I hope the new album is a surprise again...

[corianderstem]

I wonder if Bono (and the band, really) facing something big is enough of a kick in the pants to get out of the "life is good" crisis.

While Bono might not have faced his own mortality with his back injury, he and the band were probably faced with the band's mortality, if he'd come out of that surgery differently.

 

[purpleoscar]

Not sure if you're referring to me or not, but if so, I didn't mean on a semantic or intellectual level; in that way, the meaning of the song is perfectly clear. I meant on an emotional or gut level, the way that all songs that I consider great resonate for me. It just didn't connect with me for a long time.

I was just looking at the conversation in general. Maybe it's because it got me before I even understood the song intellectually and I remember lots on the board not getting it at all. The way he sings it it's like he's trying to break free and looking for a reason to break free.

 

[VintagePunk]

I wonder if Bono (and the band, really) facing something big is enough of a kick in the pants to get out of the "life is good" crisis.

While Bono might not have faced his own mortality with his back injury, he and the band were probably faced with the band's mortality, if he'd come out of that surgery differently.

That's a really good point, and I bet it will impact the new album in positive ways.

I was just looking at the conversation in general. Maybe it's because it got me before I even understood the song intellectually and I remember lots on the board not getting it at all. The way he sings it it's like he's trying to break free and looking for a reason to break free.

Oh, okay.

That's why I said I felt like I was missing something, because it seemed like virtually everyone was having a huge emotional response to the song, and for quite a while there, I was all "it's a good enough song, but I'm not seeing the greatness here..."

I still feel that way about Magnificent, and I doubt that'll ever change for me, it'll never be in my upper echelon of U2 songs.

 

[mama cass]

It wasn't till the rap part was added live that I felt like the song was really gelling for me.

yep, that really made the song come alive to me as well... seeing it live was a tremendous experience...

there's something special about the extra spoken bit, i really love it, and it really moves me... it has the same effect on me as REM's Outsiders track which also has rap on it and is a song i really really love and have done since first listening, but don't really know why...

 

[VintagePunk]

yep, that really made the song come alive to me as well... seeing it live was a tremendous experience...

there's something special about the extra spoken bit, i really love it, and it really moves me...

Exactly. I can't even really articulate why, but it's like you said, adding that part made the song come alive for me.

 

[BVS]

I was just saying, I hadn't given the matter much thought. But if that's it, you got a submarine, I got gasoline... what the fuck, Bono? is all i can say about it.

Well it has to do with the wars in the Middle East. One side has the technology and the weapons and the other side has the fuel that everyone needs to run the weapons.

 

[U2girl]

"I'll give you everything you want, except the thing that you want."

"I gave you everything you ever wanted...it wasn't what you wanted"



It would help if the singer and the guitar player could get their stories straight on Boots. But the gasoline/submarine rhyme is bad.

 

[U2girl]

Obviously, the word "Africa" only pops up once all decade

Actually the *Africa* song would be Crumbs.

 

[U2girl]

What is vague and cliched about those songs?

incredibly vague and/or cliched (Stuck, OOTS, Crazy Tonight).

1 out of 3, I guess.

 

[nirniva]

yep, that really made the song come alive to me as well... seeing it live was a tremendous experience...

there's something special about the extra spoken bit, i really love it, and it really moves me... it has the same effect on me as REM's Outsiders track which also has rap on it and is a song i really really love and have done since first listening, but don't really know why...

Agreed. It's a 50-year-old white guy rapping, it should be cheesy as hell...and, yet, it works perfectly.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Well it has to do with the wars in the Middle East. One side has the technology and the weapons and the other side has the fuel that everyone needs to run the weapons.

Yep. Easy. Or beyond that, the whole song is about the two sides of the globe who spent most of the previous decade being scared and defensive and acting like arseholes towards each other as a result. Get your mojo back. Get your sexy back. Get on your boots. I've got gasoline, you've got a submarine, but who gives a fuck?, I don't want to talk about wars between nations. That should have nothing to do with how we see each other. Get on your boots. Make fuck, not war. (or something)

 

[corianderstem]

He should have added the lyric "who gives a fuck" in there!

 

[nirniva]

He should have added the lyric "who gives a fuck" in there!

Kiss the future, fuck the past.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

'Who gives a fuck about wars between nations" does work.

 

[VintagePunk]

Kiss the future, fuck the past.

I *really* wanted that to be the tour name.

 

[corianderstem]

'Who gives a fuck about wars between nations" does work.

Ah, the ultimate declaration of U2 saying "fuck radio play."

.... we can dream about the day they say that, right?

 

[nirniva]

I *really* wanted that to be the tour name.

U2 And Cee-Lo Green Present The "I See You Drivin' Round Town With The Girl I Love, And I'm Like, (Kiss The Future), Fuck You" Tour.

EDIT: This is now the best thread on Interference.

EDIT: Anyone else agree that Cee-Lo and/or Gnarls Barkley would be an awesome opening act?

 

[VintagePunk]

U2 And Cee-Lo Green Present The "I See You Drivin' Round Town With The Girl I Love, And I'm Like, (Kiss The Future), Fuck You" Tour.

EDIT: This is now the best thread on Interference.

With Cee-Lo as the opener!

Seriously. I had the t-shirts all planned out in my mind, and everything. Would have been brilliant.

 

[nirniva]

With Cee-Lo as the opener!

Seriously. I had the t-shirts all planned out in my mind, and everything. Would have been brilliant.

Holy crap, my stealth edit and your post basically said the same thing! It must be...fate.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I wonder if Bono (and the band, really) facing something big is enough of a kick in the pants to get out of the "life is good" crisis.

While Bono might not have faced his own mortality with his back injury, he and the band were probably faced with the band's mortality, if he'd come out of that surgery differently.

He does seem to have a lot more pep in his step over the past two legs. Both onstage and off. If you notice, his interviews have been both quite a bit more open and casual, and also lacking in the annoying Bono-cliche quoting of himself that normally make most interviews with him barely worth reading.

That + new album coming together quite quickly during that time, I think they've realised both "Shit, we nearly lost, and it's actually pretty good!" and are having a bit more fun with it, but also "Shit, could go at any moment, better make fuck while we can!" and are trying to push a bit more than usual. ie Eh - I'd rather be in France.

Whether that inspires some overhaul change or not, who knows. But it will probably/hopefully make for a bit more risk taking. Fuck it Larry, if we don't do it now, you never know! Needs more oonts oonts!

 

[VintagePunk]

Holy crap, my stealth edit and your post basically said the same thing! It must be...fate.

Great minds.

If only we could figure out a way to go back in time and will it into happening.

He does seem to have a lot more pep in his step over the past two legs. Both onstage and off. If you notice, his interviews have been both quite a bit more open and casual, and also lacking in the annoying Bono-cliche quoting of himself that normally make most interviews with him barely worth reading.

That + new album coming together quite quickly during that time, I think they've realised both "Shit, we nearly lost, and it's actually pretty good!" and are having a bit more fun with it, but also "Shit, could go at any moment, better make fuck while we can!" and are trying to push a bit more than usual. ie Eh - I'd rather be in France.

Whether that inspires some overhaul change or not, who knows. But it will probably/hopefully make for a bit more risk taking. Fuck it Larry, if we don't do it now, you never know! Needs more oonts oonts!

 

[corianderstem]

"needs more oonts" might be my new motto.

 

[nirniva]

Great minds.

If only we could figure out a way to go back in time and will it into happening.

They've already got a spaceship; getting a time machine shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

It’s all about pacing.

For some. I don't really care for oh, that's two slower tunes in a row, better stick a bouncy one in there! kind of tracklisting. But I know superficially they do need to do that. Although less so now than in the past, given how often, in reality, anyone listens to an album all the way through these days. But there are expectations about pacing, and certainly are about those first three songs, and not just with U2, obviously.

I would have opened No Line with Soon/MoS/UC and then you have your awakening with either No Line or Magnificent. But then it gets all too confusing from there with whats left, because its all a bit of a jumble.

 

[corianderstem]

They've already got a spaceship; getting a time machine shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If they want to outdo 360, I think we've found the concept for the next tour.

They can even re-use the Claw; Edge will just make a few minor tweaks to turn it into a time machine.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

And then everyone says "Off to ZooTV please!" and they'll be pissed.

 

[corianderstem]

I think they'd only be pissed when we all yelled "Take us to Popmart!"

 

[U2387]

I don't want to give you shit for this, because I understand where you're coming from with it, but I don't agree, no. As much of a meme as I TAIGHGHGHT MASELLAFF WIT WIIAYAHAYHAGHGHGHGH has become, Bono's delivery on MOS is the key to understanding what makes it so special. The song is inherently isolating, targeting the universe less and the individual more, to the extent that the protagonist doesn't even notice others around him. In doing so, Bono naturally drags the listener into a very intimate place without being lazy and using the words "alone," "lonely," "isolated," "detached," and so on.

The lyrics share an attitude with the music that emphasizes subtle changes in melody (note the final 30 seconds or so, in which Edge carefully spreads sunlight over the proceedings) and mood. This sort of harmony is an example of excellent songwriting, and when it's sung with the conviction Bono brings to the table (he wails "I've been in every black hole" as if he were being torn apart by one at that very moment) it doesn't matter that it lacks a ridiculous Bohemian Rhapsody-style payoff. The fact that MOS makes you want to hang on to its every word without ever rising above a whisper is an amazing trick, and the message behind the lyrics (particularly refreshing for the hell-bent-on-universality U2 of the '00s) makes it one of their recent classics.

This

Very well said, and the same feeling I have about MOS exactly!

People keep saying over and over here that they want a complete overhaul from U2 for the 4th time in their career, yet they complain that MOS doesn't build intensity in the same way as WOWY and One. I don't get it.......

It really bothers me that change is being equated with quality. If U2 is having fundamental issues with songwriting, tossing bizarre shit on top of more shit isn't going to fix anything. If change is paired with inspiration (sometimes the source can be very unfortunate, as with Edge's divorce during the Achtung era), however, the band can still make classic material. But it starts with the band themselves, not some fan-based desire to fuck things up because they can.

Exactly.

I'm all for a major departure if they have it in them and that is truly where their hearts are, etc, etc.

But just doing it because they're out of ideas or stuck on something uninspiring or unsure of what to do would be a huge mistake.

I am in the minority here, I know, but I truly wouldn't mind if they went back to songs like Do You Feel Loved, Who's Gonna Ride, Trip Through Your Wires and 2 Hearts Beat As One for ideas to expand on.

Especially Trip Through Your Wires. The 50s/somewhat bluesy rock vibe of that song is something they could definitely explore further with good results. And it wouldn't come off as U2 trying to sound young again like Boots.

He does seem to have a lot more pep in his step over the past two legs. Both onstage and off. If you notice, his interviews have been both quite a bit more open and casual, and also lacking in the annoying Bono-cliche quoting of himself that normally make most interviews with him barely worth reading.

That + new album coming together quite quickly during that time, I think they've realised both "Shit, we nearly lost, and it's actually pretty good!" and are having a bit more fun with it, but also "Shit, could go at any moment, better make fuck while we can!" and are trying to push a bit more than usual. ie Eh - I'd rather be in France.

Whether that inspires some overhaul change or not, who knows. But it will probably/hopefully make for a bit more risk taking. Fuck it Larry, if we don't do it now, you never know! Needs more oonts oonts!

Very true!

The fire under their ass after Bono's back injury was noticeable right from the 1st seconds of the Turin gig.

They clearly have a renewed sense of purpose, where they seemed to be going through the motions more than ever in 2009.

Hopefully this does translate to the album, which I think it will.

 

[BVS]

It would help if the singer and the guitar player could get their stories straight on Boots. But the gasoline/submarine rhyme is bad.

What?

 

[LemonMelon]

"I gave you everything you ever wanted...it wasn't what you wanted"

'00s U2 sucks infinity!