Songs of Ascent - Part IV

[Niceman]

Good call on the line between Crazy and Pop.

Unknown Caller I can't see as anything new at all. It sounds almost lifted from Miracle Drug. The only new territory on it is the chanted chorus and I think a fair argument either way could be made as to its acceptance.

My biggest regret with Unknown Caller is that Edge didn't use a different/new guitar effect. Yes, it is a sound he used on the previous 2 albums; which is a pity. Otherwise the song is very much new territory. The comments I hear about the song being a re-hash of Miracle Drug or Walk On are not, IMHO, correct - but that the same guitar sound is used IS. Funny how a little thing like that can affect how a song is perceived!!!

 

[mikal]

My biggest regret with Unknown Caller is that Edge didn't use a different/new guitar effect. Yes, it is a sound he used on the previous 2 albums; which is a pity. Otherwise the song is very much new territory. The comments I hear about the song being a re-hash of Miracle Drug or Walk On are not, IMHO, correct - but that the same guitar sound is used IS. Funny how a little thing like that can affect how a song is perceived!!!

the beach clips led me to believe that The Edge was using some freaky sounding flanger effect, but when the album came out, i discovered that it was just the beach making that noise.

with that said, UC is one of my faves from NLOTH.

 

[Niceman]

the beach clips led me to believe that The Edge was using some freaky sounding flanger effect, but when the album came out, i discovered that it was just the beach making that noise.

with that said, UC is one of my faves from NLOTH.

I fell in love with it when I heard it live.......

 

[dan_smee]

Though I gotta laugh at the thought of all of Interference's militant aetheists singing along, arms outstretched, asking God to let his light shine down on them.

IM not allowed to enjoy a song because I dont believe in a big dude up in the clouds?

Fuck off.

Just a random example, does this mean that only people with Cancer are allowed to sing along to the My Chemical Romance song of that name because it is a first person song about having Cancer.

You make me laugh most of the time and I just dismiss it as more of your nonsense, but this is just plain ridiculous. Perhaps it shows the higher order thinking of the atheist that I have the intellect to challenge such nonsense as religion and believing in magic omnipotent beings, but can still appreciate that the belief in them can inspire wonderful art, and therefore I can accept it's existence as an ideology and those that follow it because it can at times make the world a better place.

Because I sing along to words someone else wrote, in a song that is catchy and of genuine quality, it means I am asking "gods" light to shine down on me? Get real champ, If anything it is me reaffirming to the band that if that is what they choose to believe, may this "god" shine it's light on you the way that you wish.

Wht kind of christian places restrictions on the kind of art another human can enjoy? aren't you people supposed to be all inclusive and open?

I bet you're the kind of person that wanted Ricky Gervais new movie taken out of cinemas because it dared to suggest that god was fictional. Anyone has the right to beleive what they wish, and the monopoly on the artist world of christianity should be broken, if only for the sake of transparency and diversity.

 

[Snowlock]

LOL, don't get all pissy with me, jr. You can like whatever you want and I'll just enjoy the irony.

But justify, till we die, YOU and I will magnify..

I guess whether we want to or not.

 

[mikal]

Does anyone know when Songs Of Ascent is coming out?

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

It's amazing how music is like subjective and shit....

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Does anyone know when Songs Of Ascent is coming out?

2012

 

[mikal]

2012

i hope it's before da world ends!!!111

 

[coolian2]

what a tool

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

i hope it's before da world ends!!!111

DAMN THOSE MAYANS!!!1111one

 

[Niceman]

One can choose to 'read' Achtung Baby as being about one's relationship with God, or a relationship with a woman, or a search for the new in art.....none is more valid than another irregardless of what may have been on Bono's mind during an interview a year or more after they were written....

And in any case authors are not always the final authority on their work...

 

[subnet]

this just in: terry lawless is still at home

 

[powerhour24]

I wholeheartedly disagree, an author or artist does not dictate meaning that the end user grafts onto their work, but the 'right' reading of a work is the one that was in the heart of the artist, I can enjoy a song based on what I first thought about it, but that doesn't make me more correct that the songwriter. Besides, oftentimes they're playing with many meetings, as U2's anthemic songs have always done.

Also, sorry to be the grammar police, but irregardless isn't a real word, its a double negative.

 

[subnet]

can i unfriend you?

 

[Snowlock]

I wholeheartedly disagree, an author or artist does not dictate meaning that the end user grafts onto their work, but the 'right' reading of a work is the one that was in the heart of the artist, I can enjoy a song based on what I first thought about it, but that doesn't make me more correct that the songwriter. Besides, oftentimes they're playing with many meetings, as U2's anthemic songs have always done.

Also, sorry to be the grammar police, but irregardless isn't a real word, its a double negative.

Does it matter though? I always took Mag to be Bono singing about being a singer with some other stuff sprinkled in. Well, per Bono its more likely its inspired by Mary with himself sprinkled in. Just like OOTS was inspired by Edges daughter, but has multiple meanings.

We can interpret something however we want to and I would imagine most artists would prefer that we do, as long as its not negatively. They want us to own their work so to speak.

Dan, he of the heightened intelligence, missed that point. I'm not saying someone is incorrect in their interpretations or their love of the song as they hear or feel it. I'm saying how Bono interprets that word specifically, if he is in fact meaning it within the context of the prayer, and that is an IF, as he never did say so; lends irony to a certain subsection of his fans enjoyment of it. But never that those fans were wrong for enjoying it.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Dan, he of the heightened intelligence, missed that point. I'm not saying someone is incorrect in their interpretations or their love of the song as they hear or feel it. I'm saying how Bono interprets that word specifically, if he is in fact meaning it within the context of the prayer, and that is an IF, as he never did say so; lends irony to a certain subsection of his fans enjoyment of it. But never that those fans were wrong for enjoying it.

then why are you laughing at it?

 

[Snowlock]

then why are you laughing at it?

Because he got so all fired worked up about something he didn't even understand. A classic swing and a miss. It struck me as funny. Please recall in the first post about it, I said militant atheists. I guess like my pal Dan here. I imagined them enjoying it like a KKK member enjoying Public Enemy.

Please be intelligent enough, folks, to understand that I'm not saying aethiests are KKK members.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

well, no, you said origninally:

Though I gotta laugh at the thought of all of Interference's militant aetheists singing along, arms outstretched, asking God to let his light shine down on them.

Then you say that there is nothing wrong with having a different interpretation of the lyrics... By laughing at this though it seems to me that you find something derisive about the fact that militant atheists are being what? Duped into singing about god?

 

[Snowlock]

Yep, answered above. But not just singing about God; singing about the glory of God. Following that interpretation.

 

[Niceman]

I wholeheartedly disagree, an author or artist does not dictate meaning that the end user grafts onto their work, but the 'right' reading of a work is the one that was in the heart of the artist, I can enjoy a song based on what I first thought about it, but that doesn't make me more correct that the songwriter. Besides, oftentimes they're playing with many meetings, as U2's anthemic songs have always done.

Also, sorry to be the grammar police, but irregardless isn't a real word, its a double negative.

en.wikipedia. o r g/wi ki/Irregardless

htt p: / /dictionary.reference. c om/browse/irregardless

I am an English teacher....

There are readings which are more or less valid, but an artist like Bono consciously leaves most of his songs open to interpretation.. Consider my example of Achtung Baby. I suggested 3 readings which I think are all very valid. I also suspect that when Bono wrote Magnificent he wanted to leave it open so that it could be as useful as possible for the world. To those of a religious bent; it is a song of worship. For those in love? It is a love song. For a child? A song of familial love. To an artist? It is finding the seam....

I'm not saying Bono isn't religious or that it doesn't have the meaning for him that you suggest. But I do suggest that that is only a single facet of the song. I am sure that he intended the other sides to shine, and enjoys them himself!

 

[mikal]

does anyone have news about Songs Of Ascent?

 

[coolian2]

does anyone have news about Songs Of Ascent?

it couldn't be more obvious the answer to that question is an emphatic no.

 

[Irvine511]

"magnificent" is about the artist/performer's relationship to his audience.

 

[lazarus]

Funny, I thought we were talking about the next fucking album, which is why I mentioned that note about Winner.

Maybe we could take the lyrical interpretation bullshit somewhere else?

 

[Diemen]

"magnificent" is about the artist/performer's relationship to his audience.

I see it as a rather straight up worship song about the artist's relationship with his God more than anything, though it does work quite well between artist and audience, too.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

One can choose to 'read' Achtung Baby as being about one's relationship with God, or a relationship with a woman, or a search for the new in art.....none is more valid than another irregardless of what may have been on Bono's mind during an interview a year or more after they were written....

And in any case authors are not always the final authority on their work...

i always thought Achtung Baby was supposed to be about Adam's

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

Please be intelligent enough, folks, to understand that I'm not saying aethiests are KKK members.

im sure some are...

 

[Niceman]

i always thought Achtung Baby was supposed to be about Adam's

An entirely valid reading, in my book!

 

[Aygo]

I'd also like someone to give an example of another U2 song with an Organ solo in it...

Plus, "Unknown Caller" brings some freshness in terms of time signature, since 99% of U2's catalogue is 4/4 or 6/8 or something similar (exceptions like "Drowning Man" for instance).