Favorite/Least Favorite Lyric on No Line ?

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zoo99

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I did not notice the passersby and they did not notice me

would be mine just for the strong imagery it projects.

Also the whole "let me in the sound" is strong concept.
also like the delivery of "Its not a hill its a mountain"


least favorite has got to be the first
"I'll go crazy if I don't go CRAZY tonight"
 
I kinda like the lyrics in Crazy Tonight. I like the sound of "There's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet/And there's a part of you that wants me to riot." as well as "The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear." To me this song is the most personal Bono song- on initial listen it sounds like a song about he and his wife, and how he's always on the road working relentlessly on some cause or another...

I love a lot of Moment of Surrender (especially "Vision over Visibility". And there's some great lines in Cedars of Lebanon. Kind of a brooding song (Now I've got a head like a lit cigarette/Unholy clouds reflecting in a minaret/You're so high above me, higher than everyone/Where are you in the Cedars of Lebanon)

The whole "reboot" computer chant in Unknown Caller is missing its mark with me.

Nice thread topic
 
There's several that I like a lot, so I won't choose a fav now.
But the worst to me is:

"Doc says you're fine, or dying."
 
Best:

I’ve found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it’s all that I found

or

The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too cool to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day

Worst:

Hear me, cease to speak, that I may speak
Shush now

or

Soul rockin’ people moving on
 
Least favorite: Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady or somebody's cockatoo.

Most? Too many to list.
 
I got submarine/you got gasoline, I don't wanna talk about wars between the nations

Stand up to rock stars , Napoleon is in high heels, Josephine beware of small men with big ideas

Every generation gets a chance to change the world - every beauty needs to go out with an idiot.




Best - pretty much everything in MOS.
 
Among my favorite:

I was right there at the top of the bottom
On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be
I had driven to the scene of the accident
And I sat there waiting for me

(And all of Cedars of Lebanon)

Least favorite:

Most of Stand Up Comedy. The lyrics seem subpar.
 
Best:
This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers, but then it just goes

Worst: almost all of the "cell phone lyrics" on Unknown Caller.
 
Best: MoS, Cedars, Fez-Being Born, Unknown Caller (verses). They’re totally dropping you into someplace else. They're not just the best on here, but the best in 10 years.

Worst: Stand Up Comedy – really embarrassing. And I’m cool with the idea of the techno references in Unknown Caller, the idea plays well to me, but the Mac ones are going to age at light speed and likely only ever sound more and more ridiculous. Even more than they do already.
 
NLOTH Lyrics Thread

Sorry if there's already been a thread about this.

I read reviews about the album's lyrics that said some of them were 'embarrassing' and I can't stop but thinking about it since when I'm listening to it.

Those were: ' Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady',
'It's not if I believe in love but if love believes in me',
and obviously 'The future needs a big kiss'.

English is not my mother tongue but those lyrics are for me classic Bono, kinda like 'Freedom has a scent like the top of a new born baby's head' fuss.

Apparently, there's also the kinda redundant ATM-Machine problem...

Tell me what you think about it and what are the worst and best lyrics in this album, which I love by the way, especially the Magnificent chorus ' Only love can leave such a mark, but only love can heal such a scar'.:up:
 
If i just read "Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady" i would thoght it was silly, but the way it is inserted to the music make it just a ironic analogy of religion being used in the wrong way. The way Bono sing saves several somewhat pointless lyrics.
Ok, in some cases, as the new born baby's head there is no saving at all.
 
Also what do you think of the constant 'ooh-oh' in almost every song as though Bono wanted to fill in the blanks when there's no need?
Some I like ( NLOTH ), but some I find it too much ( Unknown Caller ).

Also, can you explain the 'Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not?'

Also is it a motorcycle so loud on the 'Oh-ooh' of Fez-Being born?

Lots of questions, I know. Thanks for replying.
 
Not counting Boots and SUC and Crazy tonight, I thought this was a very strong album re:lyrics.
 
I love White As Snow. The tune runs like a church song (Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, I think.) It is full of Christian imagery--the lamb as white as snow. Forgiveness is God's ultimate gift to us. The "Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not" will take a lot of thinking. Does forgiveness need to be forgiven?:hmm:
 
Best couplet on NLOTH:

This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers, and then it just goes​

Most baffling line: "Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not?"

The next line is "Only the Lamb as white as snow". The Lamb imagery in White as Snow is obvious, but I think Bono's attempts at wordplay got the best of him in the preceeding line. What does it mean to "forgive forgiveness?" It's one thing to say only the Lamb (i.e. Christ) can truly forgive and bring forgiveness where forgiveness is lacking, but to "forgive forgiveness?" Not sure what that's supposed to mean.
 
Favorite lines:

NLOTH
One day she’s still, the next she swells
You can hear the universe in her sea shells

MAGNIFICENT
I was born to sing for you 

I didn’t have a choice
But to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry
It was a joyful noise

MOS
At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees

UC
3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face
Speed-dialing with no signal at all


IGCIIDGCT
There’s a part of me in the chaos that’s quiet
And there’s a part of you that wants me to riot

GOYB
None (but I like it)

SUC
Soul rockin’ people on and on
C’mon, ye people
We’re made of stars
C’mon, ye people
Stand up then sit down for your love

FEZ - NONE

WHITE AS SNOW
Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not

BREATHE -
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can’t defeat

COL
The worst of us are a long drawn out confession
The best of us are geniuses of compression
 
EmitFlesti said:
Most baffling line: "Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not?"

The next line is "Only the Lamb as white as snow". The Lamb imagery in White as Snow is obvious, but I think Bono's attempts at wordplay got the best of him in the preceeding line. What does it mean to "forgive forgiveness?" It's one thing to say only the Lamb (i.e. Christ) can truly forgive and bring forgiveness where forgiveness is lacking, but to "forgive forgiveness?" Not sure what that's supposed to mean.
Click to expand...
I took that line to mean 'How can I reconcile with God, when God as I once knew Him is no longer there for me?' The narrator once enjoyed an easy intimacy with God--perhaps too easy, one based on childish conceptions of God that failed to withstand some of life's harsher realities--and though he's never achieved a new understanding in its place, there's still a part of him that hopes or even believes reconciliation (= mutual forgiveness) might someday be possible. But he's dying, so it's too late for all that; and what kind of God could bridge the gap now between his longing to be reconciled with God, and his lack of any 'knowledge' of God through which to approach Him? Only a God who knows what it is to suffer and die alone, and to rail against God for having forsaken you at your darkest moment. (I think the narrator might possibly also feel similar regrets towards his brother, though that's left unclear.)

At least, that's how I understood it.
 
Last edited:
Probably from Magnificent :heart: but I change my mind constantly

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven't had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue
 
Worst:
My brother and I .. etc... zzzzzzzzzzz
Punching in the numbers at the ATM machine (I know, a lot of you love this)
I got a submarine You got gasoline

I actually dont like the line 'magnificent' but love every other lyric in that song.

Love and/or love to sing with:
16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up.. And I'm coming down with some new Asian virus
Walk out, into the sunburst street ..Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I’m hatching some plot, scheming some scheme..Oh yeah
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
 
The single worst lyric on this album is obvious (to me).
"Stand up to rock stars..."
Stop fucking singing about being a rock star, Bono, who can relate to this but you?

The best lyric?
I'll go with my favorite:

The engines roar, blood curling wail,
Head first then foot, then heart sets sail
 
Favourite Lyrics:
"I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star"

"I was right there at the top of the bottom
On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be
I had driven to the scene of the accident
And I sat there waiting for me"

"Let me in the sound"

"But can you stand up to beauty
Dictator of the heart"

*All of White as Snow*

"This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers and then it just goes"



Least favourite:
"Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?"

"I got to stand up and take a step
You and I have been asleep for hours
I got to stand up"
 
Some favorites that come to mind:

I know a girl / who's like the sea / I watch her changing every day for me oh yea

I know a girl with a hole in her heart / she said infinity's a great place to start

Time is irrelevant / it's not linear

I'm a traffic cop / rue du Marais. /The sirens are wailing /and it's me that wants to get away.

Only love can leave such a mark / but only love can heal such a scar.

Justified till we die / you and I will magnify

Playing with the fire till the fire played with me

We set ourselves on fire / oh God do not deny her / It's not if I believe in love / it's if love believes in me

At the moment of surrender / I folded to my knees / I did not notice the passers by and they did not notice me

Vision over visibility

I was lost between the midnight and the dawning / in a place of no consequence or company

I was right there at the top of the bottom / at the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be. /I had driven to the scene of the accident/ and I sat there waiting for me

There's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet and there's a part of you that wants me to riot

Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear / the right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear / but a change of heart comes slow

How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?

Here's where we gotta be / love and community / laughter is eternity if joy is real

Women of the future hold the big revelations

I don't want to talk about wars between nations

The DNA lottery might've left you smart / but can you stand up to beauty / dictator of the heart

Be careful of small men with big ideas

Now the wolves are every passing stranger / every face we can not know

Every day I die again / and again I'm reborn. Every day I have to find the courage to walk out into the street / with arms out / I got a love you can't defeat. / Neither down, nor out, there's nothing you have that I need. / I can breathe.

I'm running down the road like loose electricity / while the band in my head plays a strip tease

The roar that lies on the other side of silence / the forest fire that is fear, so deny it.

This shitty world sometimes produces a rose / the scent of it lingers and then it just goes

Choose your enemies carefully because they will define you / make them interesting cos in some ways they will mind you / they're not there in the beginning / but when your story ends / gonna last longer than your friends.
 
I like a lot of the lyrics. The best is from "Crazy Tonight"
"Every generation gets a chance to change the world/Pity the nation that won't listen to your boys and girls"
And I also like (from the same song)
"Every sweet tooth needs just a little hit/Every beauty deserves to go out with an idiot/How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?"
Also the chorus to "Crazy Tonight" is borderline perfect!

Worst-
"Restart and reboot your self"
That line kind of gets on my nerves a little bit
 
Best

No Line On The Horizon
Infinity is a great place to start
"Time is irrelevant, it's not linear,"/ then she put her tongue in my ear
I'm a traffic cop/ Rue de Marais/ the siren's wailing but it's me that wants to get away

Magnificent:
I was born to sing for you/ I didn’t have a choice/ but to lift you up/ and sing whatever song you wanted me to/ I give you back my voice/ from the womb/ my first cry/ it was a joyful noise

Moment of Surrender
I tied myself with wire/ to let the horses run free/ playing with the fire 'till the fire played with me
Two souls too smart to be/ in the realm of certainty/ even on our wedding day

Unknown Caller
Force quit/ and move to trash
Hear me/ cease to speak/ that I may speak/ shush now

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear

Get on Your Boots
The future needs a big kiss
Satan loves a bomb scare/ but it won't scare you
SEXY BOOTS
Women of the future hold the big revelations/ I got a submarine/ you got gasoline/ I don't wanna talk about wars between nations

Stand Up Comedy
Stand up to rock stars/ Napoleon is in high heels/ Josephine be careful of small men with big ideas
God is love/ and love is evolution's very best day

FEZ - Being Born
The whole song.

White As Snow
None, really, but I love the song.

Breathe
The whole song, as well. Not one weak lyric in this one.

Cedars of Lebanon
You say you’re not going to leave the truth alone/ I’m here ‘cos I don’t want to go home
You’re so high above me/ higher than everyone/ where are you in the cedars of Lebanon


Worst:
White As Snow
Who can forgive forgiveness/ where forgiveness is not

Cedars of Lebanon
Child drinking dirty water from the riverbank/ soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank
 
I like these

Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear ?

I'm running down the road like loose electricity / while the band in my head plays a striptease
 
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