MERGED ----> Lyric recycling + A Man and A Woman stolen lyrics

[OnFire]

Lyric recycling

I noticed a couple of farmiliar phrases in my first full listen to HTDAAB from A Man and a Woman; "honey on my tongue" from Summer Rain and "the soul needs beauty for a soul mate" from Always.

It doesn't bug me or anything, I just wonder what the reasoning is behind it. Does Bono want to explore different themes with the same verse or after so many years do just run out of new ways to say things.

Surely they didn't think we wouldn't notice

 

[dandy]

my current favourite lyric repeat: 'i want the lot of what you got' is in both 'original of the species' and 'fast cars'.

i think there are similarities because of the way they develop songs. the same song can easily be re-worked into two totally different pieces of music, but there's a guitar riff or lyric or some other detail that remains the same.

maybe bono just really liked the lyrics and wanted to use them in a different context. or, more probable, bono probably doesn't even remember that he repeated himself.

 

[Bonochick]

I noticed those as well. I also noticed this similarity:

"Last Night On Earth":

The more you take, the less you feel

"City Of Blinding Lights":

The more you know, the less you feel

 

[Desert Rose]

don't forget the "love catching you by the heel" bit on A man and a woman... I believe a similar line is on Never let me go from the MDH soundtrack - yeah I know not officially a U2 song but lyrics by Bono...

 

[Ifeelnumb84]

how about Do You Feel Loved?:
take these hands, they're good for nothin'
you know these hands never worked a day

AND

Yahweh:
take these hands, teach them what to carry
take these hands, don't make a fist

It's sort of a progression, where these useless hands are now good for something.

 

[FallingStar]

don't forget the "love catching you by the heel" bit on A man and a woman... I believe a similar line is on Never let me go from the MDH soundtrack - yeah I know not officially a U2 song but lyrics by Bono...

very true

 

[ultrraviolette]

my current favourite lyric repeat: 'i want the lot of what you got' is in both 'original of the species' and 'fast cars'.

i think there are similarities because of the way they develop songs. the same song can easily be re-worked into two totally different pieces of music, but there's a guitar riff or lyric or some other detail that remains the same.

maybe bono just really liked the lyrics and wanted to use them in a different context. or, more probable, bono probably doesn't even remember that he repeated himself.

I also love that particularly repeated lyric!

 

[social shutdown]

being a song writer myself I have noticed a tendancy to have a pattern of lyrics and i have been known to "steal" lyrics from other songs i may have written in the past...you write what you know..certain phrases, thought patterns do tend to come up more than once. This is something that i have seen in many of my favorite bands, I like it because it links one album/song to another..i like to think that it also gives you insight into the character of the artist..what they think about and what they like to write about

 

[Bonochick]

I agree, social shutdown...and I also experience that in my own writing. Sometimes I have to take a break in writing because I fear I'm repeating myself too much.

 

[jojoline]

don't forget the "love catching you by the heel" bit on A man and a woman... I believe a similar line is on Never let me go from the MDH soundtrack - yeah I know not officially a U2 song but lyrics by Bono...

Awesome, glad you brought that up. I was listening to Never Let Me Go last night and realized that this is a man who has everything and still takes the time to acknowledge and ask God for help. That's a task that is usaully taken up by less-fortunate people who are in a lot more need of help than he. Maybe I'm wrong. Listen to that song again and tell me what you think.

 

[pop marter]

It would be interesting to know if Bono is aware of the similar lyrics. Listening to Atomic Bomb, I immediately recognised the lyrical comparsions mentioned.

 

[u2girlcj]

I like the repetition - makes it feel familiar right off the bat. It took me a few listens to come around to ATYCLB. And there's something to be said for building on the past and changing it to make it more relevant, whatever.

Regardless, "I want the lot of what you got" DESERVES to be in two songs!! It's JUST THAT good!!

 

[LMP]

Also...
'take these shoes' - Yahweh and Do You Feel Loved?

and i remember hearing a song from the sessions w/ a couple of lines from ABOY and Crumbs, I think it was Flower Child, not sure tho

 

[Ellay]

It's not just Bono, I reckon Edge has nicked the guitar riff in the bridge after the second verse of vertigo, directly from the riff he plays in alex decends into hell

 

[Ms. M]

Hello, Hello was originally used in Stories for Boys

 

[Schmeg]

It's not just Bono, I reckon Edge has nicked the guitar riff in the bridge after the second verse of vertigo, directly from the riff he plays in alex decends into hell

I was thinking that the other night

Bono's recycled plenty of lyrics..."Dream out loud" pops up in Zooropa and Always and something else, I think *moment of silence for the lyrics archive here since U2.com's alleged search feature doesn't work* "One for the trainspotters," as Bono said himself.

 

[thousandfold]

Lyric recycling

I think Bono just gets fixated on a lyric he wants to use, and he'll just start throwing it into songs until he finds one it works in. Like, we weren't originally intended to hear "Always," so he was figuring we'd never know that he'd already tried to cram "the soul needs beauty for a soulmate" into another song. Same goes with "Levitate" (if I remember correctly) and that whole newborn baby's head line. I know some people really dig that line, but it makes me bristle. It just sounds forced.

I agree with whoever said "Yahweh" is a progression from "Do You Feel Loved." I actually just posted a big treatise on it over on the @U2 boards.

The "dream out loud" thing, Bono is certainly fond of that. But that doesn't wear on me -- I guess he can get a lot of mileage out of that one.

Bonochick -- Ryan Adams does this all the time, too. Do you know how many songs he's tried to cram "broken eyes" into? It's got to be his favorite metaphor ever.


p.s. Hi everyone! I'm new!

 

[marik]

A Man and A Woman stolen lyrics

just found out that A Man And A Woman has stolen lyrics from another song. anyone know which song?

clue: "The soul needs beauty for a soul mate"

 

[2861U2]

Why that would be Always! My favorite B-side!

 

[biff]

That's hardly "stolen", just developed and taken one step further.

 

[Numbology]

one step further?I don't think so....

 

[thousandfold]

Bono cannibalizes himself all the time... he gets stuck on a line and starts trying to work it into a song. If it doesn't go anywhere, he tries it in another one.

 

[Gruntilda]

I spent a week in Devon eating ice cream.

 

[Aardvark747]

I spent a week in Devon eating ice cream.

 

[impy13]

It's like the "freedom has a scent" line in both MD and Levitate.

At least I think it was Levitate. I'm at work now so I have no way to check.

 

[neutral]

Yeah it's Levitate. There are a lot of lines that pop up in multiple songs. Of course I can't think of any others right now.

 

[Chizip]

From Father to Son...

 

[*sofia*]

take this shirt go on take it off me ------> take this shirt and make it clean.. there are loads more.

 

[Bonochick]

You guys might be interested in this old thread:

http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104141

 

[jay canseco]

They should sue themselves.