Your Favorite U2 song - There can only be one

[ozeeko]

Running to Stand Still...the perfect blending of American/Irish influences. Not that that's what makes it so awesome. It's the song that got me into...well, good music. Great lyrics, absolutely devastating, dramatic without being bombastic, understated and soulful, great great great fucking song.

 

[ozeeko]

Not to get all pedantic, but I've always thought of early U2 as more of a "performance" band than a "song" band. What I mean is, most artists I like (because most of them are way old) wrote proper "songs", with lyrics, choruses, etc. that could be transposed musically or interpreted differently by different artists. They are "songs" first and performances later. The Beatles are this kind of band mostly, and certainly Bob Dylan is. So is Bob Marley, and many more (R.E.M., too).

Early U2 seem to me not this kind of artist. U2's strength has always been their performance -- the passion and unique kind of spiritual energy they were (yes, past tense) able to summon from a given performance, regardless of what 'song' they were doing. ("Performance" here could be in the studio, live, or anywhere else.)

I started thinking of this because I read someone's post on page 1, which listed "Bad" as his/her favorite. I also love 'Bad' immensely, as most of us do. But I don't really think of 'Bad' as a "song"; I think of it as a performance.

For example, if you take the sheet-music and lyrics of 'Bad' and gave it to any other band I can think of to perform (even really, really great bands), it would sound like shit. This is because the success of it is not down to the lyrics or the song-structure, neither of which is particularly remarkable. The success of it is down to the performance and delivery of it by U2 (esp. Bono, on whom the success of the performances largely depended throughout the '80s).

Anyway, this is just a small point that I think distinguishes U2 from a lot of similarly popular, established artists (at least in their earlier periods). Their music is more performance than song.

As for my choice, I've no idea... for "song" in the literal sense, maybe 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'... for performance and recording, maybe 'Bad' or 'With or Without You'.

I know what you mean. Traditional and conventional songwriting has gotten in the way of what made them so unique, like in "Bad", making 2 damn chords sound like the most amazing 2 chords on Earth. And the lyrics? Who even really cared what Bono was saying in "Bad" in the first place? It's what he puts into those notes. The words are otherworldly sounds, more so than just lyrics.

 

[The Panther]

Running to Stand Still... Great lyrics, absolutely devastating, dramatic without being bombastic

On the album, yes. And more or less on the Joshua Tree tour. Unfortunately, during the ZooTV period, Bono decided to do a grand-standing 'charades' performance and mock-shoot up on stage. And therein came the bombast.

I know what you mean. Traditional and conventional songwriting has gotten in the way of what made them so unique

Yes, I was going to say this also but I forgot. I guess it's kind of ironic, but as U2 have become better and better at songcraft and (more conventional) songwriting, they're become less and less vital.

If only they could unlearn how to write hit songs. Or just stop trying.

 

[BVS]

Way to ruin a simple straight forward thread...


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Bad Exit]

On the album, yes. And more or less on the Joshua Tree tour. Unfortunately, during the ZooTV period, Bono decided to do a grand-standing 'charades' performance and mock-shoot up on stage. And therein came the bombast.

Yes, I was going to say this also but I forgot. I guess it's kind of ironic, but as U2 have become better and better at songcraft and (more conventional) songwriting, they're become less and less vital.

If only they could unlearn how to write hit songs. Or just stop trying.

I think I know what you mean, (I really liked the "not to get all pedantic" post) but -imho- we have to accept that they're just different stages/eras of the band, and that they won't get back to a previous one ever again.

I like that you're making a point separating the ZooTV era from the 80's, since usually people tend to include all 80's and 90's in "classic U2" and millenial U2 as the bastard child, but I think that that's not true. For many early fans, TUF was the band selling out and becoming a bland mainstream atmospheric act... then, AB represented the band selling out and becoming a self indulgent, shallow, technoish pop act... then, ATYCLB represented the band selling out and becoming a middle of the road, overproduced act... well, even if all that is truth, so what? there's absolutely no point in complain about the band changing its style or nostalgically wish that they went back to a previous stage, because that won't happen.

Even if you and I don't like one or two of those eras, it doesn't matter, they're not betraying anything, they've always morphed into whatever they've wanted to and there's plenty of people who have followed them to each one of those eras and who have enjoyed each and every one.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn sounds nothing like Dark Side of the Moon, which sounds nothing like Shine on You Crazy Diamond, which sounds nothing like The Wall... different eras, different albums, try to enjoy them all for what they are, some would like one more than the other but it doesn't mean that the others are crap.

For me TUF U2 is the best U2 (Bad+TUF+EPAA+Prom+ASOH...), but they won't make another one of those. Or another War, or another Zooropa or whatever. I miss UABRS's Bono, he still has some of that "anger" and attitude in him, but it would be absolutely ridiculous if he had kept performing the same way for 30 years... he changed. Or maybe I miss the Fly's antics, he still has some of that ironic sarcastic attitude in him, but it would be absolutely ridiculous if he had kept performing the same way for 20 years... he changed.

If age (cultural, audience and band) wasn't a factor, and U2 was still changing their sound 20 years from now, those 2030 fans would complain that the new U2 sounds nothing like classic gems like TUF, AB, or NLOTH.

 

[Bad Exit]

Way to ruin a simple straight forward thread...

sorry...

(sometimes I don't know which thread I'm reading anymore)

 

[bobsaget77]

Running to Stand Still...the perfect blending of American/Irish influences. Not that that's what makes it so awesome. It's the song that got me into...well, good music. Great lyrics, absolutely devastating, dramatic without being bombastic, understated and soulful, great great great fucking song.

Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[ImNotSleeping]

I know what you mean. Traditional and conventional songwriting has gotten in the way of what made them so unique, like in "Bad", making 2 damn chords sound like the most amazing 2 chords on Earth. And the lyrics? Who even really cared what Bono was saying in "Bad" in the first place? It's what he puts into those notes. The words are otherworldly sounds, more so than just lyrics.

I'm laying this part, if we are talking SOI, at the feet of Rick Rubin. He put the thought in their (Bono's) head and it made them do the songwriting first, to an extent that they haven't done before. That's not solely THEIR process. I think it works, though, so I'm not complaining.

I'm good with this album. It's another facet of U2. I love that about them.

However, the lyrics to Bad are simply brilliant as well.

I do very much want U2 to be U2 and just get in there and create however they see fit. This unexpected, forced down time will bring yet another aspect - an approach, a vibe, something...

 

[ozeeko]

On the album, yes. And more or less on the Joshua Tree tour. Unfortunately, during the ZooTV period, Bono decided to do a grand-standing 'charades' performance and mock-shoot up on stage. And therein came the bombast.

I didn't mind the ZooTV performance. In fact, I actually quite like it. The over the top antics fit right in with the ZooTV theme of sensory overload. And his "Hallelujahs" are fantastic.

It's also a good transition to the "return of the earnest Bono" segment of the show, with WTSHNN and Pride.

 

[Rhiannon64]

The Unforgettable Fire.

I am so in love with song. I hear this song as a performance piece like a mini opera. It is so musically/lyrically visual. Angsty Bono at his best. I've heard this song hundreds of times and I still hear something different in it every time. I wished it was performed during the Zoo tour because Bono really mastered that gorgeous falsetto by that time. I think it would have been awesome.

Does anyone know what Bono is singing at the beginning of the video? It's the first time of seen this video with this this vocal into.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfUUt4RLgak

 

[Galeongirl]

Always has been and always will be Acrobat. Fuckin' perfect guitarwork there, different time signature as well, epic drums and a solid bassline. People can say it's overrated here all they like, doesn't change the awesomeness of the song and the instant shivers and goosebumps I get as soon as I hear the opening drums.

Streets comes a close second though. And NLOTH2.

 

[cobl04]

Where the Streets Have No Name is my favourite song ever.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Until the End of The World

 

[djerdap]

The Fly

Although Acrobat is pretty damn close.

 

[RickFly]

All time favorite song is "One".

 

[Scorpionac]

I know what you mean. Traditional and conventional songwriting has gotten in the way of what made them so unique, like in "Bad", making 2 damn chords sound like the most amazing 2 chords on Earth. And the lyrics? Who even really cared what Bono was saying in "Bad" in the first place? It's what he puts into those notes. The words are otherworldly sounds, more so than just lyrics.

I think the difference between the band's old and new songwriting styles can be seen pretty clearly in the differences between the 2004 and 2010 versions of Mercy. Anyway, I digress...

if there can only be one then definitely Stay...this song made me fall deeply in love with U2!

Ultraviolet. Means more to me than any other song. Has been with me for my most difficult of moments.

Kite 'nuff said

The Unforgettable Fire.

I am so in love with song. I hear this song as a performance piece like a mini opera. It is so musically/lyrically visual. Angsty Bono at his best. I've heard this song hundreds of times and I still hear something different in it every time.

These are all great choices. So many tracks to enjoy from this band.

 

[brooklynmike]

Until The End Of The World

 

[Montrose]

Doesn't the title of this thread mean we all have to choose 'One'?

For me, although it flips around sometimes, the song that dug its way deepest into my heart is Ultraviolet.

I suppose I could just as easily say Streets. Or Angel of Harlem. Or NYD. I love so many U2 songs, and so many are universally loved, it's hard to pick based on quality. But as a favorite, this little track from side 2 of the Achtung Baby cassette that I wore out just around when I was ending my teenage years has a special place for me.

It's uplifting, in a jaunty lust-for-life sort of way, with Edge's guitar lifting up your ears after the intro professes such confusion and near despair, lightly propelling you on a journey away from the darkness. Yet, the background strings - or is it some sort of organ or horn? - that complete the guitar work and and underly its featheriness with a thick, somber drone keeps you grounded in the fact that you might be stepping lightly away from the dark, but it's over a bed of hot coals. You keep moving to avoid the heat.

Bono pleads to the album's eponymous baby, and it doesn't sound cheesy, or forced, as it should have sounded after the Joshua Tree era's earnestness. It didn't even sound sexist, but rather transcendent.. The baby is his wife, his lover, his mother, his angel, his muse, his God..or the child in himself that died a little when him mother did. We may only know it now, but Ultraviolet was a precursor to Lemon, and then to Iris, and the purple Irises in between that the cameras could not see. And out of the blue comes the operatic bravura of sleeping on stones, and illumination from overhead, and over bed, mixing earthy JT lyrics with the sexier AB seamlessly, and leaving both the listener and the singer seemingly spent.. Until he sings gently to his baby again, tonight.

When I first got my hands on Achtung, I wasn't listening to much music. my mother had died, I was kind of in a numb hole, having just started college and experiencing a huge loss. A friend told me to give it a listen because, despite me hearing the Fly, and thinking it was just noise, he said there was a lot more to it.

So I listened, and Achtung was just a lot of noise. I didn't hear the songs, didn't feel the meaning, didn't experience the usual uplift I got from U2 music. But I tried a few repeats, and then Ultraviolet broke through the noise. The yearning in the middle of the noise clarified it, smoothed everything out, and caught me. I understood .. This was uplifting because of the pain. Because of the struggle, not in spite of it. The rest of the songs soon followed, and the album served as a companion to me for months, and actually opened me up to listening to more music again.

So to this day, that little song will make me smile a semi- sad smile as I pick up my step a little and walk on with a little more life under me.


Sent from my fingertips.

 

[cobl04]

Lovely post. Ultraviolet was, along with Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and to a lesser extent One, one of the few songs that I actually liked the first few times I listened to Achtung Baby. It's slipped down the pecking order a little bit in the years since but still an absolutely tremendous song. Paired with the gently hungover Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World it is wonderfully cathartic before the dark and bitter ending of Acrobat and Love is Blindness.

 

[Martinski]

Bad is my favourite song even if its a live and performance song. So is Jungleland wich is my fav song with Bruce, try giving that song to another artist to cover and see the result.

 

[Irvine511]

Streets is the correct answer.

Anyone who says otherwise is only trying to show what a special snowflake they are.

Accept what you already know and move on.


Sent from

 

[bobsaget77]

Streets is a very very close 2nd for me.....it was a brutal pick between Streets and RTSS.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[DaveC]

Love Comes Tumbling.

The UF single version, specifically.

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

please

 

[Scorpionac]

Love Comes Tumbling.

The UF single version, specifically.

please

 

[Nick66]

Streets is the correct answer.

Anyone who says otherwise is only trying to show what a special snowflake they are.

Accept what you already know and move on.

Check the thread title.

ASOH is my favourite (Streets is #2).

And I am special. My mother told me so.

 

[Montrose]

Favourite != Best != most popular.


Sent from my fingertips.

 

[Oregoropa]

I started the thread with EBTTRT. Pride is a close 2nd. Surprised nobody has mentioned that yet. That guitar riff is angelic.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[rennowba]

Until the end of the world! But it has to be live

 

[clerks]

I'll have to go with Pride as it was the reason I found the band in the first place. I heard it over and over on some stupid informercial I think for a rolling stone CD of rock/pop.... and then I bought Rattle and Hum.... then I was born again. As far as Jew can be.