Hey U2girl
I'll try to go through this song by song!:
Zoo Station
I think this one is more of a statement or metaphor than anything else. Zoo Station can be seen as the introduction to the journey through the dark concepts of Achtung Baby.
Here's where I feel the metaphor comes in--U2 recorded AB in Berlin shortly after the Wall had fallen. After the Wall had come down there was a mad rush of people--businessmen, pimps, etc... people of all sorts. It's my guess that this intrigued U2. The train station that was used to travel between the East and the West while the Wall was still up was called Zoo Bahnhof. After the Wall had fallen, these varieties of people could be seen congregating around this transit system. The fall of the Wall must've been chaotic, with both sides merging together like that. I like to think of AB as if U2 is rushing from one side of the Wall to the other.. the frenzic state of Berlin sets the scene for AB in my mind
The Fly
This one features that oh so cool alter-ego of Bono's
I think The Fly symbolizes someone who has been shown all the answers to life a little too late. In this song, The Fly is making a phone call, which the line "look I gotta go, yeah I'm runnin' out of change, there's a lot of things, if I could I'd rearrange" reveals. I think this phone call is from hell. All sorts of aphorisms show up in this one (A liar won't believe in anyone else.. etc.). The Fly is ringing us up from hell, telling us the things we should know before it's too late.. very cool concept!
Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
This one sprouted from U2's flirtation with downtown LA. I think Bono, along with the rest of the band, got really attached, and sometimes caught up in, the free-spirited nature of this area. The question of "How far are you gonna go before you lose your way back home?" came up. This one paints for me a picture of a man crawling home as the sun rises--drained from a night out: "sunrise like a nosebleed, your head hurts and you can't breathe, you been tryin' to throw your arms around the world"
When I Look At The World
Well this one is still new, so it hasn't had quite as much time to grow into something as the others have
However, I see it as a conversation with God. The line "I think of you and your holy book when the rest of us choke" lends itself toward this.
"When the night is someone else's
And you're trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep"
I think this is saying that sometimes it seems as if someone else is in charge of the world, and God is eclipsed, or "sleeping". Also, when your thoughts are too expensive to ever want to keep could be referring to the human sacrifices we have to make to follow the Bible's Law--and how some see this sacrifice as too expensive and disregard the Law entirely.
I think this one is a call out for God, just as Wake Up Dead Man was.. only I think this time it's a more desperate plea rather than demanding.
hehe that was a bit long but I love discussing these lyrical things