what does Rattle and Hum mean?

[Sting]

What is a "Rattle and Hum"?

In Bullet the Blue Sky, Bono sings "In the locust wind, comes a rattle and hum" (Does anyone notice the little click or tap Edge does after the word hum?).

And than the album Rattle and Hum is named after it. Now I heard somewhere that Bono said that is what the sound of the U2 "Tour machine" sounds like(am I crazy?), but he wrote the lyric in the song Bullet the Blue Sky which isn't about touring LOL.

Sorry if this is a n00b question, but I am just wonderin what exactly a "Rattle and Hum" is.

 

[U2mixer]

I always read it as the rumbling sound of the American war machine coming from the distance. You know, the sound of tanks and helicopters - seeing as this song IS about the US's military involvement in Central America.

And the locust wind as a reference to one of the Bible's plagues - as a knock to the American governments pseudo 'Christianity'.

 

[Nisse]

ok I'd like to know what "Bullet the blue sky" means actually

 

[Utoo]

I always figured that "rattle and hum" directly went with "locust wind"----imagine millions of locusts flying all at the same time & you'd certainly get a rattle & hum! Then, knowing that the locusts were one of the plagues God cast upon the Egyptans in the bible, and seeing as how the song is anti-American military/political action in Central America, you can kind of move on from there as to what "locust wind" and "rattle and hum" are supposed to symbolize.

The title, BTBS, I always interpreted as US fighter planes streaking the Central American sky.

 

[Danny Boy]

I've always heard that Bono's instruction to Edge when they were writing BTBS was "put El Salvador through your amplifier."

I always took this, and therefore "rattle and hum," to mean the sounds of war; i.e. tanks and helicopters as someone already stated.

 

[JMScoopy]

who knows? but it sure is a badass title!

 

[Soul Love]

Love the intro and the voice-over at the end he just talks but it's so raw and angry and ridiculously sexy. Wonderful song with a serious story but it's Edge's guitar that's makes it so powerful.

BTW didn't Bono say that about MOTD?

 

[Ellay]

Rattle and Hum is a term used in the broadcast/music industry and refers to unwanted noise heard through a speaker system.

You get microphone rattle when a lead to the mircophone isn't an exact fit, and makes a banging noise (obviously these days radio mics solve this problem, but Bono used to drag a long cable around the stage with him) Singers/ interviewers often loop the cable around their hand to stop it happening. It's also the name of the noise you get when you accidently knock a microphone.

Hum is the noise you get through an amp or speaker when you connect something through a lead.

I suspect it's this definition that named the album, though in Bullet I'd be happy to accept the military theory as well.

 

[lucdlb]

So, to what I understand, "rattle and hum" is a kind of parasitic noise, isn't it ?

Would it be, then, that the "locust wind" is the sound of US fighter jets in Central America, and that "parasitic noise" the sound of U2 shouting against war and brutality ?

That would explain why they called their tour and DVD "Rattle and hum", if they are the sound of peace and love, which is not heard enough in all the battle sounds around the planet.

 

[canedge]

Rattle and Hum is just a poetic description of sounds. Now that I think of it is quite great.

Bullet THE Blue Sky is just two phrases that conjour up themes of violence and serenity. The important thing is that it is not Bullet "IN" the blue sky. Just use both words to conjour your own themes that can be applied universally. I would guess that one of the undertones of BTBS is that some Nations profit off of a lesser nation.

 

[canedge]

Rattle and Hum is a term used in the broadcast/music industry and refers to unwanted noise heard through a speaker system.

If that is the case, U2s political music at the time could be seen as Rattle & Hum. Unwanted because of its political overtones. Especially in America, where being political in Entertainment is not always encouraged. That would great answer if it was true.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

What is a "Rattle and Hum"?

It's a musical journey.