Alright, I'm sorry. Bono's writing skills have been diminishing for about 3 albums now...and this is getting ridiculous. The worst line ever written in a song was:
"the air is heavy...heavy as a truck" from Electrical Storm.
It's getting on my nerves. The music is still quality, but the rest of U2 need to run a intervention on Bono and make him go back to some kind of literary boot camp and re-learn how to write evocatively. I had high hopes for this album, but the fact that he rhymed "submarine" with "gasoline" shows me that he's not even trying any more.
Disagree?
Prove me wrong then. Write an artistically excellent, intellectually stimulation couplet that rhymes "submarine" and gasoline" and I'll eat my words. It can't be done.
Yes, I disagree.
First, you zoomed in on one rhyme ("truck" and "luck"). The rest of the song is absolutely stunning with wonderful lyrics. The "you're in my mind, all of the time - I know that's not enough" is very haunting and powerful. Yet, it seems the entire song is disregarded because of one rhyme. And I don't even see what's so wrong with saying the air is heavy as a truck. It's an unusual metaphor one that breaks through cliches. I'd much rather that line than something like "the air is heavy, filled with strong aroma" or something just as banal.
People then zoom in on the "mole in a hole" comment. "Elevation" is a fun, light-hearted rock song, meant to be about a person discovering God (arguably, it could be "the spirit" or a lover or anyone or anything else that can elevate one from a type of depression). The "I and I" is, however, a clear reference to God and the other person. If one just read the song "a mole, digging in a hole", it might sound like it was written for children. But when sung with the glee of the song, the utter happiness and joy that is present, its simplicity becomes so powerful. We don't need Latin verses, ala "Gloria", which U2 clearly did (and it begs the question - a simple silly rhyme or stealing direct quotes from the Latin Bible?). In the context of the song, the rhyme and the fun work. I've often felt that one weakness of Bono's lyrics is that sometimes they are too involved. "Pride" and "Desire" - too of U2's early rockers - are really rather deep songs. What's wrong with something fun, yet still has some meaning (in this case, a song about God)? The duality there works very well. Reminds me of Tim Rice lyrics in his various musicals (which are also fluffy, but catchy).
As for submarine/gasoline - having not heard the song, I refuse to comment. It may work brilliantly. Or it may be a throw-away line, but it flows with the rest of the song. To claim this is an example of "poor writing" based on two words is ridiculous.
Some people seem to love the more "removed" writing style Bono had in the 80's and early 90's. But as he shifted closer to his own personal world (as he clearly did with "Pop" and the albums since), the lyrics shifted too. It's actually easier to write about a MLK, or a war, or drugs if one separates all those topics from one's self. Pull them into your pesonal world, talk about love, family, lovers, children, etc., and the lyrics take on a different tone. And I think many U2 fans just aren't used to that.
Also, I find that once again, people attack the recent while forgetting the past, which is over-glorified. Need I remind anyone of the hundreds of "baby, baby, baby's" used in "Ultraviolet"? Great song, but really a cop-out lyrically. Even the great WOWY is lyrically simple and a bit repetitive. For a song with no true refrain, the "give yourself away" line is used abundantly. Then there's songs like "Boy/Girl" or the afore-mentioned "Gloria" ("and I saw you, saw you standing there - the door was open..." - sounds like Bono was looking around the studio singing what he saw in front of him).
Bono's lyrics and vocals are what attracted me to U2. However, to claim he is a master at either is too much. But he does both quite well - so well that it not only made me a fan, but kept me one for 26 years. So I'm willing to overlook the odd lyric or singing here and there (album version of NYD is not his strongest) because he has created so many more memorable and powerful moments.
) made it up.
