By let me in the sound, Its common knowledge that he's referring to a body of water

[Tripoli]

The Kite explanation is wrong though, pretty sure "hardness sets in" is talking about stiffness that sets in after death. The song was about his father dying.

well i think of bonos dad when i hear that so i didnt give that one much credit. i doubt he was anywere near sex in his mind writing that song

 

[Tripoli]

I took it to mean that: the US has firepower, Middle East has oil, but please turn a blind eye to the wars.

I think Boots is a lot more asexual than people are making it out to be. Thats why they changed the name from Sexy Boots and why they made the music video less sexual in the final cut as well.

pretty sure that boots has a duality, one metaphor is the woman thing, the other is political.

 

[daithidaithi]

I dont buy it. i play music. I took it as getting into the sound- GETTING LOST IN THE MUSIC. which is what i thought the album was about

 

[SecretFly]

Well Bono does sing alot of oooooooohs and aaahhhhhs through out the album

 

[adrball]

5* thread

 

[Salome]

yup, everytime Bono has used the word "in" throughout his career it's obviously a double or triple entendre

I thought the 'weakest' one was his song about sexual inadequacy -
in a little while

at least nothing as hardcore as "Hallelujah, here she comes"

 

[dan_smee]

umm, i just think he thought it sounded kool....

 

[coemgen]

OK, this is a fun thread, but I think it's actually a spiritual reference. Yes, GOYB has some sexual references, but the rest of it I've heard even pastors say is straight out of Jeremiah in the OT (the 3:33 reference in UC is there for a reason, too.) Plus, Bono refers to the "sound" at the end of "Breathe" and says it's where he found grace.

Just one guy's perspective. This album, in my eyes at least, is way more spiritual than one would think.

 

[last unicorn]

This is my favourite thread in this forum, seriously.

I think all the lyrics on NLOTH are actually ... you know ....

That's what U2's music is all about.

 

[OrARoundabout]

These "you know" lyrics are nothing compared to Boy's "you know" lyrics LOLOLO

 

[Varitek]

5 stars.

 

[rihannsu]

OK, this is a fun thread, but I think it's actually a spiritual reference. Yes, GOYB has some sexual references, but the rest of it I've heard even pastors say is straight out of Jeremiah in the OT (the 3:33 reference in UC is there for a reason, too.) Plus, Bono refers to the "sound" at the end of "Breathe" and says it's where he found grace.

Just one guy's perspective. This album, in my eyes at least, is way more spiritual than one would think.

The sexual and the spiritual are not mutually exclusive. Check out the theology of the body. One of the things that I've always found interesting about Bono is the way he has always used religous metaphor to talk about sex and sexual metaphor to talk about God. God is love and the act of loving is finding God. Sex can be transcendant. I love the part in Bill Flanagan's book where he asks Bono about all the oral sex references in Achtung Baby and Bono almost chokes on his drink. He then mumbles about 69 being the most equal sexual position. Bono also said he has more in common with Prince than most people would think after Bill talks about Prince equating sex with spirituality.

Dana

 

[Utoo]

Alright, so I've always thought it was pretty obvious that he was playing on the word's double meaning in terms of musical sound and a body of water. The "God I'm going down/I don't wanna drown" part made that clear. But aside from the obvious nature of the phrase "going down," you kind of lost me on the sexual/female anatomy part of the meaning. That is.....until you said this:

also, let me in the sound is in the intro to a song called being born, food for thought

I'd been trying to come up with a link between GOYB and Fez-Being Born, wondering if there was more of a meaning for that sampling. Fez ends with lyrics that clearly depict a birth. Using the sexual meaning of "let me in the sound," a link between the phrase and the song can be made. In Fez, the "sound" lyric is kind of distant, echoing from side to side. It's kind of like a symbolic fetus in a womb shouting "let me out! let me in the sound!" Ultimately, at the end of the song, the character/symbolic fetus is born. You can make the same case by saying it's like a spiritual birth and not necessarily use the sexual implication of "let me in the sound," but once again the double meaning helps a lot.

May be a stretch, but I really wouldn't put it past Bono....he's in near-top form again with lyrics on this album.

 

[Salome]

as being born is indeed about birth (not childbirth) it is irelated to the "let me in the sound" line which does seek connection but not a sexual one (though playing with sexual reference is 1 of Bono's lyrical strengths - submarine/gasoline indeed)

 

[Utoo]

as being born is indeed about birth (not childbirth) it is irelated to the "let me in the sound" line which does seek connection but not a sexual one

Yes, I agree that Fez isn't "about" a child being born. However, the lyrics clearly describing childbirth (A speeding head, a speeding heart /I'm being born, a bleeding start/ The engines roar, blood curling wail / Head first, then foot / The heart sets sail) IMO are meant to lay the physical, obvious groundwork for the more esoteric, spiritual meaning. Metaphor, man, metaphor. Thus, if the sexual meaning of "let me in the sound" is indeed real and intentional, then it's possible that it's used as a physical base for the metaphor, as well.

 

[brooklynmike]

Let me eat the sound?

Live from the Kunstmuseum

 

[pgv]

Haha, this thread

Of course that's common knowledge. Who doesn't think 'vagina' when they hear 'sound' ?!

 

[Salome]

Yes, I agree that Fez isn't "about" a child being born. However, the lyrics clearly describing childbirth (A speeding head, a speeding heart /I'm being born, a bleeding start/ The engines roar, blood curling wail / Head first, then foot / The heart sets sail) IMO are meant to lay the physical, obvious groundwork for the more esoteric, spiritual meaning. Metaphor, man, metaphor. Thus, if the sexual meaning of "let me in the sound" is indeed real and intentional, then it's possible that it's used as a physical base for the metaphor, as well.

I agree with the interpretation and the metaphors
it just seems to me that the repetition of the "let me in the sound" bit is to point out the meaning of that lyric instead of to add another meaning to the Being born lyrics
if that makes sense

 

[U2Fan101]

mmmm-going down.

Genius Bono.

 

[U2Fan101]

In that case, maybe Petula Clark was meaning something when she sang:

So, maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares and go
Downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown, don't wait a minute more,
Downtown, everything's waiting for you

 

[coemgen]

The sexual and the spiritual are not mutually exclusive. Check out the theology of the body. One of the things that I've always found interesting about Bono is the way he has always used religous metaphor to talk about sex and sexual metaphor to talk about God. God is love and the act of loving is finding God. Sex can be transcendant. I love the part in Bill Flanagan's book where he asks Bono about all the oral sex references in Achtung Baby and Bono almost chokes on his drink. He then mumbles about 69 being the most equal sexual position. Bono also said he has more in common with Prince than most people would think after Bill talks about Prince equating sex with spirituality.

Dana

I never said it they were mutually exclusive. I was just pointing out that there's another side to it.

 

[purpleoscar]

This thread has turned into deconstructionism.

 

[Screwtape2]

I thought Let Me In The Sound was talking about being born in the biological, political, emotional and spiritual sense. The sound is the chaos of the world. It is about wanting to no longer be removed from the world and taking action. In Boots, the line before it is "I don't want to talk about the war between nations" and is followed by "get on your boots!" The running thread in several of the songs is evolving and engaging: "Walk out into the streets", "restart and reboot yourself", "come on all you people and stand up for your love" and "the shitty world sometimes produces a rose."

 

[Tripoli]

The sexual and the spiritual are not mutually exclusive. Check out the theology of the body. One of the things that I've always found interesting about Bono is the way he has always used religous metaphor to talk about sex and sexual metaphor to talk about God. God is love and the act of loving is finding God. Sex can be transcendant. I love the part in Bill Flanagan's book where he asks Bono about all the oral sex references in Achtung Baby and Bono almost chokes on his drink. He then mumbles about 69 being the most equal sexual position. Bono also said he has more in common with Prince than most people would think after Bill talks about Prince equating sex with spirituality.

Dana

.

 

[Tripoli]

I thought Let Me In The Sound was talking about being born in the biological, political, emotional and spiritual sense. The sound is the chaos of the world. It is about wanting to no longer be removed from the world and taking action. In Boots, the line before it is "I don't want to talk about the war between nations" and is followed by "get on your boots!" The running thread in several of the songs is evolving and engaging: "Walk out into the streets", "restart and reboot yourself", "come on all you people and stand up for your love" and "the shitty world sometimes produces a rose."

while i agree very much with this, i think each song portrays that message with a different double metaphor. I heard get on your boots and immediately pictured the image of a guy trying to spit game/seduce. And I keep seeing that image of the girl's legs in the video toward the end when shes sitting down and U2 is between them. Very good video.

 

[Galeongirl]

This thread is great.

 

[Rosebud]

I approve of this thread.

 

[Tripoli]

i U2

 

[Sicy]

But what about The 2.

 

[Rosebud]