New York vs UltraViolet(Light My Way)

[Justin24]

New York Hands down. Especially when it picks up at the end.

 

[Vlaco]

This isn't even a contest....Ultraviolet of course, brilliant performances during ZooTV

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

What an odd comparison...

What's next? Numb vs Running To Stand Still?

Anyhow... I would say Ultra Violet is my favorite of the two...

 

[Niceman]

Well, IMHO New York is the worst song they've put on an album since Red Light, so I'm going to go with the brilliance of Ultraviolet....different strokes for different folks.....

 

[LemonMelon]

I'd have to say New York, but barely. I don't really care for Ultraviolet on the album, but it does certainly take off in a live setting. But then again, so does New York.

 

[Laughing Gas.]

UltraViolet (Easily). Although I feel New York is quite underrated, UltraViolet is part of the three closing songs on Achtung Baby which are, IMO, among the greatest songs of all time.

 

[Canadiens1131]

You've gotta be kidding me....

 

[xaviMF22]

Ultraviolet

 

[silvrlvr]

I love New York.....

 

[BVS]

Ultraviolet, without question. No contest.

New York is a perfect example of a song that could have been... And I put all the blame on Bono and bad lyrics, musically it was pretty damn good.

 

[LemonMelon]

Ultraviolet, without question. No contest.

New York is a perfect example of a song that could have been... And I put all the blame on Bono and bad lyrics, musically it was pretty damn good.

...And Ultraviolet's lyrics are good now? When did this happen?

Both songs have awful choruses, some of U2's worst, but at least New York's has some lift to it and isn't just Bono muttering baby, baby, baby into a microphone.

Personally, I'd take:

In New York I lost it all to you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid life crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat

You got to put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York

and

In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice whispering
Come away now

Over anything in Ultraviolet. But that's just me. I'm not saying that New York's lyrics are great, but Ultraviolet sounds like something Bono/Edge wrote in a half hour.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

^ what, you've got a problem with BABY BABY BABY?

 

[alanah]

I have to go with New York, but I also like Ultraviolet.

 

[LemonMelon]

^ what, you've got a problem with BABY BABY BABY?

Maybe not if 5,000 other bands hadn't already done it.

 

[Screwtape2]

Every song on Achtung Baby (minus TTTYATW) is better than anything on ATYCLB.

 

[xaviMF22]

Every song on Achtung Baby (minus TTTYATW) is better than anything on ATYCLB.

and HTDAAB you can't forget that pos

 

[Screwtape2]

and HTDAAB you can't forget that pos

That goes without saying.

 

[BVS]

...And Ultraviolet's lyrics are good now? When did this happen?

Both songs have awful choruses, some of U2's worst, but at least New York's has some lift to it and isn't just Bono muttering baby, baby, baby into a microphone.

I think the "Baby, baby, baby" actually works for this song, plus the rest of the lyrics are good:

These stanzas alone win the lyric contest...

"You bury your treasure where it can't be found
But your love is like a secret that's been passed around
There is a silence that comes to a house where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap"

"I remember when we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together in whispers and moans
When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head
Your love was a lightbulb hanging over my bed"

 

[Screwtape2]

"You bury your treasure where it can't be found
But your love is like a secret that's been passed around
There is a silence that comes to a house where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap"

"I remember when we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together in whispers and moans
When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head
Your love was a lightbulb hanging over my bed"

Ultraviolet has some of the best lyrics on Achtung Baby. I think the chorus adds to the desperation in the song.

 

[alanah]

Every song on Achtung Baby (minus TTTYATW) is better than anything on ATYCLB.

TTTYAATW is one of my favs on AB though.

 

[Chizip]

New York is one of the few U2 songs I really just don't like at all

 

[U2Man]

new york is the only turd on atyclb.

 

[Justin24]

new york is the only turd on atyclb.

Really I thought you would Wild Honey, Grace or Peace On Earth.

 

[U2Man]

no, they're all perfect.

 

[xaviMF22]

no, they're all perfect.

QFTMFT


ATYCLB is a true classic

 

[LemonMelon]

There is a silence that comes to a house where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap

Yeah, not crazy about that at all. Call me cynical, but that sounds pretty darn cliched. And baby, baby, baby doesn't really help the song...it's just lazy. It's something that you guys would be tearing apart if it was a chorus on HTDAAB.

Oh, Axver, why hast thou forsaken me!

 

[mandrake]

Ultraviolet, hands down. I love the Edge's part "Ullllllllllllltraviiiiiiiiiioooooooolllllllllettttttttt"

 

[MrBrau1]

Maybe not if 5,000 other bands hadn't already done it.

Who cares. T.Rex did it. It's fucking cool.

 

[Chizip]

Yeah, not crazy about that at all. Call me cynical, but that sounds pretty darn cliched. And baby, baby, baby doesn't really help the song...it's just lazy. It's something that you guys would be tearing apart if it was a chorus on HTDAAB.

Oh, Axver, why hast thou forsaken me!

the babies are cool because before AB it used to be a forbidden word, one Bono refused to use in a song. but with Achtung Baby they threw out all their old rules, and went from never using baby, to using it 600 times in 1 song. it marked a shift in attitude, a tearing down of previous walls, which was pretty cool.

and the rest of the lyrics in the song are superb.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I choose Ultraviolet. It's an amazing song, with so much soul and power and it represents well the old U2 sound mixed with the then new U2 sound. I very much wish they would bring it back. I remember back during the Elevation Tour Bono said that they thought about bringing it back to the live set then. It would have fited nice with the Vertigo setlists as well.

New York by the way is a great song as well but not just as LMW. It has however one of Bono's best lyrics in my opinion. I really wish he would write more like that again for the next album.

the babies are cool because before AB it used to be a forbidden word, one Bono refused to use in a song. but with Achtung Baby they threw out all their old rules, and went from never using baby, to using it 600 times in 1 song. it marked a shift in attitude, a tearing down of previous walls, which was pretty cool.

and the rest of the lyrics in the song are superb.

Indeed. A lot of people don't seem to get that. It's one of the main reasons why Achtung Baby was so damn good, they threw out rules that were preventing them from being more inventive and loose with the music and made it work like they couldn't before.