MERGED ----> Freedom has a scent + The smell of freedom...

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Hemlock

The Fly
Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Messages
56
Freedom has a scent

like the top of a newborn baby's head

I just love this lyric! I know I'm not supposed to :wink: , but I can't help myself. It won't leave my brain!
 
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And it's not just the words or the imagery, it's the musical way in which it flows as a crescendo bridge to the chorus. It's brilliant!
 
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I agree with BassTrap82.

Couldn’t help translating that into Spanish. The resulting sentence is so farfetched that I’m still laughing at it.
 
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I'd have more of an opinion if I were familiar with the smell.
 
It's okay. Certainly there are worse lyrics. I like it better in Miracle Drug than I do in Levitate.
 
i don't like the lyric, and yet i still think it's one of u2's best songs - it's as good as anything they've done, in my estimation.
smells are a tricky thing to reference in pop songs, nontheless.

i'm thinking of skynyrd:

"ooooh that smell, can't you smell that smell...oooh that smell, the smell that surrounds you!"

now THAT"S songwriting!:drool:
 
I think it's great.

Never understood the hate for that lyric. What a great metaphor. Anyone who's held a newborn baby knows it has a certain baby smell, and you can just look at them and see all the possibility in the world for them. Now that's freedom.
 
I don't like that lyric...but it's probably because I don't like babies. They scare me. I've never even held one...and I'm sure I never will.
 
ImOuttaControl said:
I think it's great.

Never understood the hate for that lyric. What a great metaphor.

I agree totally that it's a great metaphor, but I'm still gonna struggle singing it live.
 
I think it's a great metaphor that's never been used.

I love the smell of a newborn's head, it makes me think of innocence, optimism, and hope, which I guess is freedom.
 
I've said it before... my all time worst U2 lyric.

And yes, I know what newborns smell like. I've had my own and they don't smell like freedom. Promise?...maybe; brand new humans? definitely; but freedom? decidedly, NO.

Worst of all, it takes me out of an otherwise great song every time I hear it. :(
 
I love this line but I agree it looks better on paper than it sounds in the song.

I prefer it in Levitate though - the delivery is a little gentler and so sneaks up on you.
 
The smell of freedom...

...like the top of a newborn baby's head.

A brilliant lyric...one of their best, if you ask me.

It's not about hospitals or baby powder, it's about travail and triumph. It's about the smell of blood and amniotic fluid...it's not fragrant; in fact it might even turn your stomach, but it's the smell of new life and unlimited potential.

It's the smell of Tiananmen Square, the smell of Kabul, the smell of Baghdad and Fallujah. It's the smell of the Rose Revolution in Tibilisi, Georgia, and the Orange Revolution in Kiev, Ukraine. Maybe this'll help: it's the smell of Neo when he woke up onboard the Nebuchadnezzar.

It ain't pretty, but it's a fresh start. And now the sky's the limit.
 
it sounds ridiculous. but i like it because it makes sense to me...i think it's a clever metaphor.

i think people that "get it" like it and those that don't hate it.
 
I think it's definitely clever....but as u2girlcj posted above, "promise" or something seems more appropriately than freedom. But kudos to B-man for coming up with something that original!
 
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