Kite

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I've been thinking about this a little bit lately, and I would say Kite is U2's greatest song. It's obviously close with One, WOWY, Streets and Bad, but if I had to pick, I'm going with Kite.
 
Definitely a top 5 U2 song for me. Still moves the same as it did when I first heard it, nearly 16 (!) years ago.


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Often feel like it might be the best the best song on ATYCLB(proper, would still put TGBHF above it).

The 2006 Vertigo Tour version on the WITS single is the definitive version, imo.
 
Would be in my top 15 or 20. I know it's cool and all to hate Atty Club but it's a great album in my opinion :shrug:

Kite is one of the most openly emotional songs the band has ever written. They lyrics go straight for the heart and they hit like hell. Bono's "I'm a maaaaaaaaan" parts are absolutely up there with the very best vocal moments of his career. Edge's guitar work is phenomenal.

And even the bit that everyone hates so viscerally, the final verse, is really not that egregious. A little odd, sure, but it hardly ruins the song.

Then you have the fifth leg Vertigo Tour versions which can be spoken of in the same breath as RTSS-Streets on ZooTV, Please-Streets, Bad, One w/Do You Hear Me Coming, all their greatest live moments.
 
My problem with this song is the lyrics, esp. of the chorus. When I first listened to this album back in late 2000, I was already shocked by how "boy-band" the production of the album was, and then when I got to this song, the lyrics kind of shocked me in how cliché they were. The offending lines, in particular, are:

- "I don't know / which way the wind will blow"

and, the worst of all:

- "Don't want to see you cry / I know that this is not goodbye"

That last one had me rolling my eyes, and thinking, "Really, Bono? Did you get that idea from a Céline Dion or Diane Warren song?"

Unfortunately, aside from those two offensive clichés (the latter driven home a few times in the chorus), it's a rather good song. The gentle slide guitar works well, and the "I'm a MAN" vocal is heroic. Nice tune, also.

But it was hard for me to accept that this band, on an album already self-consciously designed to sound "like U2", was simultaneously entering the area of 'power-ballad cliché'.
 
The Panther said:
My problem with this song is the lyrics, esp. of the chorus. When I first listened to this album back in late 2000, I was already shocked by how "boy-band" the production of the album was, and then when I got to this song, the lyrics kind of shocked me in how cliché they were. The offending lines, in particular, are:

- "I don't know / which way the wind will blow"

and, the worst of all:

- "Don't want to see you cry / I know that this is not goodbye"

That last one had me rolling my eyes, and thinking, "Really, Bono? Did you get that idea from a Céline Dion or Diane Warren song?'.
Click to expand...


I strongly disagree on both accounts.
The last in particular is so powerful during the Slane Castle performance where Bono is still torn up about the recent passing of his father.


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The Panther said:
My problem with this song is the lyrics, esp. of the chorus. When I first listened to this album back in late 2000, I was already shocked by how "boy-band" the production of the album was, and then when I got to this song, the lyrics kind of shocked me in how cliché they were. The offending lines, in particular, are:

- "I don't know / which way the wind will blow"

and, the worst of all:

- "Don't want to see you cry / I know that this is not goodbye"

That last one had me rolling my eyes, and thinking, "Really, Bono? Did you get that idea from a Céline Dion or Diane Warren song?"

Unfortunately, aside from those two offensive clichés (the latter driven home a few times in the chorus), it's a rather good song. The gentle slide guitar works well, and the "I'm a MAN" vocal is heroic. Nice tune, also.

But it was hard for me to accept that this band, on an album already self-consciously designed to sound "like U2", was simultaneously entering the area of 'power-ballad cliché'.
Click to expand...


What is this song about? This post leads me to believe that you don't know.


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cobl04 said:
Funny, I find those two lyrics in particular to be among his best. :shrug:

Not every song has to contain subtle metaphoric wonder to be good.
Click to expand...

bobsaget77 said:
I strongly disagree on both accounts.
The last in particular is so powerful during the Slane Castle performance where Bono is still torn up about the recent passing of his father.
Click to expand...

Ok, but you're talking about the delivery of the line, and not the line itself, which is about as generic as it gets. Same with the other one.

This doesn't break any new ground, but it's a good expression of the theme, with the last line nicely underlining the sentiment of the second one:

I'm not afraid to die
I'm not afraid to live
And when I'm flat on my back
I hope to feel like I did


This part is evocative, made moreso by Bono's statement about this being from an actual incident with his children. Plus the couplet about the dueling attitudes between generations and his perceived shortcomings as a parent:

It's somewhere I can taste the salty sea
There's a kite blowing out of control on the breeze
I wonder what's gonna happen to you
You wonder what has happened to me


If you're going to single out material from the song, at least pick out the well-written, mature stuff.
 
How are "I'm not afraid to die / not afraid to live" and "I wonder what's gonna happen to you / you wonder what has happened to me" any less generic than the chorus?
 
lazarus said:
Ok, but you're talking about the delivery of the line, and not the line itself, which is about as generic as it gets. Same with the other one.
Click to expand...


Who fucking cares?! I never understood the obsession with taking one or two lines out and labeling them generic or cliche?

How many Dylan, Springsteen, or Bowie songs could I do that to?

And then the lines you point out, could easily be described as cliched.

Kite doesn't break any new ground. It's a song of vulnerability and embracing one's mortality told in a nice metaphor. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's what makes it great.




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BVS said:
Who fucking cares?! I never understood the obsession with taking one or two lines out and labeling them generic or cliche?

How many Dylan, Springsteen, or Bowie songs could I do that to?

And then the lines you point out, could easily be described as cliched.

Kite doesn't break any new ground. It's a song of vulnerability and embracing one's mortality told in a nice metaphor. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's what makes it great.




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Click to expand...

:up:

I actually like it whenever I can finally find something to agree on with BVS. :sexywink:


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You know, I'm usually the last one (on here) to criticize Bono's lyrics (his over-singing / hamming in recent years is another matter) -- I even like the lines about "the top of a newborn baby's head" and so on; I think that's great.

But cliché does way negatively affect a song, especially when it's the focus of the oft-repeated chorus. You know, imagine if 'With or Without You's' chorus -- instead of "You give / You give yourself away", was instead "Don't cry / This isn't goodbye".

It would, in fact, debilitate the song.
 
The Panther said:
You know, I'm usually the last one (on here) to criticize Bono's lyrics (his over-singing / hamming in recent years is another matter) -- I even like the lines about "the top of a newborn baby's head" and so on; I think that's great.



But cliché does way negatively affect a song, especially when it's the focus of the oft-repeated chorus. You know, imagine if 'With or Without You's' chorus -- instead of "You give / You give yourself away", was instead "Don't cry / This isn't goodbye".



It would, in fact, debilitate the song.
Click to expand...


:lol: ironic you choose that song and that line to make your point.

I'm guessing you still don't get what the song is about.


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