wtf was u2 thinking releasing fast cars instead of xanax n wine, the song is clearly

[t8thgr8]

why does bono second guess his lyrics, the lyrics that are on the album arent even close to the kick ass lyrics on the alternate versions, fast cars lyrics are just stupid and the other half taken from xanax doesnt even make sense with the new lyrics. fuck it

 

[Axver]

Personally, I think Fast Cars is a much better song both lyrically and sonically.

 

[innocent_eyes]

I think the band 'overthought' this album a bit much, and had they released what was origionally intended, bar the verses in vertigo, lol, the album mighte be better.

That said, I do love the album but thibnk they could have done a little more with the great ideas they had.

Maybe they just overworked some of the songs a bit, and some of the songs that really didn't need to be overworked.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I think Fast Cars is fine but I like the more rockin sound of Xanaz and Wine... with that said... the shared chorus of both songs which ends with "take a pill to stop it..." has a somewhat recycled Edge guitar riff.

 

[typhoon]

"Xanax and Wine" is just a weaksauce, alt-rock crap version of "Fast Cars." I don't understand everyone's fascination with it. Once you take out the Eastern tinge and add an anthemic, by-the-numbers U2 chorus, you completely kill the dark subtlety of the song. What's the point?

 

[MrBrau1]

"Xanax and Wine" is just a weaksauce, alt-rock crap version of "Fast Cars." I don't understand everyone's fascination with it. Once you take out the Eastern tinge and add an anthemic, by-the-numbers U2 chorus, what's the point?

Alot of people here are easily seduced by electric guitars.

 

[korczykp]

"Xanax and Wine" is just a weaksauce, alt-rock crap version of "Fast Cars." I don't understand everyone's fascination with it. Once you take out the Eastern tinge and add an anthemic, by-the-numbers U2 chorus, you completely kill the dark subtlety of the song. What's the point?

took the words RIGHT out of my mouth... I was even going to call it weaksauce... I swear

 

[MrBrau1]

It's funny. Everyone is bitching U2 aren't arty enough anymore. Yet when given the choice between something arty, and something typical, everyone jumps on the typical bandwagon.

 

[jick]

"Xanax and Wine" is just a weaksauce, alt-rock crap version of "Fast Cars." I don't understand everyone's fascination with it. Once you take out the Eastern tinge and add an anthemic, by-the-numbers U2 chorus, you completely kill the dark subtlety of the song. What's the point?

Well said.

Cheers,

J

 

[discothequeLP]

Xanax and Wine is good, but the line "save me from myself" is too cliche. i do love the falsetto part, but i think Fast Cars fit in better.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I like the guitars in both actually. I think the biggest problem with Xanax is the chorus

 

[t8thgr8]

THE LYRICS DONT MAKE ANY SENSE IN FAST CARS!

half the lyrics are talking about zanex and pills, but throwing in "fast cars will do me no good" wtf

xanax and wine actually has a point, fast cars is just bullshit, same with vertigo. native son had a point, vertigo is just bullshit. same with all because of you, i just dont see why bonop didnt toss in some of those couplets.

 

[discothequeLP]

i like the line about "fast cars" because if refers to Bono's Maserati

 

[typhoon]

THE LYRICS DONT MAKE ANY SENSE IN FAST CARS!

half the lyrics are talking about zanex and pills, but throwing in "fast cars will do me no good" wtf

Um, dude, both songs have the same verses, which toss around the same ostensibly disparate concepts: cell phones, pornography, the nightly news, pharmaceutical drugs, fast cars, atomic bombs, losing one's mind (cleverly moving from one to the other like someone with an attention deficit disorder). The point of "Fast Cars" is that the pace of technological progress is getting so fast that it's easy to lose track of what's really true and what's really important.

There's no need to beat us over the head with that point by focusing on one thing so much, as in "Xanax and Wine." "Fast Cars" is pretty obvious too, but it's an understated obvious, if that makes any kind of sense, acknowledging that everyone knows the theme without it being explicitly stated, which makes it something of a satire.

 

[digsy]

"Xanax and Wine" is just a weaksauce, alt-rock crap version of "Fast Cars." I don't understand everyone's fascination with it. Once you take out the Eastern tinge and add an anthemic, by-the-numbers U2 chorus, you completely kill the dark subtlety of the song. What's the point?

i agree - take out the Eastern influence and you've got a paint-by-numbers U2 song that would just sink into the rest of the album. I adore fast cars because its way darker and sexier than a lot of the other stuff on there.

 

[bedouin fire]

fast cars and l+poe are the only songs with guts on this album (well and in some sense amaaw too). They should be exactly as they are.

 

[U2girl]

U2 made the right choices.

Native son is not better than Vertigo, Xanax and wine is not better than Fast cars.
Same goes for alternative versions of HTDAAB songs.

 

[Dalton]

THE LYRICS DONT MAKE ANY SENSE IN FAST CARS!

half the lyrics are talking about zanex and pills, but throwing in "fast cars will do me no good" wtf

xanax and wine actually has a point, fast cars is just bullshit, same with vertigo. native son had a point, vertigo is just bullshit. same with all because of you, i just dont see why bonop didnt toss in some of those couplets.

lol

Just cause you don't understand a song doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

Man, I feel like I am teaching again. "Teacher, Joyce doesn't make any sense here. Look he messed up." Shame.

 

[digsy]

fast cars and l+poe are the only songs with guts on this album (well and in some sense amaaw too). They should be exactly as they are.

well said, thats exactly what i think

 

[petethechopp]

I'm really suprised by how many people now like Fast Cars better than Xanax & Wine. About a month ago, it was completely turned around and it seemed everyone was down on them for releasing Fast Cars instead of Xanax.

For me, Xanax & Wine is a much better song, I think it would have been one of the best songs on the album and, if it were up to me (thank goodness its not) I woulda replaced AMAAW with Xanax & Wine. I think this song would have been a perftect fit between ABOY and Crumbs.

By the way, I don't think adding an eastern feel to the guitars automatically makes something better or less cliche. None of my favorite U2 songs have an eastern guitar sound and I think they turned out fine.

Other than this song, I think U2 made the right choices with the versions they released.

 

[t8thgr8]

ok most of you prefer the world music sound in fast cars, so add the world music sound to the lyrics for xanax. its not the music im bitching about, its bonos lyrics. its as if he was on the right track to pleasing his fans with "bono has a point there" lyrics and the record execs said, "whoa whoa ease it back a little. lets not forget pop". bono knew we as a collective fan base wanted a little harder dialect from him this time instead of the candy assed display he put on with "all that". the only saving grace being the lyrics in peace on earth.

im not just talking about xanax, im thinking more of native son than anything. native son is a complete story, vertigo is bits and pieces of the original story made pillowy soft so as not to disturb anyone that might have second thoughts on purchasing the cd.

all im saying is i want bonos original thought and purpose to be represented in the song, not chopped up and meshed together bullshit.
its like having a ferrari then one day deciding to just tear it apart and add a civic front end, weld a navigator rear end to the back and, what the hell, lets go ahead with the police cruiser roof for good measure. the engine is still there but the rest doesnt make any godamned sense.

im beginning to wish i had never downloaded the atomic session songs, it has put a bad taste in my mouth ever since about the new cd.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Xanax and Fast Cars are both superb. However, I'd like to see the raw guitar sound of Xanax as the template for the next album.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

I think that Native Son and Xanax and Wine are the two most OVERRATED songs that U2 have ever released...

Compared to what they ended up being. Seriously, Native Son underwhelms me, whereas Vertigo rocks me. And the chorus of Xanax and Wine makes me cringe. I listen to those two song just to remind how much better Vertigo and Fast Cars are.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I think that Native Son and Xanax and Wine are the two most OVERRATED songs that U2 have ever released...

Compared to what they ended up being. Seriously, Native Son underwhelms me, whereas Vertigo rocks me. And the chorus of Xanax and Wine makes me cringe. I listen to those two song just to remind how much better Vertigo and Fast Cars are.

LOL... you're not alone on the cringing part...

 

[discothequeLP]

i agree - take out the Eastern influence and you've got a paint-by-numbers U2 song that would just sink into the rest of the album. I adore fast cars because its way darker and sexier than a lot of the other stuff on there.

i'm glad the band put fast cars and now Xanax on the album, but i dont think Fast cars is a "dark" song. it's just a fun, up-tempo song that doesn't make any sense.


Xanax and Wine, without the "eastern influence" is still a totally new style for U2. Edge totally dismantles (pardon the pun) the acoustic guitar and power chords. The song fits very well with the sound of the album, but i just don't think it would fit at the end as well as fast cars does. Fast Cars just seems to lighten up the mood to something wild and mischevous, which is a nice contrast after OSC, OoTS, and Yaweh.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I like the the lines involving "fast cars doing me no good..." better than the whole "save me from myself" spiel... Also the falsetto bit is soso to me. Sometimes I feel Bono abuses/ overuses his falsetto that it starts to become schtick.

I sometimes wonder if the distorted guitar could have still been used in Fast Cars... I dunno a finale type thing, cause I like the tone and energy of the guitar.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I think Fast Cars makes sense to me just fine.

 

[innocent_eyes]

well i love the falsetto chorus, and the muted stuff Edge does in Xanax, I'm almost positive thats not in the other version. Fast cars also sounds a little empty, and less upbeat somehow! I do like how they experimented with different world music though.

The fast cars chorus is just bad, it slows down the song, but Xanax chorus, I can't wait for it to arrive!

Also, With regards to thematic context of the album itself, xanax is clearly more fitting. The song addresses Bono's pain of lsing his father, or pain and loss in general for the rest of us, and he mentions that he is depressed by this, therfore taking xanax (anti-depressant medication) and is drinking wine, he mentioned in interviews he began drinking heavily again after his father passed.

All he wants is to be next to him, have a picture in his pocket, and needs to take a pill to get over his pain!

there is no detail that can truly fix the situation = can't just take a pill to solve your grief!

he misses his pain sometimes = misses his dad

can't believe no one else is picking up on the conection of depression pills, drinking, and losing his father, I mean, he drank out of grief, and likely felt like he needed some depression pills for him to move on, but realized a pill won't solve his problem!!!

what do you guys think of that analysis, I think xanax would have fit well between sometimes and love and peace, which can also be seen from the perspecitve of bono's tough relationship with his father, as well as seen as a plea to the middle east and such political causes.

congratz if you made it through my long post!

 

[discothequeLP]

bottom line: xanax is too long and involved, too deep


fast cars is just what the album needs at the end: upbeat, nonsensical, fun

 

[innocent_eyes]

discothequeLP, this is U2 not bon jovi.

JK, but seriously, I What would Xanax sound like if it had the experimental guitar part over the rockier part with xanax lyrics...that would be really cool!! I'd even settle for fast cars music with xanax lyrics.....plus, it just sounds so cool, xanax and wine!