So, Ultraviolet interpretations...

[VintagePunk]

Ostensibly, this song, and the whole album, to some degree, is about the break up of Edge's marriage. I have my own theories about that, but I'll leave that for another time. Anyway, the song is clearly about a relationship that's in trouble. Parts of the song speak in present tense, and those are mostly negative aspects of the relationship and the people involved. Other parts speak in past tense, and are more positive remembrances of the relationship. In particular, these are the lines that have had me puzzled for years now:

I remember when we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together in whispers and moans

The first line says to me that he can remember when they could sleep on stones, meaning their love was strong enough to withstand adversity - even sleeping on stones was bearable, because they had each other. The next line is the one that gets me. Now we lie together in whispers and moans - in keeping with the present bad/past good theme, this line should connote something negative, and I'm sure it does, I'm just missing it. But on the surface, lying together in whispers and moans doesn't sound bad at all! In fact, it sounds very sexual and intimate. I was discussing this with someone recently, and they pointed out that perhaps "lie together" doesn't mean what I think it means, that it could mean "lie" as in being dishonest.

Thoughts? What do you guys get from the song, and these lines specifically?

 

[AliEnvy]

The next line is the one that gets me. Now we lie together in whispers and moans - in keeping with the present bad/past good theme, this line should connote something negative, and I'm sure it does, I'm just missing it. But on the surface, lying together in whispers and moans doesn't sound bad at all! In fact, it sounds very sexual and intimate.

While the beginning of the song describes difficulty, I think that whole verse is meant to be reaffirming and positive. That line in particular as you say, is very sexual and intimate.

Much (all) of AB is influenced by Edge's divorce but I think this song describes the strain of Bono's lifestyle on his own marriage.

 

[VintagePunk]

While the beginning of the song describes difficulty, I think that whole verse is meant to be reaffirming and positive. That line in particular as you say, is very sexual and intimate.

My initial reaction was that the present tense negatives are so negative that I find it unlikely that that line is positive, in light of what else is said in the song. But after rereading the entire song again with your interpretation in mind, I'm not so sure I'm right. I'll have to sit with it for a few days and see what I think.

I think this song describes the strain of Bono's lifestyle on his own marriage.

Bingo! As do a lot of angsty 90's lyrics, I suspect. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during that era.

 

[U2girl]

He's saying "we used to be able to get over our problems before" (we could sleep on stones)...but now it's all too much to handle (now we lie together in whispers and moans), the ending reinforces this:

When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb hanging over my bed.

 

[cnelson]

Actually one of the interpretations I got from this song was that he was referring to teh Holy Spirit or "Ultra Violet." Something you can't see but that still has an affect on us.

 

[AliEnvy]

^ Could be. The connotation of Ultraviolet light is negative though (i.e. sunburn) and to me speaks of invisible emotional damage within the relationship or how we tend to hurt the ones we love and need the most.

When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb hanging over my bed.

I can't recall where I read about it but during the making of WAR Bono suffered from major writer's block and it was on his honeymoon that he broke through it. I believe those lines refer directly to that time and to his devotion to Ali as his inspiration and guiding light even though he's a destructive mess.

 

[digitize]

U2ATEOTW hints at a Berlin metaphor in the song... specifically tying into how Ultraviolet light was used in the West for partying and in the East for growing food, to survive. The song thusly becomes a metaphor for all of humanity... all of our unwanted but impossible-to-avoid separation and the irony that it produces.

I just love the many, many different layers that AB songs such as this one have.

 

[AliEnvy]

U2ATEOTW hints at a Berlin metaphor in the song... specifically tying into how Ultraviolet light was used in the West for partying and in the East for growing food, to survive.

Love that - fits nicely with the idea of Bono's rockstar lifestyle in opposition to drawing his strength, nurturing and inspiration from Ali.

I just love the many, many different layers that AB songs such as this one have.

 

[Loosen my lips]

Remember AB is about doing the opposite. Instead of being Jesus, Bono sings from Judas' perspective in The End of the World. The Fly is about 4 men chopping down the Joshua Tree, etc.

I think Ultraviolet light is black light. It's there- but you can't see it. I think Bono has this verse in mind "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

Normally a lamp is bright but Bono re-interprets that light as black light. It's there but not so obvious- especially during life's difficult trials and terrible times. Bono could be talking about Edge's divorce, the loss of a child, or talking about Job's relationship with God in the book of Job (which is my opinion.)

Other lines support that he is talking about God. "Love is like buried treasure" or "like a secret that's been passed around." IMO- beautiful descriptions of the Lord's love.

Finally to answer the question- IMO the whispers and moans could be desparate, frantic, heart-wrenching prayer of a man going through a severe trial. This makes sense as Bono concludes finally that "Your love was like a light-bulb hanging over my bed."

Bono sings (or begs or prays) "Light my Way" wanting a bright light to guide him, while Edge counters "Ultraviolet love" perhaps as an answer to that prayer.

Just MO. Feel free to disagree or ignore.

 

[Marien]

I've always felt that this song is talking about the relationship inside the band itself, as in One a couple story mixes up with their own tragic moment.

 

[AliEnvy]

or talking about Job's relationship with God in the book of Job (which is my opinion.)

Other lines support that he is talking about God. "Love is like buried treasure" or "like a secret that's been passed around." IMO- beautiful descriptions of the Lord's love.

I think he is definitely using imagery from the book of Job to describe the struggle. Just don't think he'd refer to God as baby, baby, baby.

 

[mama cass]

oh that's interesting... i've never checked the lyrics for this, but i've always just heard it as "and how we lied together in whispers and moans" thinking of it as a positive thing... damn i prefer that to "Now..." lmfao oh well it will always be "and how" to me haha

 

[VintagePunk]

U2ATEOTW hints at a Berlin metaphor in the song... specifically tying into how Ultraviolet light was used in the West for partying and in the East for growing food, to survive. The song thusly becomes a metaphor for all of humanity... all of our unwanted but impossible-to-avoid separation and the irony that it produces.

I just love the many, many different layers that AB songs such as this one have.

It's been so many years since I've read that book that I forgot that point. Thanks for bringing it up.

He's saying "we used to be able to get over our problems before" (we could sleep on stones)...but now it's all too much to handle (now we lie together in whispers and moans), the ending reinforces this:

When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb hanging over my bed.

I agree about the ending, and it further illustrates the idea that the past is talked about in positive terms, and showing the past/present, positive/negative dichotomies.

I don't understand how you're getting "but now it's all too much to handle" from "now we lie together in whispers and moans," though. Care to elaborate?

I can't recall where I read about it but during the making of WAR Bono suffered from major writer's block and it was on his honeymoon that he broke through it. I believe those lines refer directly to that time and to his devotion to Ali as his inspiration and guiding light even though he's a destructive mess.

When I hear the word "opera," it automatically brings to mind Bob Hewson, so I wonder if it's not some sort of issue related at least peripherally to their difficult relationship, and she was his source of support through it.

 

[U2girl]

Well, "whispers and moans" could mean they're dishing out their own private dirt, hurting each other on a personal level. You'd whisper a secret, and most likely moan when you're frustrated/feeling hurt.
Also the difference between "we could sleep" and now they just "lie together". It's over, and the couple knows it.

 

[VintagePunk]

Well, "whispers and moans" could mean they're dishing out their own private dirt, hurting each other on a personal level. You'd whisper a secret, and most likely moan when you're frustrated/feeling hurt.
Also the difference between "we could sleep" and now they just "lie together". It's over, and the couple knows it.

Interesting point about the contrast of sleeping and lying together, I'd never considered that, but I'm sure the highlighting of the two was intentional. One implies comfort, the other superficiality. As for the whispers and moans, again, could be. I wonder if it was left deliberately ambiguous. If the sexual definition is accurate, I wonder if it meant that at that point, all the couple in question had left to hold them together was sex.

 

[AliEnvy]

Do I ever have an entirely different take on those two lines lol. To me they're like an acknowledgement of 'look how far we've come' in a long-term relationship that started in youth. Again, no negative at all, if anything hopeful.

 

[VintagePunk]

Do I ever have an entirely different take on those two lines lol. To me they're like an acknowledgement of 'look how far we've come' in a long-term relationship that started in youth. Again, no negative at all, if anything hopeful.

You could be entirely correct, and I'm the one who's off base. To me though, it seems a lot more ambiguous, for the reasons I've stated. The funny part is that we're discussing it in depth nearly 20 years later. That's brilliant songwriting.

 

[digitize]

What astounds me about the song is how the band have managed to pump new meaning into it in the context of NLOTH and the 360 Tour.

Now that's brilliant songwriting.

 

[AliEnvy]

The funny part is that we're discussing it in depth nearly 20 years later. That's brilliant songwriting.

What astounds me about the song is how the band have managed to pump new meaning into it in the context of NLOTH and the 360 Tour.

Now that's brilliant songwriting.

 

[Loosen my lips]

I think he is definitely using imagery from the book of Job to describe the struggle. Just don't think he'd refer to God as baby, baby, baby.

With Bono you can never be sure. Just 3 songs earlier he sang "She moves in Mysterious Ways" and I'm reasonably certain he is singing of the divine. As in a re-telling of "God moves in mysterious ways."

And let me back up- this song has fascinated me since I first heard it and my interpretations are unsatisfying (even to me.)

The line that amazes me is "There is a silence that comes to a house where no one can sleep. I guess that's the price of love I know it's not cheap." When my wife and I had terrible trouble with our grown daughter we would both get up at 2am and just sit in the living room- silent. Too tired to say anything, too much in grief to go to sleep. (The situation is ok now- btw.)

I think Bono is singing of people as much in angst as we were and that's where i start my interpretation of the song. But nothing fits together very well- though I do see some of the book of Job in there.

There's almost nothing in the u2 book or other places on the net about Ultraviolet so I was happy to see this thread.

 

[VintagePunk]

With Bono you can never be sure. Just 3 songs earlier he sang "She moves in Mysterious Ways" and I'm reasonably certain he is singing of the divine. As in a re-telling of "God moves in mysterious ways."

I'm paraphrasing here, although I'm sure someone can pull up the exact quotes, but Bono has often said that he/they make music about God and sex, and sometimes get the two of them "confused." I see that in so many of their songs, including MW.


And thanks for your words about seeing the thread. I've enjoyed reading all your thoughts so much. I wish there were more substantial lyric interpretation and discussion going on in this subforum, it fascinates me.

 

[bonocomet]

to your thread VP. Those are the exact lines that always made me stop and ponder too.
About the God and sex quote you mentioned above, I always thought it was "God and woman", though I could be wrong, as I'm sure Bono's quotes have been spread so widely over time and the internet it's hard to be sure anymore. Plus the fact that he's actually quoted himself many times and changed things along the way too I'm sure. I've also seen it quoted as Edge's words too! Either way though I guess, that quote is so relevant to them and their music, and I love it.

 

[AliEnvy]

I remember the God/sex descriptions as well. This Bono quote is more recent from an interview with Oprah.

But I do know that all music is praise. It's praise to the god of your making. Which, in the case of a rock star, might be oneself. Or a woman. Or an idea.

 

[Loosen my lips]

And thanks for your words about seeing the thread. I've enjoyed reading all your thoughts so much. I wish there were more substantial lyric interpretation and discussion going on in this subforum, it fascinates me.

I can't really get my arms around a u2 song unless I know what bono is singing about. That's why Unforgettable Fire (the song) doesn't do anything for me- I just have no frame of reference for it.

As far as this subforum- I completely agree. Bono's lyrics are incredible and full of references (scriptural and otherwise) and IMO they are the best thing about U2.

 

[AliEnvy]

That's why Unforgettable Fire (the song) doesn't do anything for me- I just have no frame of reference for it.

Like Bad, UF is about heroin addiction within the social circles around the band at that time. Now go love it.

 

[VintagePunk]

Like Bad, UF is about heroin addiction within the social circles around the band at that time. Now go love it.

Really? Where did you hear that?

I've always had the impression that it was referring to a (probably fleeting) sexual encounter.

I just happen to have the book Into the Heart next to me, and this is what it says about the lyrics:

It was too good a title not to use it as a song as well - though what Bono produced by way of a lyric had little or no connection to the source of the title. ... "The Unforgettable Fire, it's a sketch: 'Carnival/wheels fly and colours spin/face to face/in a dry and waterless place.' It builds up a picture, but it's only a sketch." ... "It doesn't tell you anything," Bono adds, but he's right only up to a point. Again, this is an emotional travelogue, images shuffled through the memory to underscore the song's heartfelt sense of yearning. It's a love song that links thematically back to "A Sort of Homecoming," but it's imbued with a deeper sense of foreboding that seems to anticipate the end of a relationship.

 

[AliEnvy]

I don't remember, maybe I just took it for granted.

Red wine that punctures the skin...

...in a dry and waterless place...(useless not-first-hand factoid - heroin gives you dry-mouth)

Into the Heart mentions the "foreboding that seems to anticipate the end of a relationship"...losing a close friend to addiction.

 

[VintagePunk]

I don't remember, maybe I just took it for granted.

Red wine that punctures the skin...

...in a dry and waterless place...(useless not-first-hand factoid - heroin gives you dry-mouth)

Into the Heart mentions the "foreboding that seems to anticipate the end of a relationship"...losing a close friend to addiction.

That's what I find so cool about them lyrically - there are as many interpretations as there are people listening. Their songs are sort of like a musical Rorschach test.

 

[digitize]

According to Bono, TUF is about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but, in a literal sense, actually describes the downright absurd sensations and emotional yearning of being in Tokyo for the first time... a really cool juxtaposition, in my humble opinion. But in the end, it's all pretty metaphorical, tying into the flirtation with death and end-of-relationship (of any sort) themes of the album.

I love TUF (the album and the song).

 

[AliEnvy]

According to Bono, TUF is about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but, in a literal sense, actually describes the downright absurd sensations and emotional yearning of being in Tokyo for the first time...

Are you sure that's according to Bono? In the Into the Heart excerpt in VP's post it says the lyric is not associated with the source of the title (the Hiroshima and Nagasaki art exhibit...).