Soe 26 - ?

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womanfish said:
So some perspective.

The Smiths, who have 3.4 million followers on FB, posted a video on Aug. 28th. It is auto play, and it has 5 thousand likes and 74 thousand views.

Even if you multiply those views by 5 to account for U2's larger number of followers, that puts the views at 370k.

The National has 800k followers. They have an auto play video of a clip for The Day I Die, posted on the 29th. I've seen it in my feed several times. It has 77 thousand views.

Times that by 19 to make up for U2 follower numbers and you get 1.4 million.

Coldplay with 36 million followers! I found the most watched recent auto play video. It was them closing a show with the scientist. Posted august 19th, and had 1.2 million views.

I'm just trying to find some examples of auto play FB videos from bands with large followings.
Click to expand...
And Coldplay's YouTube video w/ Chainsmokers has 649 million views.

Facebook is for the olds. The song seems to be doing okay, but it's impossible to make any real comparison based on it only being released on Facebook and nothing else.
 
rennowba said:
Maybe it's already been discussed on here, but who is the dinosaur roaming the earth? Trump?

I'm presuming the big mouth is trump ?
Click to expand...

Dinosaur and Big Mouth are the same person...

6a00d8341f034553ef01b7c7209271970b-800wi
 
To add to the Facebook discussion... Hard to judge a video's success based on views, due to FB's auto play. A better indicator of whether people like the song is the number of shares: currently approx. 48,000. That's the number of people who liked the song enough to share it on their timelines. Pretty decent.

I don't think there's anything wrong with putting the video on Facebook. The audience is older and smaller compared to YouTube, but the potential for the video to be seen by people who actually like U2 in the first place and FB's "share" feature (easier than sharing a YouTube vid on Facebook) make up for that IMO.

CosmoKramer said:
I'm the same and it's likely because you hear "Jack" used all the time as a generic name due to how common it is but "Ned" and "Zach"? Not so much.

Those names are not generic like "jack" and feel used just to completed the rhyme.
Click to expand...

The names don't even really complete the rhyme, because bed and said already rhyme:

Bono said:
Earthquakes always happen when you're in bed, Fred
The house shakes, maybe it was something I said, Ned
Click to expand...
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
Dinosaur and Big Mouth are the same person...

6a00d8341f034553ef01b7c7209271970b-800wi
Click to expand...



I was listening to the track on repeat on the way home from work today and I get the dinosaur one could be Bono but the line goes " A big mouth says the people They don't wanna be free for free" why would Bono say that the people don't want to be free? That's the only bit that has me thinking otherwise that the big mouth isnt Bono

All over this track though, can't wait to hear it on the record, can't wait to see them perform it live on tv for the promo tour and more importantly it's gonna be such a good tune on tour next year
 
rennowba said:
I was listening to the track on repeat on the way home from work today and I get the dinosaur one could be Bono but the line goes " A big mouth says the people They don't wanna be free for free" why would Bono say that the people don't want to be free? That's the only bit that has me thinking otherwise that the big mouth isnt Bono

All over this track though, can't wait to hear it on the record, can't wait to see them perform it live on tv for the promo tour and more importantly it's gonna be such a good tune on tour next year
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Not totally sure... I think he's trying to shoehorn his politics and the free album into one line, but it's just a stab in the dark.
 
Axver said:
Given the way Facebook decides for you what you see from the pages you like, and that even if you bother to go to the chronological feed it still has some intervention on what you see. I wouldn't be shocked if many of those 17 million followers haven't seen it. I only saw it because, well, I'm a regular here and I knew to go look for it.
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I liked their page a long time ago, am not a very frequent fb user, and it hasn't showed up on my feed once.
 
CosmoKramer said:
I'm probably one of the biggest "millennial U2" fans in this place but the one aspect of this era that I have trouble defending is some of Bono's lyrical choices.

Wether it be air as heavy as a truck, wearing bossy boots or helping a little old lady across the street....some of his choices are bizarre to say the least. I personally find his lyrics became suspect during POP as I find that album to be riddled with cringeworthy lyrics and have stated that many times around here but I digress.

With that said, when listening to new U2 songs, I focus on the lyrics because I know how Bono gets. That's one reason I loved SOI so much, the lyrics were straight forward and told a nice story. The music wasn't that great though, so it made most songs good but not great.

Make no mistake, I really like the Blackout and look forward to hearing the proper track and I'm okay with the ned/zach lyrics but they are a bit odd is all. Won't prevent me from blasting the song with my windows down!
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You were pretty as a picture,
It was all there to see
Then your face caught up with your
Psychology
With a mouth full of teeth
You ate all your friends....

QED
 
CMIS said:
You were pretty as a picture,
It was all there to see
Then your face caught up with your
Psychology
With a mouth full of teeth
You ate all your friends....

QED
Click to expand...

Again, you guys are 'over thinking' the lyrics...:doh:

Ironically, the couplet you posted CMIS is my favorite part of Crumbs...more about the way he sings/delivers the lines than the actual words.

If you listen to 'popular' songs throughout yours and my lifetimes (including The Beatles/REM/The Smiths/White Stripes/and every 'Pop' 10 single etc.) there are TONS of inane words/lyrics in some of the MOST POPULAR songs of all time. Bono paints a picture, and he likes to rhyme...old school, maybe, but it takes NOTHING away from the new song.

Enjoy The Blackout...it's a great, rawkin' tune as good as anything they've released in the past 20 years...:yes:
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:
Enjoy The Blackout...it's a great, rawkin' tune as good as anything they've released in the past 20 years...:yes:
Click to expand...

Interestingly, it seems that The Blackout is showing itself as a bit of a grower. I think it was liked by a lot of people like me, right away. Another smaller group were not into it. Another pretty big group felt just ok about it.
But after having it for almost a week, I'm not seeing much negative any more.

Strong song.
 
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womanfish said:
Interestingly, it seems that The Blackout is showing itself as a bit of a grower. I think it was liked by a lot of people like me, right away. Another smaller group were not into it.

But after having it for almost a week, I'm not seeing much negative any more.



Strong song.
Click to expand...



This is my observation as well. It's being received well overall but most impressive is it's just a live mono version of the song and not the pure "cleanest version" put forth. There are still a lot of people in this place, myself included, that can't hear or make out a lot of the sounds and intricacies of the song. I firmly believe these guys are bringing their A game on this record and that the studio mixes are going to be on point and make songs like The Blackout and TLTTGYA sound much better than what we have heard so far.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:
Again, you guys are 'over thinking' the lyrics...:doh:

Ironically, the couplet you posted CMIS is my favorite part of Crumbs...more about the way he sings/delivers the lines than the actual words.

If you listen to 'popular' songs throughout yours and my lifetimes (including The Beatles/REM/The Smiths/White Stripes/and every 'Pop' 10 single etc.) there are TONS of inane words/lyrics in some of the MOST POPULAR songs of all time. Bono paints a picture, and he likes to rhyme...old school, maybe, but it takes NOTHING away from the new song.

Enjoy The Blackout...it's a great, rawkin' tune as good as anything they've released in the past 20 years...:yes:
Click to expand...
Dude I love the blackout and the jack zack ned fed dont bother me in the least, I love throwaway bits in rock songs. You wouldnt believe some of the lyrics I like.

I wont try to rationalise it, but I just hate those lines from crumbs. I agree with you all the way about the lyric thing, but its just an unfortunate coincidence that you like that part/delivery of that part (which I can agree with) while in my mind it is as inane as bono gets. Just made that connection when I saw inane being mentioned
 
CosmoKramer said:
This is my observation as well. It's being received well overall but most impressive is it's just a live mono version of the song and not the pure "cleanest version" put forth. There are still a lot of people in this place, myself included, that can't hear or make out a lot of the sounds and intricacies of the song. I firmly believe these guys are bringing their A game on this record and that the studio mixes are going to be on point and make songs like The Blackout and TLTTGYA sound much better than what we have heard so far.
Click to expand...

Can't disagree there. I only think my opinion can get
Better with the studio version.
It makes me excited to hear the studio version of little things as well. I really like the song, but I can't help but feel it's missing a little "something" that I can't put my finger on, and that maybe the studio version will bring it all together.

Hoping we'll be pleasantly surprised with TBT as well.
 
the song is fine. needs a Edge solo, and not a California/SFS stock solo that Edge throws in. A fly type of solo would have been amazing and fit the song. Doesn't have to go on for a minute, but something aggressive and fun

I dug what TBT was last year when we got the beach clips. The Kygo remix is just that, a EDM remix and it was fun and bouncy.

I don't think TBT is going to get them radio play, and that's going to really disappoint the band. It's sad that radio is what it is now, but what can we do? Remember back in the day when we'd call radio stations to get Beautiful Day and other songs off of ATYCLB on the air?

Now it's just Youtube hits
 
BEAL said:
the song is fine. needs a Edge solo, and not a California/SFS stock solo that Edge throws in. A fly type of solo would have been amazing and fit the song. Doesn't have to go on for a minute, but something aggressive and fun

I dug what TBT was last year when we got the beach clips. The Kygo remix is just that, a EDM remix and it was fun and bouncy.

I don't think TBT is going to get them radio play, and that's going to really disappoint the band. It's sad that radio is what it is now, but what can we do? Remember back in the day when we'd call radio stations to get Beautiful Day and other songs off of ATYCLB on the air?

Now it's just Youtube hits
Click to expand...

TBT will get radio play for sure, but it's just a matter of what format. And what format it gets played on will matter how good/shit the song is and how accessible it is to modern, younger audiences, whether different versions will be released to different formats, and how well Interscope promotes it.

However, regardless of the content of the songs itself, based on U2's most recent releases you can almost be assured of these things:

It will most likely go Top 5, if not #1 on Triple A radio.

It will probably go Top 30 on Alternative radio for at least a week or two.

It will probably get some, but not much airplay on Mainstream Rock radio (ie. not enough to chart) given that it's all really shitty hard rock now.

It might also get serviced to Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary radio, where it ends up in the mid-20s or 30s on that chart.

The big "if" is Contemporary Hits Radio (aka straight up "Pop/Top 40 Mainstream"). This is the big one. I don't think U2 have made the slightest waves (ie. gone into the top 50) on this chart since 2005. Though they've released some singles since that have gotten minimal airplay on the format ("One ft. Mary J Blige", "Boots", "Song for Someone"), these songs made almost no impact and their airplay was very shortlived. If the song does well, I could see it being released to this format (maybe the Kygo remix), but I doubt it would get anywhere near the Top 50.

There's also the Dance radio format which U2 has a shot at with this remix, but it's a very very very limited format with few stations in the country.



As far as youtube views go, it will again depend on the quality of the song, marketing ability by Interscope, radio play as well (or general exposure to wider audiences through some medium).

But here are recent video stats:
Boots - 3.7 million
Magnificent - 30 million
Crazy Tonight - 6 million
Ordinary Love - 40 million (Tonight Show live 16 million)
Invisible - 11 million (Tonight Show live 4.5 million)
The Miracle - 6.3 million
Every Breaking Wave - 14 million
Song for Someone - 9.2 million (alternate video 6.8 million)
The Blackout has 9.1 million views in the past 5 days alone (on facebook too, which a lot of people don't use anymore - Youtube reaches a much bigger audience)

Do with that information what you will. I'm guessing TBT will hit 20 million in the near future simply because it's U2 and seems fairly poppy, but could go higher if it's at all a crossover hit (and if the remix gets it's own video too).
 
Hi everyone. I'm new here. :wave:

Some thoughts on the recent activity;

TBT: yet another attempt at mainstream success. U2 are no longer a Top 40 act. Guitar bands are uncool. Especially guitars bands with guitarists that wear beanies and a singer that delivers liberal platitudes over anthemic radio rock. It's not "in". They're attempting to make hits for an audience that no longer exists (well, besides soccer mums and cyclists).

The Blackout: an ill-advised attempt at tapping into the current political climate. Too heavy-handed; much like most of Bono's post-90s lyrical output. Trying too hard with too little. Musically it has its moments. I like the pre-chorus melody, if only because it reminds me of AB. The chorus is weak and typical of latter-day U2 - it doesn't wind or soar or surprise - it does exactly as you predict.

Anyway - happy to be here!
 
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