Every Breaking Wave - Song Discussion

[Aygo]

The live version was brilliant, haunting, the slow guitar arpeggio notes created a mad atmosphere. The album version has a generic drum track under it and the haunting guitar has been replaced by various other sounds. It completely lacks the haunting feeling the original live version gave me.

This. All this.
Plus, I'd rate stick with the «Hey hey now»'s than with the cheesy/embarrassing «If you go your way and I go mine / Are we so helpless against the tide / Baby, every dog on the street knows that we’re in love with defeat».

 

[Sr. Poop]

This. All this.
Plus, I'd rate stick with the «Hey hey now»'s than with the cheesy/embarrassing «If you go your way and I go mine / Are we so helpless against the tide / Baby, every dog on the street knows that we’re in love with defeat».

Live version sucks ass compared to the album version... smells like poop its been sucking so much ass for so long.

 

[CMIS]

Perhaps it is because I have a note-perfect sound image of WOWY in my mind, but I wont ever mistake any other song for it. Just because some structures are the same does not mean I have to immediately think of that song. Music is replete with examples of songs or parts of songs sounding like something that came before. As long as the later song has its own identity it doesnt matter. And EBW certainly fits that bill for me.

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[dan_smee]

Sure there are...as Danny Lanois said, With or Without You doesn't really have a proper chorus. A traditional chorus isn't a prerequisite to a song being great (though generally speaking it's a prerequisite to a song being a hit).

But that said, I prefer the version of EBW we've got. This fascination with all these mystery, unreleased, unfinished, alternate versions is just manifest Mercy syndrome. Let me guess...you prefer Fortunate Son?

Nothing to see here...


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[thavidesco]

Sure there are...as Danny Lanois said, With or Without You doesn't really have a proper chorus.

He did really said that? I didn´t hear bigger nonsense for a long time
If that song doesn´t have chorus than no song has

 

[Nick66]

Pssst, dude... It's Native Son.


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Oh, yeah, see. Shows you how much I think about it. Thanks fixed.

 

[dan_smee]

Oh, yeah, see. Shows you how much I think about it. Thanks fixed.

I see what you did there


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[Aygo]

This fascination with all these mystery, unreleased, unfinished, alternate versions is just manifest Mercy syndrome. Let me guess...you prefer Fortunate Son?

Neither "Vertigo" or "Native Son". In fact, I wished U2 had find a compromise between both. Despite "Vertigo"'s scattered and random lyrics "Native Son"'s don't have much strenght (at least that what I feel), so I'd stick with "Vertigo"'s lyrics.
But I prefer "Native Son"'s ideas instrumentally speaking. I like that guitar intro (better than that drumstick fake-countdown and the 1,2,3,14), as well as the middle eight. I would've find a compromise with Vertigo's lyrics in a better produced (less raw, but not overproduced) Native Son instrumental that included the "All of this can be yours... what I want" after the "Freeeeeeeee" what I would sort of maintain.

 

[Salome]

drumstick fake-countdown

This doesn't even mean anything.


Regarding EBW
I think it's a very good song.
I do think though it's one of these songs Bono would claim "only makes sense" when it becomes 'a hit'.
Mostly because if it does not resonate with a wider audience in this incarnation a case could have been made for a far more reflective nature.

 

[Nick66]

I see what you did there


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You'll have to excuse me, my brain is still a bit scrambled from your Rocky V analogy. Still trying to process that one. ;-)

 

[dan_smee]

You'll have to excuse me, my brain is still a bit scrambled from your Rocky V analogy. Still trying to process that one. ;-)

It wasn't THAT bad...


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[Aygo]

This doesn't even mean anything.

It may be written incorrectly, but I think it's pretty perceptible what I'm talking about - it's obviously the first 2 seconds of the track which sound fake and deliberately put there. No need to diminish based on the users' linguistic skills (in english).

 

[ozeeko]

Although I do kind of miss the dark "hey now" part of the live version, the chorus we got on SOI is a major improvement over "i don't know if I'm that strong." Then again, maybe they could've made it work. But we just have to go with what we got in the end. And EBW is a decent U2 song. Nothing amazing. Nothing to go ballistic over. Just a nice pretty tune.

 

[Salome]

It may be written incorrectly, but I think it's pretty perceptible what I'm talking about - it's obviously the first 2 seconds of the track which sound fake and deliberately put there. No need to diminish based on the users' linguistic skills (in english).

I'm not a native English speaker myself, I just don't have the foggiest what you're saying.
Either something is a countdown or it isn't, there is no grey fake-countdown area.
And I don't think someone has to make up nonsense why to dislike Vertigo. It's not as if it's among the best songs they've ever written.

 

[ozeeko]

Because you thought he was gonna say 4 and then he went catorce on us

I for one felt bamboozled

 

[Blue Room]

The album version blows prior versions away. It is not even close, seriously. The U2 fanbase is funny at times. My "guess" is that if they released one of these prior version you would have about a hundred people saying they should have done more with it.

Those of you that like the stripped down live acoustic version (yawn), you will probably get it on the deluxe edition coming out next month. So everybody should be happy then, right?

 

[Aygo]

I'm not a native English speaker myself, I just don't have the foggiest what you're saying.
Either something is a countdown or it isn't, there is no grey fake-countdown area.
And I don't think someone has to make up nonsense why to dislike Vertigo. It's not as if it's among the best songs they've ever written.

Still, it doesn't entitle you to dimish me or any other user based on their linguistic skills. I'm still sure that it was pretty perceptible what I meant.

 

[mikal]

The album version blows prior versions away. It is not even close, seriously. The U2 fanbase is funny at times. My "guess" is that if they released one of these prior version you would have about a hundred people saying they should have done more with it.

Those of you that like the stripped down live acoustic version (yawn), you will probably get it on the deluxe edition coming out next month. So everybody should be happy then, right?

That's kind of my thought too. I like the version on SOI, probably around the middle of my ranking list if I made one. I am interested in seeing if we get an acoustic version on 10/13 because I think there's a chance that a stripped down acoustic version my end up being my preference. But in no way am I offended by what they did to the song.

 

[BVS]

Still, it doesn't entitle you to dimish me or any other user based on their linguistic skills. I'm still sure that it was pretty perceptible what I meant.

I really don't think it had anything to do with your linguistic skills.

I still have no clue what you're trying to say.


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[womanfish]

The album version blows prior versions away. It is not even close, seriously. The U2 fanbase is funny at times. My "guess" is that if they released one of these prior version you would have about a hundred people saying they should have done more with it.

Those of you that like the stripped down live acoustic version (yawn), you will probably get it on the deluxe edition coming out next month. So everybody should be happy then, right?

Totally agree. It's not even close.
The live version is ok, but when it hits the heeeeeeyyy heeeeeeyyy part it just brings it down. It feels like its a place marker, like, ok, Bono will put a couple hey hey's in that part and we'll revisit it and fix it later.

The live version to me has no forward motion, it kind of starts and stops all the way through without really building.

And let's be honest, that's pretty much just generic guitar work by the Edge

The SOI version is better by MILES

 

[gvox]

He did really said that? I didn´t hear bigger nonsense for a long time
If that song doesn´t have chorus than no song has

Of course, any discerning reader would interpret Lanois' use of "proper" in the way he intended: meaning "traditional upbeat pop I love you and you love me" type chorus. It's not as obvious or accessible as were other choruses that it was competing against for radio play such as

Whoa were halfway there
Whoa-oh livin on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear
Whoa-oh livin on a prayer
Livin on a prayer

But in terms of songwriting technique, there's nothing out of the ordinary about WOWY at all, it's still as verse-pre-chorus as

(Livin verse)

You say we gotta hold on
To what we got...

Which is the same structurally as

(WOWY verse)

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away...

Which of course leads into the massive chorus of

With or without you (etc)

Anyone who tells you WOWY hasn't got a literal and technical "proper chorus" based on Lanois' comment either doesn't have a clue or they are grossly misunderstanding what he was talking about...which, as I recall it, was whether or not they thought they had an obvious hit on their hands. Not whether WOWY was written with a chorus.

And even at that, I've always thought that this oft-repeated idea of theirs that they didn't quite believe at first that it was a massive tune to be a bit of a case of them at the time needing to get out of the studio and get some fresh air. The very very first time I heard WOWY debut on CFNY I knew it was an anthemic massive hit.

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[Niceman]

I think it's not the chord progression that people are referring to.

It's the intro's heavy bass, subtle drumming, and sustained notes that reminds them of WOWY.

There's certainly a memory of With or Without You in Every Breaking Wave, and that's fine.

 

[thavidesco]

The album version blows prior versions away. It is not even close, seriously. The U2 fanbase is funny at times. My "guess" is that if they released one of these prior version you would have about a hundred people saying they should have done more with it.

Those of you that like the stripped down live acoustic version (yawn), you will probably get it on the deluxe edition coming out next month. So everybody should be happy then, right?

Even if I find studio version to be a better song, I have strong sentiment towards live "campfire" version, mainly the final verses and the outro are moving, it was extraordinary and it had its magic for sure

 

[The Disciple]

ADORE the album version. And can't wait to hear the acoustic/piano version Bono raved about to Fanning. The one he said that if it doesn't move you, you're dead... or SHOULD Be.

 

[hasin73]

EBW is going to be a classic after the next live tour.

 

[purpleblackeye]

This is probably the only song on the album with the potential to be the big hit....I can see it being played a lot on radio, particularly on adult contemporary radio. Love the song, but can't you picture it being played in offices around the country? Your dental hygienist humming the tune while cleaning your teeth....

 

[Galeongirl]

Just came on my ipod on shuffle, and I think I figured out what else puts me off asides from losing the magic of the live version and the generic drum track. The middle 8. Why the heck did they speed it up so ridiculously? It doesn't fit the song at all and ruins the slow pace.

 

[Blue Room]

I guess it is the old different strokes for different folks. When I saw that EBW was on the album I thought immediately of the live version and thought it would be a song I would skip before I listened. The live version is just a snoozer to me. If they play the full band album version live I think it has the potential to be a great live song.

 

[gvox]

When they play the full band album version live It will be a great live song.

Fixed



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[dan_smee]

I loved the live version, but only because it represented a lyrical improvement, and the verse vocal melody was epic. This version turns a sketch into a song, and that chorus is just amazing. The middle 8 sounds great too - gives you a nice sense of chaos leading into the final chorus. Vocals also top notch


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