Song of the day 05-08-05: Promenade

[Cassis]

Promenade


Earth, sky, scenery
Here she comes back again
Men of straw, snooker hall
Words that build or destroy
Dirt, dry bones, sand and stone
Barbed wire fence cut me down

I'd like to be around
In a spiral staircase to the higher ground
And I, like a firework, explode
Roman candle lightening lights up the sky
In cracked streets trampled underfoot
Side step, sidewalk
I see you stare into the space
Have I got closer now behind the face
Oh, tell me, cherry you dance with me
Turn me around tonight
Up through the spiral staircase
To the higher ground

Slideshow of a seaside town
Coca-cola, football
Radio, radio, radio, radio, radio, radio

 

[gareth brown]

I love this track...excellent stuff...I'd love to hear them try and play this live just ONCE...

 

[beegee]

Oh, tell me, cherry you dance with me

i believe that lyric is wrong.

some sites quote it the way you have it here, and some quote it as "charity dance with me", which makes more sense. especially when you take into consideration bono's habit of "borrowing" lyrics from other sources, and when you look at the poem "i am of ireland" by william butler yeats which contains these lines..

'I am of Ireland,
And the Holy Land of Ireland,
And time runs on,' cried she.
'Come out of charity,
Come dance with me in Ireland.'

wonderful song, beautiful lyrics

 

[Zoots]

We had a Promenade appreciation thread just a week back or something, didn't we?

Anyway, beautiful song! Gorgeous lyrics and atmospherics!

 

[MacPhistoPT]

a hidden gem

 

[Cassis]

*disclaimer all my lyrics are directly off atu2.com

 

[gareth brown]

I still think it would have sounded better as

'Charity dance with me...
Tell me you'll turn me around...
Up through the spiral staircase
To the higher ground...'

sounds better rhyming in MY opinion...!

 

[Liesje]

This is one of my favorite tracks ever and definitely my favorite lyrics. I've never understood the cherry/charity line or where that came from b/c to me it's always sounded like "oh tell me/tell me you'll dance with me/turn me around tonight". Are there "official" lyrics printed in the CD booklet?

 

[gareth brown]

Not in the CD book. For some reason, that's just a photo of the band, production notes and on one page the lyrics to 'A Sort of Homecoming'...

Can someone check their LP sleeve...that should have it. The only album without a lyric sheet is 'October' I think for obvious reasons.

 

[Palace_Hero]

I reckon it is "Cherry you dance with me". The song as a whole is a bit abstract and meandering, and I think the aforementioned lyrics is a lovely example of this light hearted love song.

Don't read too much into it, charity/cherry.. it is the whole that matters.

 

[phanan]

Beautiful song. Fits in perfectly where it is on UF.

 

[Irishteen]

Fells perfect on TUF 5 stars, by itself 4 stars.

 

[MacPhistoPT]

I actually like it by itself... chilling and melodic song

 

[reptile]

This is one of my favorite tracks ever and definitely my favorite lyrics. I've never understood the cherry/charity line or where that came from b/c to me it's always sounded like "oh tell me/tell me you'll dance with me/turn me around tonight". Are there "official" lyrics printed in the CD booklet?

I agree with you, "Tell me you'll dance with me" Is what ive always heard. A gem for sure. I remember Adam saying it was his favourite track at the time.
And no. there are no lyrics with the vinyl (apart from homecoming)

 

[DPrinceNY]

great song.
wish it were longer though

 

[Liesje]

I agree with you, "Tell me you'll dance with me" Is what ive always heard. A gem for sure. I remember Adam saying it was his favourite track at the time.
And no. there are no lyrics with the vinyl (apart from homecoming)

I only ask b/c I've never been able to here Bono sing "cherry" or "charity" so I've always wondered how that became the official lyrics, especially now knowing lyrics aren't printed with the CD or vinyl.

 

[annabelle]

This is one of my favorite tracks ever and definitely my favorite lyrics. I've never understood the cherry/charity line or where that came from b/c to me it's always sounded like "oh tell me/tell me you'll dance with me/turn me around tonight". Are there "official" lyrics printed in the CD booklet?

I only ever hear "...tell me/ tell me you'll dance with me" purely because he's singing to me of course! It's my own little dream...


Love this song ...

 

[blueeyedgirl]

^ me too!

I've always loved this song, the mood, how he sings, what he sings. It's just a gorgeous song. Definitely 5

 

[LuvandPeace1980]

Yes great song, definately one of my favourite songs and albums(UF) at the moment.. I wish we could get some more stuff like this out of U2!

 

[GibsonGirl]

Promenade is my second favourite song on The Unforgettable Fire, and one of my all-time U2 favourites. The atmosphere in it is just perfect.

 

[#1bonofan]

Kick ass song!! I love everything on UF.