What is U2's strongest album Lyrically?

[-macphisto-]

What about Wild horses

You're a piece of glass left there on the beach

The deeper I spin
The hunter will sin ... for your ivory skin
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees the river laughing
At you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The doors you open I just can't close
Don't you turn around, don't you turn around again

Don't you turn around your gypsy heart
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, and don't look back

 

[Axver]

Now you're calling TTTYAATW 'exceptionally weak'?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

Your credibility is plummiting!

"and a woman needs a man/like a fish needs a bicycle"

I can't remember any other lines from that song off the top of my head but the song has a great meaning, about trying to understand why shit happens the way it does and not being able to. Those lyrics are lyrics that never meant much to me until recently, but now mean a lot more.

"I dreamed that I saw Dali
With a supermarket trolley
He was trying to throw his arms around a girl"

... really not good at all!

I don't think the song has much lyrical worth.

 

[namkcuR]

Sometimes, I have a hard time really enjoying So Cruel as I find it to be a 'distant' song that's hard to connect with, but I totally agree that it is lyrically amazing. Sensational song.

(Also, this forum is surprisingly active for this time of day - nearly 6:30pm here in Queensland. I approve! Otherwise, I'd be really, REALLY bored right now.)

"between the horses of love and lust/we are trampled underfoot"

Used to be one of my favorite lyrics but now reminds me of a failed relationship I had.

It's nearly 3:30 AM here in Ohio...VERY active for this time of day. This is one of the most enjoyable threads I've taken part in in a while.

 

[namkcuR]

"I dreamed that I saw Dali
With a supermarket trolley
He was trying to throw his arms around a girl"

... really not good at all!

I don't think the song has much lyrical worth.

Way to pick the worst three lines from the song to make a judgement.

 

[Zoots]

No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'cause I need it now

Yeah Axver, you really picked the worst lines in an otherwise good song.

 

[Axver]

"between the horses of love and lust/we are trampled underfoot"

Used to be one of my favorite lyrics but now reminds me of a failed relationship I had.

It's nearly 3:30 AM here in Ohio...VERY active for this time of day. This is one of the most enjoyable threads I've taken part in in a while.

Yeah, I can understand that. I feel So Cruel is distant because the only time I've ever connected with it is when I was going through something difficult (I swear I cannot remember at all what happened now!) and I played the song again and again because the lyrics were so meaningful in an incredibly painful way.

This forum's usually dead in my late afternoon and evening, and only starts to come to life when the Brits get up and online.

 

[Axver]

Way to pick the worst three lines from the song to make a judgement.

Hah, I didn't pick those ones deliberately! I just put the song on, jumped to a random point, and typed the first lyrics I heard.

I actually think "I'm gonna run to you, run to you, run to you, woman, be still" is a whole lot worse.

These lyrics just do nothing for me.

 

[Axver]

Bono at his brilliant best:

We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun's so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

 

[namkcuR]

Bono at his brilliant best:

We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun's so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

I'm beginning to think you are obsessed with that song. Best lyric Bono ever wrote, best live performance of U2's career, etc etc etc.

 

[namkcuR]

Hah, I didn't pick those ones deliberately! I just put the song on, jumped to a random point, and typed the first lyrics I heard.

I actually think "I'm gonna run to you, run to you, run to you, woman, be still" is a whole lot worse.

These lyrics just do nothing for me.

To each his own. They do something for me.

 

[Axver]

I'm beginning to think you are obsessed with that song. Best lyric Bono ever wrote, best live performance of U2's career, etc etc etc.

I'm beginning to think that too!

Though it's alright:

Nation of Axver's origin: New Zealand
Nation of One Tree Hill's location: New Zealand

 

[namkcuR]

You, I just thought of this lyric from Sunday Bloody Sunday...

"and it's true we are immune/when fact is fiction/and TV a reality"

That's suddenly stricken me as very true even today, what with the war and the U.S. administration and all.

 

[Axver]

You, I just thought of this lyric from Sunday Bloody Sunday...

"and it's true we are immune/when fact is fiction/and TV a reality"

That's suddenly stricken me as very true even today, what with the war and the U.S. administration and all.

I think that on the upcoming tour, Bono needs to bring out a verse of New Year's Day that has never been sung live, but modify it slightly:

And so we're told this is the Oily Age
And oil is the reason for the wars we wage ...

 

[namkcuR]

I think that on the upcoming tour, Bono needs to bring out a verse of New Year's Day that has never been sung live, but modify it slightly:

And so we're told this is the Oily Age
And oil is the reason for the wars we wage ...

That would be sweet but it won't happen. Bono can't insult the administration that blatently. He needs them to give money to Africa. Although to be honest, I don't think Bush has any intention of giving and significant amount of money to Africa. He may promise it but I don't see it getting there as long as he is in office.

And 'Oily'?

Ok, I think it's bed time soon for me...maybe I won't go just yet but if I suddenly stop responding in the next ten minutes, you know why.

 

[Axver]

That would be sweet but it won't happen. Bono can't insult the administration that blatently. He needs them to give money to Africa. Although to be honest, I don't think Bush has any intention of giving and significant amount of money to Africa. He may promise it but I don't see it getting there as long as he is in office.

We're going to turn this into FYM, are we?

Sometimes, I miss Bono's fiery rants from past years, but now he's a lot more subtle and I really enjoy that subtlety. Crumbs is a splendid example of Bono being subtle enough to not be insulting while making his point wonderfully well.

And yes, Oily. It has the same amount of syllables as 'golden'!

Seems like the others have gone for the night too. Guess I may have to get around to finding something else to do soon. On second thoughts ... naaaah. Life away from the computer? What a silly idea.

 

[lazarus]

I know POP was discussed way back at the beginning of this thread, but I wanted to point out a couple lines:

"Lookin' for a sound that's gonna drown out the world/lookin' for the father of my two little girls"

Is there any other line that so clearly encapsulates the two driving forces in Bono's life? Absolutely fucking brilliant. And then in Gone:

"You wanted to get somewhere so badly/You had to lose yourself along the way/You changed your name/Well that's okay, it's necessary/And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway"

How often do you see artist self examination like this? It's one of the biggest rock stars looking back on his youth, the beginning of his career. It's a lot more effective than City of Blinding Lights, for example.

And to get back to the "tape recorder" stuff from Wake Up Dead Man, you're missing the point of the verse by not including the beginning:

"Jesus/were you just around the corner?/did you think to try and warn her?/or were you working on something new?"

This is clearly about his mother, and possibly the most poignant lines he's ever written on the subject. He's asking Jesus why his mother had to die, but on top of that, asks if life is a like a tape recorder so he can go back and be with her again.

I don't think you need any more evidence to prove that POP is Bono's finest hour. The man tackles pop culture, the elasticity of image, crisis of religious faith, the struggle of the artist, the Irish conflict, society's need for instant gratification, etc. What other album has him tackling this range of topics (and I'm not even including the two odes to sex or the portraits in LNOE & Miami) with such originality.

fucking masterpiece of writing


laz

 

[namkcuR]

I know POP was discussed way back at the beginning of this thread, but I wanted to point out a couple lines:

"Lookin' for a sound that's gonna drown out the world/lookin' for the father of my two little girls"

Is there any other line that so clearly encapsulates the two driving forces in Bono's life? Absolutely fucking brilliant. And then in Gone:

"You wanted to get somewhere so badly/You had to lose yourself along the way/You changed your name/Well that's okay, it's necessary/And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway"

How often do you see artist self examination like this? It's one of the biggest rock stars looking back on his youth, the beginning of his career. It's a lot more effective than City of Blinding Lights, for example.

And to get back to the "tape recorder" stuff from Wake Up Dead Man, you're missing the point of the verse by not including the beginning:

"Jesus/were you just around the corner?/did you think to try and warn her?/or were you working on something new?"

This is clearly about his mother, and possibly the most poignant lines he's ever written on the subject. He's asking Jesus why his mother had to die, but on top of that, asks if life is a like a tape recorder so he can go back and be with her again.

I don't think you need any more evidence to prove that POP is Bono's finest hour. The man tackles pop culture, the elasticity of image, crisis of religious faith, the struggle of the artist, the Irish conflict, society's need for instant gratification, etc. What other album has him tackling this range of topics (and I'm not even including the two odes to sex or the portraits in LNOE & Miami) with such originality.

fucking masterpiece of writing


laz

Amen.

Goodnight all.

 

[Axver]

Great post, lazarus.

 

[U2girl]

JT just ahead of AB.

Third place Rattle and Hum.

 

[Pero]

I think
Achtung- "You gave me nothing
Now it's all i've got"-One
-whole Acrobat, The Fly

or

Pop-whole Gone, Mofo-"Looking for the baby Jesus uder the trash"- that was the time when a lot of babies were thrown in the trash, and everybody was talking about 2000, y2k shit and a returning of a Messiah; next If god will send his angels; fucked up world of Wake up dead man...
I could go on and on.

 

[LuvandPeace1980]

I also think some of U2's best lyrics are on passengers, nice clever and very artsy fartsy, still Achtung is the best.. you can't beat So Cruel, Who's gonna ride and The FLY

 

[stagman]

Achtung of course

 

[Mullen4Prez]

October

 

[God Part III]

POP and Zooropa.

Put flowers in the mud baby... overground.

 

[Balfron]

bomb all the way for me

 

[-macphisto-]

October

Hey, somebody actually agreed with me, October it is!

 

[Saracene]

In general I've never been a huge fan of Bono's lyrics, but Achtung Baby and Zooropa would be my picks for the strongest.

 

[anitram]

Yeah, I can understand that. I feel So Cruel is distant because the only time I've ever connected with it is when I was going through something difficult (I swear I cannot remember at all what happened now!) and I played the song again and again because the lyrics were so meaningful in an incredibly painful way.

Give it another 10-20 years of life experience, maybe you'll change your mind.

Achtung Baby and Pop are the two finest moments.

 

[miss becky]

Achtung Baby, beyond a doubt. The entire album tells a story -- plus each song can stand on its own. That is some amazing lyric-writing.

 

[theedge111]

I know POP was discussed way back at the beginning of this thread, but I wanted to point out a couple lines:

"Lookin' for a sound that's gonna drown out the world/lookin' for the father of my two little girls"

Is there any other line that so clearly encapsulates the two driving forces in Bono's life? Absolutely fucking brilliant. And then in Gone:

"You wanted to get somewhere so badly/You had to lose yourself along the way/You changed your name/Well that's okay, it's necessary/And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway"

How often do you see artist self examination like this? It's one of the biggest rock stars looking back on his youth, the beginning of his career. It's a lot more effective than City of Blinding Lights, for example.

And to get back to the "tape recorder" stuff from Wake Up Dead Man, you're missing the point of the verse by not including the beginning:

"Jesus/were you just around the corner?/did you think to try and warn her?/or were you working on something new?"

This is clearly about his mother, and possibly the most poignant lines he's ever written on the subject. He's asking Jesus why his mother had to die, but on top of that, asks if life is a like a tape recorder so he can go back and be with her again.

I don't think you need any more evidence to prove that POP is Bono's finest hour. The man tackles pop culture, the elasticity of image, crisis of religious faith, the struggle of the artist, the Irish conflict, society's need for instant gratification, etc. What other album has him tackling this range of topics (and I'm not even including the two odes to sex or the portraits in LNOE & Miami) with such originality.

fucking masterpiece of writing


laz

Awesome!