VelvetDress
The Fly
Oliveu2cm and I did another analysis, this time of Mofo, that you guys might be interested in reading. We are having a blast with all this in-depth thinking! Hope you enjoy it (despite its length!)......
<b>MOFO</b>
Bono has said this song could sum up his entire life. Jennifer and Carrie seek to find out why.
<b>Overall:</b>
the places being a musician/rock star is trying to fill, the forces that drive him to be a musician/rock star, and the resultant chaos of the life he has almost accidentally created. Trying to fill the sometimes wavering faith (God-shaped hole), the void his mother left, the space vacated by his lost innocence (the face I had before the world was made), trying to reconcile the duality of being a child (pampered star) and an adult (father of my two little girls). I was thinking the other day about how in MOFO he says "I'm still a child", and in Kite he says "I'm a man, I'm not a child." I think he is both, as we all are, and that he knows that. But in Kite, 4 years later, he is less confused by the contradiction in that. His father being sick and passing may have an influence on this- now he literally is "the man" of the family, the top of the line.
Is he going to fill up that God shaped hole w/ rock and roll? or is the mother sucking rock and roll that causes him to NEED to find this stuff out? By knowing as much as we know about Bono, we can assume that the rock & roll is his attempt to fill the holes in his life. But his celebrity/artisanship has begun to cannibalize him, as well. In attempting to fill the holes, is he actually making them bigger? Is the void alread there or self created? Eat the monster before the mosnter eats you. "And you become a monster so the monster will not break you". "Every artist is a cannibal". The synthesis of many of his lines, many of his beliefs and fears in this song.
<b>Looking for to save my save my soul / Looking in the places where no flowers grow /
Looking for to fill that God shaped hole / Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
(Mother...)</b>
In the first stanza I think he is explaining his confusion- the uncertainty he is feeling. Explaining what he's doing- looking to save my soul. But how? By God? By rock and roll? By himself? Is he going to fill up that God shaped hole w/ rock and roll? or is the mother sucking rock and roll that causes him to NEED to find this stuff out?
<b>Holy dunc, spacejunk coming in for the splash / (Been around the back...been around the front)</b>
I'm not too sure about this holy dunc stuff (um typing that makes me think of a baptism) I never got holy dunc because of the "dunc" spelling. Holy dunk would make a great deal of sense, especially with the following line about baby Jesus. "space junk coming in for the crash" - suddenly I can see all this stuff from outer space zooming in towards the earth in a terrible collision, illustrating not only the character's confusion, but the imminent danger of his creation crashing back down on him. He's written more about this "outer space" motif in BD: those images are supposedly what's seen from a spaceship. Plus "man takes a rocketship up tothe sky sits on a star burning in the night"...!!
Of course he's been around the back first, sneaking in. also could be sexual innuendos there! Yes, another "leave a bad taste in your mouth"-type unintentional innuendo for obsessed fans with dirty minds!
<b>White dopes on punk staring into the flash / Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash</b>
Under the trash literally? or figuratively? under the trash of these doped out punks making music? You know how Bono has said that Jesus didn't waste his time on the pious, he was always with the people who needed him the most, and that if he were around today he would be with the AIDS victims on the streets of San Fran, with prostitutes and drug addicts. I think that is where this "dopes on punk stare into the flash, looking for baby Jesus under the trash" comes from, directly. They're fucked up, they're on the edge, and even they are looking to fill their God-shaped hole, and from many Bono observations, "under the trash" is probably the most likely place to find the baby Jesus. "It is no coincidence that he was born in the shit and straw" or something like that. His quotes over the years are directly reflected in this stanza. If you take white dopes on punk and flip it around: white punks on dope. Thats sorta obvious and relates to the sugar dropping later on in the song.
Good connection with Jesus in other songs, such as "they put Jesus in show business, now it's hard to get in the door".This album definitely says "Jesus" more than any other (you've got Dead Man as well. Interesting that it's Jesus mostly, and not God.....This is the new testament U2, unafraid of God ("many will see and fear"), but turning to Jesus in both desperation and recrimination. Dead Man is a very BALLSY song to me; imagine what it takes for a committed believer to address Jesus in that tone!)
October, and all its God-related stuff is just that - GOD-related. Not Jesus. JT seems more concerned with God than Jesus, to me (e.g. it's more New Testament than Old Testament). On AB we get our first real JESUS song, UTEOTW, and on Zooropa we get The Wanderer, which is Jesus-related. The implications of addressing Jesus instead of God are quite interesting, actually. Now the "blame", when it's there, switches to Jesus, who lost
his life to save others. A questionable enemy, for sure. why not still God? I'm sure B is obsessed w/
Jesus too in the sense that Jesus was HUMAN, so he experienced ALL the human emotions, and we see this illustarted in the Bible.
<b>Mother...am I still your son / You know I've waited for so long to hear / you say so / </b>
The "mother" stanza is always hard to hear b/c it reminds me of Bono's motherless life. "Am i still your
son?" even though I'm all grown up.. waited to hear you say so" I always felt it was "say so" that you are still my mother. That you are not really GONE. But.... does he want to be told no? This stanza is just BRAVE, like "man not a child". He puts it all on the line, is completely naked before the fans and critics. To couple this song with "I Will Follow" on Popmart was just stunning to me -- and particularly ironic since 90% of the audience would have no idea what he was doing regarding his mother and would just be banging their heads during MOFO and hopping around during Follow. He didn't need to wear sunglasses during those two songs because although he had unveiled himself with the music, no one could SEE what he was doing.
<b>Mother...you left and made me someone / Now I'm still a child, no one tells me no </b>
Still definiant, violent (mentally, as he says) and rebelling. No one tells him no. But.... does he want to be told no? I think he does! Look at his choice of wife, someone who takes care of him and makes sure he takes his pills. When Ali says to him "Shut your trap before I kick the lifts out of your shoes," he loves it. He doesn't want to be entirely responsible for himself in the way that perhaps you or I do. I think he wants to be told no, too. I think that is a complaint, that line. I think it's a bit of a whine or a cry for help! Absolutely right, and the right way to characterize it, that it is a complaint. The "whine", too, really reflects his desire to be a child, is still a child, even the way he drags out the tells me noooooooo", is very whiney. Just also thought of this: "I was like a two year old, just wanting more"......
Another spin on this is Ali. She, too, is a mother. This adds some ambiguity and another shade of meaning. Also in I Will Follow, the lover/mother switch: "lover takes him by the hand, he starts to think, he starts to cry" where it used to be mother and now is lover. Was there an inbetween stage? Was he ever NOT held by the hand? In reality, Ali stepped right in so shortly after his mother's death. Which in itself gives a big insight as to one of the many roles she has played in his life, and why he chose her. I'm not saying it's all of it, but definitely a part. You can't underestimate the impact of losing your mother as a teenage boy.
<b>Looking for a sound that's going to / drown out the world</b>
this i love! the words are beautiful. the meaning v. strong- looking for one sound to drown out the rest.
sound as in music, or maybe the sound of a woman's voice? This is a beautiful line, one of his best
ever. He's tired of the cacophony, the "numb"-esque life on one hand, pleading for respite, but he's still got his straw in lemonade, can't resist it. Duality. Contraf***ingdiction.
<b>Looking for the father of my two little girls </b>
He's in this duality now, a child but a man. Doesn't know quite how to handle it, but he knows he can't afford to fuck this up. Can he have r&r and this other life? he desperately wants to still be a child though.
<b>Got the swing got the sway got my straw in lemonade</b>
This line conveys a sense of "whatever - i'm gonna do what i want" esp after that previous line of the two littlegirls. But lemonade- can be sour! or too tart! it's a very cheeky thing to say, defiant, him with his McPhisto smug expression. Beautiful rhythm in this line also. Which is why he chose lemonade. Needed a 3-syllable word with stress on the last syllable to end the line. Rhythm is awesome. It DOES swing and sway.
<b>Bubble popping sugar dropping rock and roll </b>
rock and roll is like a drug to him. it also entials a lifestyle for many people that exists soley for the
sugar dropping. good and bad. sugar is sweet but sugar dropping (now meaning the drugs) is obviously not so sweet. "Ya know you're chewing bubblegum" metaphor is extended here! And also nice drug imagery that is verrrry subtle with the "dropping".
<b>Soothe me mother
Rule me father
Fool me brother
Woo me sister</b>
Each have their own position. Moms are supposed to soothe. Father's to rule. brothers, well think of
"for the first time's line about brothers". and sisters are supposed to woo, and talk sweet. (Also, we know Bono extends the word sister to encompass all women- even his wife/lovers. Does not necessarily limit the woman to a relative sister). But aren't these exact stereotypes? but stereotype are easy and comfortable b/c you always get what you expect, quite unlike the real thing.
<b>Show me mother
Show me mother</b>
can you avoid the Oedipus complex in this song??
How about the title?? he never signs MOFO aloud, exceptin concerts. It's one of the few songs without a direct reference to the song title in the song. The only sense I can make of it is it's a title to
throw off the people sniffing around the song for the truth of it. Bono dons his sunglasses. Like Achtung Baby to throw people off the fact that it was a "heavy mother".
<b>You took the soul in me and put a HOLE in me</b>
This lyric from I Will Follow comes directly after Mofo. That live lyrics change says a LOT.
<b>MOFO</b>
Bono has said this song could sum up his entire life. Jennifer and Carrie seek to find out why.
<b>Overall:</b>
the places being a musician/rock star is trying to fill, the forces that drive him to be a musician/rock star, and the resultant chaos of the life he has almost accidentally created. Trying to fill the sometimes wavering faith (God-shaped hole), the void his mother left, the space vacated by his lost innocence (the face I had before the world was made), trying to reconcile the duality of being a child (pampered star) and an adult (father of my two little girls). I was thinking the other day about how in MOFO he says "I'm still a child", and in Kite he says "I'm a man, I'm not a child." I think he is both, as we all are, and that he knows that. But in Kite, 4 years later, he is less confused by the contradiction in that. His father being sick and passing may have an influence on this- now he literally is "the man" of the family, the top of the line.
Is he going to fill up that God shaped hole w/ rock and roll? or is the mother sucking rock and roll that causes him to NEED to find this stuff out? By knowing as much as we know about Bono, we can assume that the rock & roll is his attempt to fill the holes in his life. But his celebrity/artisanship has begun to cannibalize him, as well. In attempting to fill the holes, is he actually making them bigger? Is the void alread there or self created? Eat the monster before the mosnter eats you. "And you become a monster so the monster will not break you". "Every artist is a cannibal". The synthesis of many of his lines, many of his beliefs and fears in this song.
<b>Looking for to save my save my soul / Looking in the places where no flowers grow /
Looking for to fill that God shaped hole / Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
(Mother...)</b>
In the first stanza I think he is explaining his confusion- the uncertainty he is feeling. Explaining what he's doing- looking to save my soul. But how? By God? By rock and roll? By himself? Is he going to fill up that God shaped hole w/ rock and roll? or is the mother sucking rock and roll that causes him to NEED to find this stuff out?
<b>Holy dunc, spacejunk coming in for the splash / (Been around the back...been around the front)</b>
I'm not too sure about this holy dunc stuff (um typing that makes me think of a baptism) I never got holy dunc because of the "dunc" spelling. Holy dunk would make a great deal of sense, especially with the following line about baby Jesus. "space junk coming in for the crash" - suddenly I can see all this stuff from outer space zooming in towards the earth in a terrible collision, illustrating not only the character's confusion, but the imminent danger of his creation crashing back down on him. He's written more about this "outer space" motif in BD: those images are supposedly what's seen from a spaceship. Plus "man takes a rocketship up tothe sky sits on a star burning in the night"...!!
Of course he's been around the back first, sneaking in. also could be sexual innuendos there! Yes, another "leave a bad taste in your mouth"-type unintentional innuendo for obsessed fans with dirty minds!
<b>White dopes on punk staring into the flash / Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash</b>
Under the trash literally? or figuratively? under the trash of these doped out punks making music? You know how Bono has said that Jesus didn't waste his time on the pious, he was always with the people who needed him the most, and that if he were around today he would be with the AIDS victims on the streets of San Fran, with prostitutes and drug addicts. I think that is where this "dopes on punk stare into the flash, looking for baby Jesus under the trash" comes from, directly. They're fucked up, they're on the edge, and even they are looking to fill their God-shaped hole, and from many Bono observations, "under the trash" is probably the most likely place to find the baby Jesus. "It is no coincidence that he was born in the shit and straw" or something like that. His quotes over the years are directly reflected in this stanza. If you take white dopes on punk and flip it around: white punks on dope. Thats sorta obvious and relates to the sugar dropping later on in the song.
Good connection with Jesus in other songs, such as "they put Jesus in show business, now it's hard to get in the door".This album definitely says "Jesus" more than any other (you've got Dead Man as well. Interesting that it's Jesus mostly, and not God.....This is the new testament U2, unafraid of God ("many will see and fear"), but turning to Jesus in both desperation and recrimination. Dead Man is a very BALLSY song to me; imagine what it takes for a committed believer to address Jesus in that tone!)
October, and all its God-related stuff is just that - GOD-related. Not Jesus. JT seems more concerned with God than Jesus, to me (e.g. it's more New Testament than Old Testament). On AB we get our first real JESUS song, UTEOTW, and on Zooropa we get The Wanderer, which is Jesus-related. The implications of addressing Jesus instead of God are quite interesting, actually. Now the "blame", when it's there, switches to Jesus, who lost
his life to save others. A questionable enemy, for sure. why not still God? I'm sure B is obsessed w/
Jesus too in the sense that Jesus was HUMAN, so he experienced ALL the human emotions, and we see this illustarted in the Bible.
<b>Mother...am I still your son / You know I've waited for so long to hear / you say so / </b>
The "mother" stanza is always hard to hear b/c it reminds me of Bono's motherless life. "Am i still your
son?" even though I'm all grown up.. waited to hear you say so" I always felt it was "say so" that you are still my mother. That you are not really GONE. But.... does he want to be told no? This stanza is just BRAVE, like "man not a child". He puts it all on the line, is completely naked before the fans and critics. To couple this song with "I Will Follow" on Popmart was just stunning to me -- and particularly ironic since 90% of the audience would have no idea what he was doing regarding his mother and would just be banging their heads during MOFO and hopping around during Follow. He didn't need to wear sunglasses during those two songs because although he had unveiled himself with the music, no one could SEE what he was doing.
<b>Mother...you left and made me someone / Now I'm still a child, no one tells me no </b>
Still definiant, violent (mentally, as he says) and rebelling. No one tells him no. But.... does he want to be told no? I think he does! Look at his choice of wife, someone who takes care of him and makes sure he takes his pills. When Ali says to him "Shut your trap before I kick the lifts out of your shoes," he loves it. He doesn't want to be entirely responsible for himself in the way that perhaps you or I do. I think he wants to be told no, too. I think that is a complaint, that line. I think it's a bit of a whine or a cry for help! Absolutely right, and the right way to characterize it, that it is a complaint. The "whine", too, really reflects his desire to be a child, is still a child, even the way he drags out the tells me noooooooo", is very whiney. Just also thought of this: "I was like a two year old, just wanting more"......
Another spin on this is Ali. She, too, is a mother. This adds some ambiguity and another shade of meaning. Also in I Will Follow, the lover/mother switch: "lover takes him by the hand, he starts to think, he starts to cry" where it used to be mother and now is lover. Was there an inbetween stage? Was he ever NOT held by the hand? In reality, Ali stepped right in so shortly after his mother's death. Which in itself gives a big insight as to one of the many roles she has played in his life, and why he chose her. I'm not saying it's all of it, but definitely a part. You can't underestimate the impact of losing your mother as a teenage boy.
<b>Looking for a sound that's going to / drown out the world</b>
this i love! the words are beautiful. the meaning v. strong- looking for one sound to drown out the rest.
sound as in music, or maybe the sound of a woman's voice? This is a beautiful line, one of his best
ever. He's tired of the cacophony, the "numb"-esque life on one hand, pleading for respite, but he's still got his straw in lemonade, can't resist it. Duality. Contraf***ingdiction.
<b>Looking for the father of my two little girls </b>
He's in this duality now, a child but a man. Doesn't know quite how to handle it, but he knows he can't afford to fuck this up. Can he have r&r and this other life? he desperately wants to still be a child though.
<b>Got the swing got the sway got my straw in lemonade</b>
This line conveys a sense of "whatever - i'm gonna do what i want" esp after that previous line of the two littlegirls. But lemonade- can be sour! or too tart! it's a very cheeky thing to say, defiant, him with his McPhisto smug expression. Beautiful rhythm in this line also. Which is why he chose lemonade. Needed a 3-syllable word with stress on the last syllable to end the line. Rhythm is awesome. It DOES swing and sway.
<b>Bubble popping sugar dropping rock and roll </b>
rock and roll is like a drug to him. it also entials a lifestyle for many people that exists soley for the
sugar dropping. good and bad. sugar is sweet but sugar dropping (now meaning the drugs) is obviously not so sweet. "Ya know you're chewing bubblegum" metaphor is extended here! And also nice drug imagery that is verrrry subtle with the "dropping".
<b>Soothe me mother
Rule me father
Fool me brother
Woo me sister</b>
Each have their own position. Moms are supposed to soothe. Father's to rule. brothers, well think of
"for the first time's line about brothers". and sisters are supposed to woo, and talk sweet. (Also, we know Bono extends the word sister to encompass all women- even his wife/lovers. Does not necessarily limit the woman to a relative sister). But aren't these exact stereotypes? but stereotype are easy and comfortable b/c you always get what you expect, quite unlike the real thing.
<b>Show me mother
Show me mother</b>
can you avoid the Oedipus complex in this song??
How about the title?? he never signs MOFO aloud, exceptin concerts. It's one of the few songs without a direct reference to the song title in the song. The only sense I can make of it is it's a title to
throw off the people sniffing around the song for the truth of it. Bono dons his sunglasses. Like Achtung Baby to throw people off the fact that it was a "heavy mother".
<b>You took the soul in me and put a HOLE in me</b>
This lyric from I Will Follow comes directly after Mofo. That live lyrics change says a LOT.
