MERGED-->The New Updated Lyrics? + lyrics reaction

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First off, let me stress my undying love for this song! It's quick, driven and impossible to forgot! The diversity of the song, stretching from a Ramones inspired beginning, to a suspended middle reminiscent of “New Year’s Day”, to a climaxing recount of the emotional energy expressed in “Elevation”, is only matched by the diversity of the band! Anyone who questions the song’s legitimacy as the lead single for the upcoming album is obviously single themselves! How else could their inability to relate with other people in an honest fashion be explained? Relationships are built on trust, trust is built on truth, and the truth is “Vertigo” rocks beyond rock n’ roll! It’s more on the level of rock n’ roll n’ destroy! Goodbye soft-punk-semi-boy-bands, say, “Hello, hello,” again to good old punk rockers! The sound of the song is only further intensified by its lyrics! The lyrics are likeable to the abstract structure of “MOFO” and “Lemon”, but they also are likeable to the zany catchiness of (yes, I’ll gladly mention it again) “Elevation” and “Mysterious Ways”! Sleep, eat or pooh, I just can’t force myself to hit pause!

Wow. My only complaint about the song, and this is sure to soon be cleared up, is the lyrical equivalent to mashed potatoes of “The night is full of holes/These bullets rip the sky/Of ink with gold”! Does “Bullet The Blue Sky” or "Bad" come to mind, anybody, huh? I’d love to be able to sing “Vertigo” without any unease. Please, and I bet you’re all now seeing how my post fits this message board, explain to me the complex analogy between sky, bullets, ink and gold! (An explanation would also help me sing “Bad” without any unease!)
 
Here's U2wanderer's lyric, I've find them the most exact so far.
It seems he put it together of his earlier lyrics, I can associate almost all the lines to songs before.

Lights go down, it's dark - The Fly
The jungle is your head, can't rule your heart - Gone
I'm feeling so much stronger than I thought - Elevation
Your eyes are wide, and though your soul
It can't be bought, your mind can wander - Walk on

Hello, hello, hola, hola
I'm at a place called Vertigo, dónde está? - Stories for Boys
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something I can feel, feel

The night is full of holes
There's bullets ripping sky of ink with gold
They twinkle as the boys play rock and roll - Bullet the Blue Sky
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 'round her neck - Walk to the Water
Swinging to the music, swinging to the music, whoaa - Mofo

Hello, hello, hola, 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

Check it, shots fall, shall I make it?

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

Hello, hello, hola, 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 - Beautiful Day
How to kneel, kneel - Mysterious Ways

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

And what about you? :)
 
I agree with you, with the again biblical feeling (so U2) because at the end it is Satan/Devil talking isn't it, "all of this can be yours" (just eat the apple), but I still think Iraq is in there too.

vertigo is a disordered feeling a person has about their surroundings. And the song makes me feel that way, great art, as usual, U2.

In conclusion, The Earth is a messed up place, and we're in the middle of this chaos, and all we have to hold onto is God.

and yes! This song makes us feel that way as we listen to it!

and thank you, because I think that's exactly it.
 
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i also agree with starsforu2's interpretation, it's interesting how when the devil tempts jesus he says "all this can be yours" three times, just like in the song,
the only lyrics that are confusing me now are "i can sell the beats/i'm asking for the check/girl with crimsom nails/has jesus round her neck" can anyone elaborate on the meaning here?
 
the only lyrics that are confusing me now are "i can sell the beats/i'm asking for the check/girl with crimsom nails/has jesus round her neck" can anyone elaborate on the meaning here?

Now that I've heard the song about 300 times :dance: I have a slightly different opinion on what is happening in the song.

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

I totally see this as a man in a club and he's beginning to get swept up into the undertow of passion in a sweaty club. Still he knows that he can't betray what he believes, but his mind wanders into the temptations of what he's not supposed to do.

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

As he begins to fantasize, he begins to feel dizzy with the lust, and his head doesn't want any part of it, except that he feels the pull.

The night is full of holes
There's bullets ripping 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

Honestly, I don't understand the bullets reference, but the band references are self-referential and add to the scene of a club that is hopping.

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

This same man is at his table watching and feeling the draw of the girls. Either he succumbs to it or he has to flee from it. I picture this guy feeling claustrophobic and wanting to get out of there, but there is this girl and she's right in front of him 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

And then he's drawn into his fantasies again and he's dizzy with lust even as he fights to remain good. I think the scat singing reveals that he's losing the battle and a frenzy of activity (the guitar part) indicates that he's all inside of his fantasies. Just as he is about to succumb to the situation he hear's the voice...

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

The devil is whispering to him, offering him heaven in a pair of long legs.

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

Even in the midst of great temptation, he still remembers God. He may sin, but he still remembers God.

Once again, there is a great double entendre in each line. It's a woman, it's God. The woman is God! Who knows? That's why interpretation is so much fun. Many right answers.

Oh, and on the uno, dos, tres, catorce. I think it's definitely the Lillywhite reasoning. U213 is the catalog number for "The Best of 1990 - 2000", ATYCLB was U212 (in Europe)
 
Is the focus of that verse about the girl swinging to the music, or is it really about the JESUS swinging to the music? Sounds like to me, this character is staring at a girl, then focuses on the jesus (face or cross) on a chain which is leading him to think of things bigger than the cheap moment he's having in the club or what ever metaphor fits.
 
They twinkle as the boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance
At least they know
I can stand the beat
I'm asking for the check
The girl with crimson nails
has Jesus 'round her neck -
Swinging to the music, swinging to the music, whoaa

Listening to the song, it feels like these lyrics are about the band. And Bono saying he's the one who has to(and wants to) keep the audience's attention.
The only part that does not sound right to me is "The girl with crimson nails has Jesus 'round her neck"
I thought the entire thing was about him, on stage, with Jesus 'round his neck swinging to the music.:shrug:
 
I hear "I'm at a place called Vertigo", it makes much more sense, and the end (We're at a place called Vertigo) fits to this one, and not to "My place called Vertigo".
I love the way he whispers the last word in the "and no one gets hurt" line :) he must talk in the name of two people, the one who threatens you won’t kneel down to you, will he? :)
 
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