What the hell are the lyrics to Promenade?

[JessicaAnn]

i already posted this in another thread where this argument came up before.

but, i shall do it again.

clearly, bono (as usual) has borrowed a verse from a poem by william butler yeats.


from i am of ireland by yeats:

‘I am of Ireland,
And the Holy Land of Ireland,
And time runs on,’ cried she.
‘Come out of charity,
Come dance with me in Ireland.’

it's charity.

 

[zumanity42]

good thing bg works in a library...

that could have gone on for days...

 

[beegee]

lol, i knew about that poem long before i worked here


but yes, the debate does seem to have stopped

 

[zonelistener]

I love you Bonosgirl84!

And Axver is pretty damn good shit too!

 

[beegee]

"Charity dance with me" is the best line in the song.

Before work, I dug out UF, and played this song OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER today in my car...signing "charity dance with me"

this was awesome, guys, seriously. you made my whole day.

signed,

charitydancewme @ yahoo.com

 

[one4u2]

One of my favorite songs

 

[beegee]

indeed

it's a great song

 

[bratty_cat]

i already posted this in another thread where this argument came up before.

but, i shall do it again.

clearly, bono (as usual) has borrowed a verse from a poem by william butler yeats.


from i am of ireland by yeats:

‘I am of Ireland,
And the Holy Land of Ireland,
And time runs on,’ cried she.
‘Come out of charity,
Come dance with me in Ireland.’

it's charity.

wow, thanks!

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I have always heard it as Charity.

 

[MandyMarie]

Eh. I thought it was Cherie, pronounced something like "sherry"? Isn't Cherie French for darling? I'm partially deaf, so I suppose I'm the last person who needs to comment anyways.

 

[Irishteen]

I listened to it at half speed and I am hearing Cherrie, but what you hear isn't always the truth, either way its still a brillant song

 

[biff]

The spiral staircase refers to the Lighthouse Bono and Ali used to live in in Bray. Their bedroom was at the top and it had a glass ceiling so they could look at the stars at night. I remember reading that in an old old interview with Bono in Smash Hits.

Aw ain't that just too sweet?!

Small, anal correction: It was a Martello tower (a fortified watch tower; hundreds of these were built during the Napoleonic wars). They lived there for several years, and moved when they started a family. It only had three rooms, so I imagine it was a bit cramped, but it does sound very romantic. Bono has mentioned it as recently as the Bono in Conversation book, saying that he really loved living there. You can see a picture of the place in the book Into the Heart. It looks like a giant upside-down flower pot, with a glass top.

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

charity

 

[girlhappy]

Yes, Bono and Ali definitely lived in that cottage and they had a bedroom with a glass ceiling, i read about it in a bok Into the heart. As for cherry or charity....never actually listened that carefully. i suppose i was out of this worild listening to that song

 

[ArrogantU2Fan]

But anyway - I don't remember where I read this (early Propaganda... Interview from that era?) but when asked about this song and in particularly this line, Bono is referring to Ali. They lived for a short time in a studio that had a spiral staircase up to the bedroom area.


I too heard Bono myself say this same thing when doing a interview on BBC in London in UF era Susan

 

[prisz25]

I always thought is was charity totally LOVE THIS SONG!!!

 

[higher ground]

I can't make my ears hear any sort of "ch" sound, and to me it sounds like two syllables, not three. I'll stand by....

oh......
tell me......
tell me you'll dance with me
turn me around tonight
up the spiral staircase
to the higher ground

Makes perfect sense to me

Agreed!


I haven't posted here in years, and a bit of a bump here..haha

After reading the current thread asking what Promenade is about, I wondered if anyone else heard the same lyric as me, regarding the line or words of cherry or charity, or as I always thought it was 'tell me'

So I'm glad to find at least one person in the thread who also hears two words or syllables, and it makes sense too to be simply 'Tell me' you'll dance with me. Bono just doesn't pronounce tell very well.

As someone else points out here, it could be charity being used and taken from the poem, but I'm going with the one I hear and that actually makes sense.

Can someone explain how does 'charity' dance with me make sense, when he's talking about dancing/making love with Ali? It's a saying I've never heard before?. And if it's not 'tell me' then for me it's more likely to be cherry than charity.

I'm sure it's not taking away from anyone's pleasure of the song whatever anyone sings there.

And what a song it is though. It's really dreamy, spaced out and for me quite melancholy. Simple and beautiful in all aspects.

It's also where I got my user name

 

[higher ground]

This is what I hear.


Earth sky sea and rain
Is she coming back again
Men of straw, snooker hall
Words that build or destroy
Dirt dry bone sand and stone
Barbed wire fence cut me down
I'd like to be around
In a spiral staircase
To the higher ground

And I, like a firework, explode
Roman candle lightning lights up the sky

In the cracked streets trampled under foot
Sidestep, sidewalk
I see you stare into space
Have I got closer now
Behind the face

Oh tell me
Tell me you'll dance with me
Turn me around tonight
Up through the spiral staircase
To the higher ground

Slide show sea side town
Coca-Cola, football, radio, radio, radio
Radio, radio, radio

 

[DaveC]

we were all much younger and much dumber in the early 2000s.

it's very obviously "tell me".

 

[higher ground]

we were all much younger and much dumber in the early 2000s.

it's very obviously "tell me".

I'm glad to hear that haha, I was questioning my ears and thinking for a moment there.

Guess I'm older and dumber now

 

[LuckyNumber7]

we were all much younger and much dumber in the early 2000s.

it's very obviously "tell me".

It’s 2020, the lyrics are on the U2 website.

Oh, and robots can decipher Bonoglese.

 

[Hewson]

What is with the sudden bumping of not one, but two 15+ year old Promenade threads?
I detect a great disturbance in the force.