In Zoostation...

[BabyGrace]

...do the lyrics:
"Ready to duck
Ready to dive
Ready to say
I'm glad to be alive"
and...
"I'm ready
To take it to the streets"
refer to their new style of music at the time and how they were afraid of rejection? Just curious, cuz that's how I always saw that song...

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You're taking steps that make you feel dizzy
Then you get to like the way it feels...

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

Definately BabyGrace, that's how I've always seen it too. However, I don't think those lines suggest a fear of rejection--to me it's saying that U2 knows exactly what they're doing, and they're willing to take whatever comes their way because of it.

I've always looked at Zoo Station as a transport into U2's new style. "I'm ready for what's next... I'm ready to let go of the steering wheel.." U2's transition into this new era was a risky thing (much like not holding onto the steering wheel is).

"Time is a train, makes the future the past, leaves you standing in the station.. your face pressed up against the glass"

U2's train was going full speed ahead, and I'm sure quite a few fans had their faces stuck to the glass hehe

 

[BabyGrace]

hehehe yeah

Too bad I wasn't a fan then!
It's just kinda like they were stating where they planned to go in that one song and then moving on down that musical journey...it must have come as a shock to a lot of fans...not that they changed but how they changed.
And what is still incredible is that they pulled it off!!

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You're taking steps that make you feel dizzy
Then you get to like the way it feels...

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

Yeah, I wasn't a fan then either

I feel like I've caught up to speed though.. Oxygen has been replaced by U2 for the past 4 years now

 

[U2girl]

i always thought Zoo Station was about drugs-Zoo Station is the name of the central railway station in Berlin known for drugs and prostitutes...

 

[BEAL]

That is part of it too U2girl. Though, not directly. U2 went with the darker side of things for this album. Very very dark. Not too many songs on here that are very bright in colors. Compare it to ATYCLB, and its a huge difference.

I think the Duck and the Dive part is Bono saying, here we are, we've done something different, we like it, and we're gonna fight. The punches that Bono is dodging are from the critics.

 

[zzyzx]

I was in Berlin this summer, and found that Zoo Station is really the heart of West Berlin... I don't really think the song is about drugs, more about change; Berlin was undergoing massive changes, and Zoo Station was at the center of it all.