Why no love songs??

[blm]

As Bono is such a loving, passionate human being, why hasn't he written any REAL love songs? They are always filled with angst, pain, ambiguity, desire, searching, wanting, etc.
Has he ever been asked this ?

What are your thoughts?

Mine is this:
Losing a parent at any time is forever soul changing, but speaking from experience, I think losing a parent before adulthood certainly creates a hole(a longing) that is ALWAYS there, and it stays in your very being because there is a piece that is missing like a puzzle, and so you do not feel complete. It seeps unconsciouly into many things, many times. I think he is too intense (injured maybe) too write a completely positive song like that.

 

[vaz02]

Maybe your not looking hard enough.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Or maybe you're looking too hard?

 

[last unicorn]

A lot has been written about Bono's songwriting and the way U2's songs can be interpreted in different ways. This is, for me, one of most fascinating things about U2. If you say: There are no love songs, then you a) completely misunderstand Bono's concept of songwriting and b) haven't looked or better: listened hard enough, because most of his songs ARE actually love songs. It's just a more complex concept of love that is displayed in their songs. That's what I - and I'm sure many other fans - love and admire about the band's music.

 

[babyman]

There is just a word which can resume all the others, including love, and it's FEELING. Once you write a song with it, you have all the love songs you want. That's what Bono proves everytime when he writes a song, and under this aspect even Please becomes a love song. It's too easy to write,"I love you, you're the best person in the world, I will never leave you................"
But if you want the true love song, you must hide the love in it, letting discover it to the ones who listen. Under this aspect, Bono never ends to write love songs.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Real love songs often get to cliché . U2 isnt an ordinary rock band, almost every song has something to say. A love song often have a very easy almost silly lyric. Bono is known for his deep lyrics.

Most close to ballads is WOWY and AIWIY. But I can't call them ballads or power ballads.

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

I think the reason he hasn't written any real love songs is because he has been with his childhood sweetheart since he was a teenager, and therefore did not experience a wide range of good and bad love experiences or a variety of situations and feelings the way other people have. He's had a few songs that could be considered a love song about Ali, but after all this time she's probably more like a mother to him than an object of passion. I don't want that to be taken the wrong way, all I am saying is that because he never played around and went through all sorts of emotions like most guys do, it's not in him, so he can't write it.

 

[DevilsShoes]

I think Bono avoids writing 'real' love songs because more often than not they're pretty boring, it's all too often 'I love you, you love me' 'Dont want to lose you' 'Never leave me' 'Stay with me forever' which can be found in 99% of the hit parade. Bono prefers to be more obscure and a bit more unique, although as others have said practically every song he writes is a love song.

I personally think All I Want Is You is the best love song ever written, and as straightforward a declaration of love you're ever likely to get from Bono, it is unbelievably romantic. After that it didn't matter if he never wrote another love song again.

I prefer the more ambiguous love songs he writes, I love Please, Stay and especially Love Is Blindness as well as many, many others.

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

Bono has also never experiened any real heartbreak in love or the devastation of losing a woman he loved to a rival or another man. His marriage has never broken up, his wife has never cheated. That type scenario is a great background for many songs. He has been very lucky in that way and I admire his longterm relationship I'm only saying since he hasn't 'been there' the way most guys have keeps him from writing about it.

 

[last unicorn]

I don't agree with the "it's not in him so he doesn't write it".
Being an artists/writer/poet myself I kind of take offense in a statement like that. The human heart and mind is capable of much more feelings and thoughts than those drawn from own experiences.

Most artists, including Bono - and he has said so many times - do not write autobiographical stuff all the time. In fact, a very important part of being an artist is the ability to be emphatic, to take on other people's perspectives and positions. As a performing artist, like a singer, you are often acting and taking on other personalities. Bono has empathized this in a lot of interviews. There are a couple of songs he specifically spoke about that are not about himself but about someone else (real person or not).

Art could never live of autobiographical experience alone, so I wouldn't say that Bono doesn't write love songs because he hasn't experienced certain emotions. Being the emotional person that he is, you can bet he has gone through evey kind of sentiment, and he's sensitive enough to be emphatic and be able to speak/sing out of another person's role.

I'd go more for the theory that he doesn't like everyday love-songs, he said so in very early interviews, it's too trivial and too much cliché. U2's music is more complex than that.

To me, Bono has expressed every feeling and sentiment through his songs that the human heart and soul is capable of. That's what makes U2's music so universal, it touches the core of humanity.

 

[Niceman]

With or Without You
The Sweatest Thing
Luminous Times (Hold onto Love)
Wild Honey
Babyface
Mysterious Ways
So Cruel
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
Ultraviolet
Do you feel loved?
All I want is You
Love Rescue Me
Be There
All Because of You
etc.

If these aren't love songs, then I don't know what would be!

 

[BoMac]

Bono has also never experiened any real heartbreak in love or the devastation of losing a woman he loved to a rival or another man. His marriage has never broken up, his wife has never cheated. That type scenario is a great background for many songs. He has been very lucky in that way and I admire his longterm relationship I'm only saying since he hasn't 'been there' the way most guys have keeps him from writing about it.

Were you with Bono during his entire marriage? How can anyone say he hasn't experienced "any real heartbreak" when you've never been around the man. He's human, and surely feels the same emotions that we do. Who's to say that he and Ali never went through an extended dark period, maybe even breaking up or separating before ultimately deciding to stay with each other?

Also, I'm sure he's able to empathize and has seen his friend's experiencing heartbreak. Remember, Bono drew from Edge's divorce for much of Achtung Baby.

Bono's abstract writing style, which allows multiple interpretations are what attracts me the most to U2. Love is a central theme in most of U2's songs but it's not necessarily the only theme.

 

[Aygo]

With or Without You
The Sweatest Thing
Luminous Times (Hold onto Love)
Wild Honey
Babyface
Mysterious Ways
So Cruel
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
Ultraviolet
Do you feel loved?
All I want is You
Love Rescue Me
Be There
All Because of You
etc.

If these aren't love songs, then I don't know what would be!

"Love Rescue Me" and "All Because Of you" are not real man-woman (or whatever) love songs. These are songs about God and transcendence, but some lines can be interpreted as love songs.
I'd switch those for "A Man and A Woman" or "Wild Honey", for instance.

 

[last unicorn]

"Love Rescue Me" and "All Because Of you" are not real man-woman (or whatever) love songs. These are songs about God and transcendence, but some lines can be interpreted as love songs.
I'd switch those for "A Man and A Woman" or "Wild Honey", for instance.

Most of U2's love songs can be interpreted as both love between man and woman and love to God, that's part of what makes their music great. There is always more than one meaning to the YOU they use.
I think "A Man and A Woman" is Bono's most straightforward and obvious love song in many years.
I'd also add "Two hearts beat as one" to the list.

 

[alanah]

With or Without You
The Sweatest Thing
Luminous Times (Hold onto Love)
Wild Honey
Babyface
Mysterious Ways
So Cruel
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
Ultraviolet
Do you feel loved?
All I want is You
Love Rescue Me
Be There
All Because of You
etc.

If these aren't love songs, then I don't know what would be!

Yeah, for me these are all love songs because this is the way I feel U2's songs. It can even be a different kind of love, but still love.

 

[Niceman]

"Love Rescue Me" and "All Because Of you" are not real man-woman (or whatever) love songs. These are songs about God and transcendence, but some lines can be interpreted as love songs.
I'd switch those for "A Man and A Woman" or "Wild Honey", for instance.

One of the things that I think is great about Bono's lyrics is that every love song is also about his faith, and every song about his faith is also about love. Achtung Baby can be read as either about his faith or about a relationship, depending on one's mood.

Yes, A man and A Woman is a love song, and a lot of others too! I was just getting the list started!

 

[blm]

WOW, thanks to all for your honest input- i agree AIWIY probably the most obvious. Man and a Woman, too. I did mean man and woman love songs...I also agree about his complexity. And yes, he is too complex to write a syrupy love song. I did, though, forget about some of those listed...so you got me there.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Were you with Bono during his entire marriage? How can anyone say he hasn't experienced "any real heartbreak" when you've never been around the man.

Exactly.

 

[LyricalDrug]

As Bono is such a loving, passionate human being, why hasn't he written any REAL love songs? They are always filled with angst, pain, ambiguity, desire, searching, wanting, etc.

U2 songs are also filled with ecstasy, passion, sex, and devotion. Combine those with the "angst, pain, ambiguity, desire, searching, wanting," and you DO have "REAL love songs."

 

[Swan269]

dont forget about "first time"

 

[Liesje]

I've always thought he probably has written plenty of love songs, but they're not really for us to hear.... It's not exclusively Bono's decision which songs get rehearsed and put on albums.

 

[Scorpionac]

What defines a love song? I think Bono writes love songs.
Most popular 'love songs' are just

bullshit.

 

[Aygo]

Most of U2's love songs can be interpreted as both love between man and woman and love to God, that's part of what makes their music great. There is always more than one meaning to the YOU they use.
I think "A Man and A Woman" is Bono's most straightforward and obvious love song in many years.
I'd also add "Two hearts beat as one" to the list.

One of the things that I think is great about Bono's lyrics is that every love song is also about his faith, and every song about his faith is also about love. Achtung Baby can be read as either about his faith or about a relationship, depending on one's mood.

Yes, A man and A Woman is a love song, and a lot of others too! I was just getting the list started!

Yeah, I know that, folks. However, there are some songs that are more obviously about man-woman love and others that are suspiciously about other stuff, and that make them very ambiguous.
Amonsgt the second group is clearly "All Because Of You" and "Love Rescue Me". We can add too "With Or Without You" and "Mysterious Ways" (and many others) that seem to follow the same path.

Real love songs? Yeah, U2 got 'em: "Wild Honey", "Sweetest Thing", "A Man And A Woman", "So Cruel", "All I Want Is You" etc...

 

[tuwie]

U2 has written many songs ABOUT love, but fewer actual "love songs", i agree.

 

[last unicorn]

Real love songs? Yeah, U2 got 'em: "Wild Honey", "Sweetest Thing", "A Man And A Woman", "So Cruel", "All I Want Is You" etc...

We can argue about "Wild Honey" as well, can't we?

But I guess different songs mean different things to different people, that's what makes the music great.

 

[kingofsorrow]

ok. what is a "real love song"? by my definition u2 as written many love songs. as someone mentioned earlier u2 songs are about feeling. the shit out there that go by the name "love song" is utter bullshit. they say all the right things but lack any emotion.

 

[babyman]

Be There

Is this a U2 song?

 

[blm]

I've always thought he probably has written plenty of love songs, but they're not really for us to hear.... It's not exclusively Bono's decision which songs get rehearsed and put on albums.

Great point So we are probably being denied some truly incredible stuff....damn them.....!!!never thought of that.

 

[last unicorn]

Interestingly, Bono has said in several interviews that he wants to write and record a song simply titled "I love you", because he feels that there is no such song, at least in English.

However, he sang "I love you" for Edge's birthday on the Elevation tour. There you have it: Full, straightforward love song.

Bono & Edge =

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

U2 has written many songs ABOUT love, but fewer actual "love songs", i agree.

Yeah this is it, they may be technically 'about' some kind of love, but they aren't what is really considered a 'love song.' I don't even have a problem with this. One of the reasons I like U2 is that their songs are different and unique. Too many bands or singers do all or mostly songs about 'love' and it becomes boring.