question about the meaning beund "Ultraviolet"

[MattFromNYC]

in the line "your love was the lightbulb, hanging over my bed".. whats he mean?

that the other person used to be the one who brightened their day when they were down?

and what about the 'light my way' part? like... begging the person to once again... bring back the old days when they used to lift their days?

i know, i sound really stupid.

 

[typhoon]

Whenever I hear the lyric, I think of the little cartoon lightbulb that pops over Wile E. Coyote's head whenever he devises some elaborate new Roadrunner-catching scheme.

Of course, I was six when that album came out.

 

[miss becky]

in the line "your love was the lightbulb, hanging over my bed".. whats he mean?

that the other person used to be the one who brightened their day when they were down?

and what about the 'light my way' part? like... begging the person to once again... bring back the old days when they used to lift their days?

i know, i sound really stupid.

I agree with this interpretation. I think Ultraviolet is ultimately a pretty dark song. The narrator is stuck in a dead-end relationship, and he longs for the brighter days, when he and his significant other were once happy.

"I remember when we could sleep on stones/
Now we lie together in whispers and moans"

To me those lines are the perfect description of a doomed relationship.

 

[Joshua87]

Re: Re: question about the meaning beund "Ultraviolet"

I agree with this interpretation. I think Ultraviolet is ultimately a pretty dark song. The narrator is stuck in a dead-end relationship, and he longs for the brighter days, when he and his significant other were once happy.

"I remember when we could sleep on stones/
Now we lie together in whispers and moans"

To me those lines are the perfect description of a doomed relationship.

bravo

 

[BEVERLY56]

To me, lying together with someone "in whispers and moans" sounds pretty damn exiciting!

 

[U2Kitten]

I read awhile back that it was about Bono and Ali in the AB era, when he had his adventures in "nighttown", decided he loved Ali and came crawling back home, but she was mad. There were several songs that were supposed to illustrate this story but I forgot how it goes. It might even be in the Flanagan book, not sure. But he and Ali are still together so it's all good!

 

[the soul waits]

What's nighttown? I never heard about this before, can you elaborate, please?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

In a word, 'nighttown' = temptation.

 

[YBORCITY]

Re: Re: question about the meaning beund "Ultraviolet"

I agree with this interpretation. I think Ultraviolet is ultimately a pretty dark song. The narrator is stuck in a dead-end relationship, and he longs for the brighter days, when he and his significant other were once happy.

"I remember when we could sleep on stones/
Now we lie together in whispers and moans"

To me those lines are the perfect description of a doomed relationship.

Indeed....

 

[mobvok]

What's nighttown? I never heard about this before, can you elaborate, please?

IIRC from U2 at the End of the World Bill Flanagan takes the position that Achtung Baby is, basically, the story of someone distracted from an unhappy marriage by Nighttown, a place of temptation then returns and deals with whats left of the marriage.

The B-Side of Achtung Baby fits this story the best, the chaos of The Fly and Mysterious Ways presumably being a sonic illustration of Nighttown, Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World being the person returning home, and Ultraviolet/Acrobat/Love is Blindness dealing with the significant other.

Of course Nighttown is never mentioned in the lyrics of AB, but it's the philosophical thought that counts.

 

[Ellay]

I think there's a religious connotation in here as well..

You can't see ultra-violet light even though it exists.

In other words, we know that God can light the way along a dark path, even though we sometimes forget he's there.

(baby light my way - ultra violet light)