Mofo???

[floridita727]

Please translate.
I do not speak Bono.

I know its about his mom & her passing & how its affected him but the rest of the lyrics dont make sense to me.
And he never says "mofo".
False advertising.

 

[BVS]

Instead of "it's about his mother's passing" I would say it's more about how Bono used music to fill the void of mother when she left, hense "mother sucking rock n roll". Rock n Roll became the teet to which the child(Bono) was sucking from.

What do you mean by the "rest of"? What specific lines don't make sense to you?

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

best POP song....

 

[Galeongirl]

He does say Mofo. Mother fuckin' rock and roll... one of the last times that's sung.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

And MOFO does mean MOTHERFUCKER. So there you have it.

Plus the idea of losing one's Mother, particularly at an early age, is indeed a heavy Motherfucker of a thing to deal with. So MOFO is 'implied' by the meaning of the song too.

Have I said Motherfucker enough today?

There got that outta my system.

 

[phillyfan26]

Yeah, I mean all of the verses are observations of his about rock and roll, and then the middle 8 is him actually talking about his mother. That's pretty much it.

 

[ozeeko]

MOFO is about Bono having the entire world of rock and roll and fame and fortune and all that jazz, but not even the world is big enough to fill the void left by the death of his mother. and he feels he's still a broken child, even at the adult age he wrote those lyrics.

 

[VintagePunk]

Yup, agree with most everything here. In addition, the song has always struck me as relating to his struggle to reconcile all of his identities - the wounded child, the rock star, the father and family man.

 

[nielsgov]

What does Edge sing in Mofo?

 

[Galeongirl]

Been around back, been around front

 

[BVS]

What does Edge sing in Mofo?

Been around back, been around front

This is what the lyrics say, but as we all know Pop has probably the worse liner notes as far as lyrics due to the rush.

He may be singing this live, but I've never heard this on the studio version, I've always heard:

"little Mofo, little Mofo"

 

[Galeongirl]

Hm, I actually do hear it. Or maybe it's once again as Freud said, the mind hears what the mind wants to hear.

 

[nielsgov]

I always hear little red dress.

 

[U2girl]

Little red thing, little red thing.

 

[digitize]

Yup, agree with most everything here. In addition, the song has always struck me as relating to his struggle to reconcile all of his identities - the wounded child, the rock star, the father and family man.

Yeah, this is how I've always taken the song. The lyrics are incredible, IMO.

 

[phillyfan26]

This is what the lyrics say, but as we all know Pop has probably the worse liner notes as far as lyrics due to the rush.

He may be singing this live, but I've never heard this on the studio version, I've always heard:

"little Mofo, little Mofo"

I think the notes are correct. The last syllable in each is different in a way that sounds like "back" and "front." If it were the same word, they'd at least be similar.

 

[floridita727]

Yeah, I mean all of the verses are observations of his about rock and roll, and then the middle 8 is him actually talking about his mother. That's pretty much it.

I'm retarded & Forgot to subscribe to this thread so I totes forgot about it until I just saw all your replies now. Thanks for your insight. I thought they were saying little red dress too. lol. I'll go back & relisten with all this in mind

 

[AliEnvy]

Yup, agree with most everything here. In addition, the song has always struck me as relating to his struggle to reconcile all of his identities - the wounded child, the rock star, the father and family man.

Similarly, I thought of it more as the struggle to find himself and redemption without the guidance and protection of his mother or God and finding his salvation in rock n roll.

This is one of my absolute favourite U2 songs.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

I always hear "ringing the red bells". WTF Edge?

 

[mad1]

what does the 'been around the front, been around the back' refer too?

is it in line with the all the lines starting with 'looking'?

some of the lines I find strange

Still love the song thou.

 

[AliEnvy]

^ I've interpreted front/back lines to mean that in his search ('looking') he's walked the straight line and edgier sides of life.

Did I mention how much I love this song???

 

[nielsgov]

It's their craziest song.
















Back to the lyrics now.

 

[Miss_Pop]

"Mofo" is one of my favourite songs of U2. It's strong and powerful and a bit tragic. It is, moreover, from my favourite U2 album "Pop".

I have one question about this song. I want to make a translation of the song but can't understand some words, to say exactly, I can't find them in a English-Russian dictionary. Can someone explain me what meaning the words "spacejunk" and "holy dunk" have?

p.s.: Once I read that the song "Mofo" is about drugs. What do you think about it?

 

[BVS]

Spacejunk = old satellites, and human made debris that are floating around in space.

Holy dunc/dunk = baptism.

 

[Miss_Pop]

Thanks. My view cleared a little.

 

[digitize]

p.s.: Once I read that the song "Mofo" is about drugs. What do you think about it?

I don't think so, but it probably wouldn't be incorrect to say that Mofo was influenced by drug culture.

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

I've been listening to POP a lot lately. I love that album! This song is great and all that,
but (to me) it's sometimes a chore to listen to Mofo. The pain in the lyrics is too much to bear at times. Bono said somewhere the song was "the most personal song" he had ever written. I believe him. Excellent lyrics and the music is great as well!