What does Zooropa mean?

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ericb

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Can anyone tell me? I've read the lyrics to this song, and I can't figure it out.

Also, does anyone have any ideas what the album's theme as a whole is? Achtung Baby has a lot of bitter lyrics pertaining to relationships being on the rocks, especially in So Cruel, and I'm thinking that maybe Zooropa was supposed to be the flip side to AB. It seems to deal with trying to find peace after the turmoil in songs on AB, especially by what is said in the song The First Time.

[This message has been edited by ericb (edited 07-02-2001).]
 
very insightful, ericb. Actually, the word "zooropa" was one that U2 coined. Kinda a combination of "zootv" and Europe. During that time, the cold war was ending and the countries of Europe were kind of in this "between" state, I think, trying to figure out what was next. Bono seems to be observing that pop culture and television was the unifying force...thus the advertising slogans. Also, the mood of this album is more confused and disoriented than AB. According to Bill Flanagan (the author we all love to quote) while Achtung Baby was about exploring the darker side of things, the voice or character in Zooropa has been immersed in this confusion and no longer sees it as abnormal. The tone of the album also owes alot to the tour life of the band during the ZooTV years.

Again, (I KNOW you're probably sick of hearing this) but you really really should read "U2 - At the End of the World". The whole book was written during the writing of AB, the ZooTV tour, and the writing of Zooropa, so it will give you great insight into what was going on with the band at that time. Check out http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385311575/qid=994124249/sr=1-1/ref=sc_b_1/104-3168264-8721548

Hope that helps and doesn't just confuse you more.
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-sula

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~I want to play the guitar very badly, and I do play the guitar very badly - Bono~
 
It's definately a U2 word, hybrid between Zoo - I think influenced from Berlin's Zoo Station and Europa (is it latin for europe?)
- the big influences on achtung baby and culminating in zooropa the album.
 
Originally posted by zoomerang II:
It's definately a U2 word, hybrid between Zoo - I think influenced from Berlin's Zoo Station and Europa (is it latin for europe?)
- the big influences on achtung baby and culminating in zooropa the album.

you're own username zoomerang II is a perfect example of a U2 hybrid: Zoo(TV?)(ropa?) with Boomerang.....pretty catchy.
 
Europa is actually one of Jupiter's moons. It is covered in ice.

I think we can tie in satellites, Europe, ZooTV and the Zoobaby into that whole picture.
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Up with the static and the radio
With satellite television
You can go anywhere
 
You have to see when they wrote this album to understand it. They recorded it during a break between some legs of their ZooTV tour. Their heads were still filled with all those wild images from this tour & it really shows in the lyrics as well as the music.
Take the lyrics of Zooropa for example, they make so sence at all. They are just bits and pieces from adds they picked up somewhere ("A bluer kind of white", "Vorsprung durch Technik"...).

I personally think that Zooropa is a child of Zoo TV & all the images and noice that followed tour.


BTW - I love the album
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Hmmm!
Has anyone else noticed that the album cover of Zooropa has a picture of the EU flag on it?You know the yellow stars in a circle.It's well hidden but it just hit me the other day when I was looking at the album.
 
Originally posted by UV2001:
Hmmm!
Has anyone else noticed that the album cover of Zooropa has a picture of the EU flag on it?You know the yellow stars in a circle.It's well hidden but it just hit me the other day when I was looking at the album.


it?s definately an european album


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'Sometimes I wish I was as gifted as Edge on his guitar or Bono on his lyrics or Adam is on other things.' ~ Larry

[This message has been edited by AM (edited 07-31-2001).]
 
I always thought it was U2's take on Burroughs' Naked Lunch for Europe in context of the downfall of communism and the fear of fascism.

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"Lookin for baby Jesus under the trash..."
 
Where oh where did that brilliant Zooropa thread go? Mr BTH started one ages ago... It's lurking in old threads somewhere. If you can't find the U2 Bible (Flanagan's book), that thread is a decent substitute.
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Zooropa is uncertainty and overload and numbness and sensation for its own sake... and a million other things. Read Neuromancer too.

As for the astronomy... Io is the volcanic Jovian moon... it's so close to Jupiter that whichever side faces the planet, gets pulled out of shape, and immense volcanoes are visible on its horizon.
Europa is covered in ice, but there are cracks in the ice that suggest liquid beneath, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Cool
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Zooropa... that's one of U2's psychedelic ones... Edge ate some magic mushrooms while doing it and he "re-discovered the world"... mmm..

the album is U2's "Magical Mystery Tour"..

cheers

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=HJ Clandestino=

"Hell is other people" - Jean-Paul Sartre

"There's no shame in preferring happiness." - Albert Camus

"Let us be realists... let us insist on the impossible". - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

"Give in to temptation before it goes away" - ?picure
 
Can someone tell me what advertisements the following relate to:

Zooropa...Vorsprung durch Technik (Audi cars)
Zooropa...be all that you can be (i think it was for running shoes?)
Zooropa...a bluer kind of white (washing powder or toothpaste?)
Zooropa...it could be yours tonight (no idea)
Zooropa...better by design (damn i've heard it - was it ikea?)
Zooropa...fly the friendly skies (american airlines?)

please its been bugging me!!!!
 
Audi - "Vorsprung durch technik"
The US Army - "Be all that you can be"
SlimFast - "Eat to get slimmer"
Persil/Daz - "A bluer kind of white"
United Airlines - "Fly the friendly skies"
Fairy Liquid Mild Green - "We're mild and green, and squeeky clean"
Toshiba - "Better by design"
Zanussi - "The appliance of science"
Colgate - "We've got that ring of confidence"
 
Originally posted by Jett:
Audi - "Vorsprung durch technik"
The US Army - "Be all that you can be"
SlimFast - "Eat to get slimmer"
Persil/Daz - "A bluer kind of white"
United Airlines - "Fly the friendly skies"
Fairy Liquid Mild Green - "We're mild and green, and squeeky clean"
Toshiba - "Better by design"
Zanussi - "The appliance of science"
Colgate - "We've got that ring of confidence"

wow, cool, Jett.

Question: Did U2 ever get in trouble about those lyrics??? They did sort of steal them, right?



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"The bass player's got it. The bass player's fucking got it." Bono, Boston 6-9-01
 
Originally posted by UV2001:
Did the National Lottery get done for stealing the lyrics?

I don?t understand
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Action-Packed Mentallist

"The bass player's got it. The bass player's fucking got it." Bono, Boston 6-9-01
 
Originally posted by AM:

Question: Did U2 ever get in trouble about those lyrics??? They did sort of steal them, right?


They should be PAYING U2 to put them in songs! Talk about great advertising!
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"But you take what you can get,
Cuz it's all that you can find,
But you know there's something more,
Tonight, tonight, tonight...
 
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