised if U2 pulls a Beyoncé and unveils it suddenly.
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In reference to the, "There's no them/ There's only us", line: The earliest use of it I can find comes from Bill Clinton in 1992. Was it around before that?
 
trojanchick99 said:
Well, the LA Times likes it. And, no the reviewer wasn't Hilburn.

Review: U2's "Invisible" presents band at its aspirational best - latimes.com

The band has yet to confirm a release date for its still untitled new album, but don't be surprised if U2 pulls a Beyoncé and unveils it suddenly.
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Yeah, I've said the Beyonce thing was a (remote) possibility around the time we noticed Invisible isn't being sold, but rather pulled off, iTunes at midnight. Wishful thinking, but I wouldn't complain if they do drop it suddenly!
 
Jo whiley played it on radio 2 this afternoon,had to pull over in the works van just to listen to it! Hope to hear it more on the radio from now on.

Sent from my GT-P3110 using U2 Interference mobile app
 
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