salomeU2000
The Fly
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/analysis/warcoverthumb.jpg[/SIMG]
By Kimberly ?hippy? Egolf
2003.08
(Photo: U2.com)
For as long as humans have populated the Earth, war and violence have been omnipresent. Though destructive and contrary, violence has now become a customary part of life. But developing alongside of this violence has also been a tradition of protest against such harsh behavior. Writing, painting, and, of course, music have all been employed as forms of protest at one time or another in the history of human culture. Perhaps most people will think immediately of the 1960s when such a phrase as ?protest songs? was widely used. Flourishing in this decade of social change and possibility, the protest song was developed into a specific genre. The form has become one closely connected with a specific time; a form that had largely been relinquished after the early 1970s as the Vietnam War ended and the pioneers of the genre went in different directions with their music.
However, virtually out of nowhere, came U2's War album of the early 1980s. Containing some of U2's most recognized tunes, the album is somewhat of an enigma. What was its inherent inspiration, and how did U2 come to make such a record? What does the record have to say?
As has now become U2 legend, the band almost disbanded during the recording of the October album, finding it hard to reconcile their Christian faith with the rock n? roll lifestyle they were living. After intense personal struggles, the band members all decided that their faith could work with their goals as a rock n? roll band. This early turmoil would help U2 to create one of the most unique rock n? roll environments and communities in the world. Their entire organization became an extension of the principles they wished to practice in their lives. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that they are managed by a company called ?Principle Management??) And the October album became U2's finest and most clear expression of what they had been learning about faith.
But, as most U2 fans will know, the band continued to struggle. Adam, not having shared the profound religious experiences of Bono, Edge, and Larry, began to feel a rift between him and the other three members. This rift once again threatened the life of the band. And, it is my opinion (perhaps not shared by many others), that the War album came out of this struggle. Not as a direct product of what the band were going through. But, for artists, the experiences in their own lives always influence their work. So it is my conjecture that, because of the struggles within the group, they were more heightened to the themes they dealt with on the War album. Respecting that thought, this album was more a product of the members of U2 taking a different look at the world. They had spent enough time as Christians to really be able to take a closer look at the world they inhabited. As with any time one is exposed to a new idea, it takes some time to process it and then to apply it to the world around you. So the War album is a combination of the struggles going on within the band, and the band collectively taking another look at this world in which they?d lived for 20 years.
And it seems that what they saw all around them was war and destruction and fighting. When they looked at the world, they witnessed daily scenes that depressed them, made them angry, and mobilized them to action. And thus they produced their ?protest? album, War.
Every song on this album deserves it?s own in-depth analysis. But that would not only take me a long time to write, it would require a very dedicated reader! So I?ve decided to structure the rest of this essay in a different way than I usually do. I am going to offer a relatively short analysis of each song, attempting to synthesize it into the larger pattern of the album and also of U2's career. So, we?ll begin at the beginning...
?Sunday Bloody Sunday?
This first track is a scathing indictment of the violence in Ireland. The ?Bloody Sunday? most likely referred to in this song took place in January 1972 when English paratroopers shot and killed 14 civilians marching in a banned civil rights march in Derry. This incident sparked escalated violence in the years that followed - violence which would have been witnessed by the teenage members of U2. The song asks a question that holds a place of central importance throughout the band?s career: How long must we sing this song? ?Sunday Bloody Sunday? cries out against the indifference shown by a majority of the world: ?And today the millions cry/ We eat and drink while tomorrow they die.? It also paints a picture of the destruction wrought by violence: ?Broken bottles under children?s feet/ Bodies strewn across the dead end street.? This song has become somewhat of an anthem for U2 and has gone through many changes over the years. But perhaps it should be best remembered as it is on the album: a rallying call against the destruction and desolation of violence.
?Seconds?
Describing the mere seconds it takes to make some of the most important decisions in the world, the song begins with a sort of apocalypse that only takes the time of a flash of lightning (one of the seconds). The song ends with an image of people ?doing the atomic bomb,? taking only a second to push a button and release such a deadly weapon. The song also speaks of revolutions. With the refrain, ?fall, rise and fall...,? we?re also reminded that revolutions take only seconds to come and go, as do empires, but the wounds of violence and hatred are never forgotten and the damage can never be undone. ?Seconds? also introduces the second overarching question of the album, along with ?How long must we sing this song?? - ?Do they know where the dance comes from?? As we know, the band were still fitting their Christianity into their lives, and with this question they ask if the people perpetrating violence realize where the life that they are destroying comes from. (For the band, the ?dance? comes from God.)
?New Year?s Day?
The song commences with an image of a world covered in white (snow? ash?), a world that hasn?t changed. Even the promise of a new year, a time of renewal and recovery, hasn?t been able to change the landscape. But the song also speaks of a ?chosen few? who stand with their ?arms entwined? and are determined to ?break through? and ?be one? even though the world, which is waging wars for gold, tries to keep them separated by violence and hatred. Rather than asking a question, as the previous two songs on the album have, ?New Year?s Day? proposes the solution of unification across worlds and continents instead of division.
?Like A Song?
This song shows the division talked about in ?New Year?s Day? - a division that has been ushered in by people (governments? nationalist organizations? terrorists?) trying to indoctrinate young people and convince them to ?wear a badge, a uniform.? But the singer rebels and refuses to believe in what he?s being told. Instead, he preaches his own doctrine, claiming ?Angry words won?t stop the fight/ Two wrongs won?t make it right? and then asking God for a new heart with which to be able to feel and to be able to stop the violence. The singer also calls for the tolling of the bells, a traditional activity done for the dead; also, curiously, an activity which is used to signal victory.
?Drowning Man?
?Drowning Man? opens with the bells spoken of in the last song, which seems to signal a victory. In this song, a strong, comforting figure (God? Jesus?) promises that ?the storms will pass? if the singer ?holds on tightly? to the love that is being offered to him. Instead of the hatred and war present in the world, in which the singer seems to be drowning, this figure is offering the singer something to pull him out of the water: a love that will last forever.
?The Refugee?
Refugees are obviously a product of war and violence. As we?ve seen many times in recent decades, when countries are destroyed, large amounts of people are displaced, and are often not welcome in the surrounding countries. This song is the story of a woman refugee who?s family has been torn apart by war. She?s told she should try to escape (to ?live in America?), but instead she waits, first for her father, and then for her lover to come back from war. The uncertainty of her life is perhaps the most striking thing in this song. She lives in a state of limbo, not knowing whether she should stay or leave, not knowing whether those she loves are alive or dead.
?Two Hearts Beat As One?
?They beat on you, beat on me, beat on love.? This song can be looked at as a love song, but it can also be looked at as a song of commitment to a cause. Realizing that he ?can?t stop the dance,? the singer commits to doing something, taking some action because this might be his last chance.
?Red Light?
?Red Light? sees the singer putting his theory of love from ?Two Hearts Beat As One? into practice. He tries to help someone struggling with life in the world. He says, ?I pour my love out for you/ And I?ll bring you through/ See you?re not alone.? Instead of abandoning this person who?s walked away from him, he decides to continue helping in an effort to get through and win a victory for love.
?Surrender?
The word ?surrender? is most often used in context of battles and wars. And here we see a woman, Sadie, who seems about to give up: ?She got herself up on the 48th floor/ Gotta find out/ Find out what she?s living for.? The world has taken over her life. She?s tried to do everything the way she?s supposed to (?Tried to be a good girl and a good wife/ Raise a good family/ Lead a good life?), but it?s not good enough for her. She needs something more. So the singer counsels her to surrender, surrender to love. Instead of fighting the battles of the war for other people and for ideals that she doesn?t share, she should instead give over to a love that can heal her and help her.
?40"
Based on Psalm 40 from the Christian Bible, this song echoes the question of the first track of the album: How long to sing this song? But, in stark contrast to ?Sunday Bloody Sunday,? ?40" is hopeful; even joyful. The singer has found a way out of the ?miry clay,? which is the death and destruction of the world: he has found God and love. And these two forces combined, for the singer, become the most powerful combatants against the forces of war in the world. How long to sing this song? becomes a question of hope, and a clarion call to the people of the world to make it happen.
Thus, the War album takes us on a journey of question and answer, and we discover that U2's answer to war is love. Their answer to the dictators of the world is God. While the songs paint somewhat bleak pictures of destruction and death, they also offer a way out. A way that is perhaps even more relevant today than it was when the album was released.
?After all, there is but one race - humanity.? - George Moore
?The time for the healing of wounds has come. The time to build is upon us.? - Nelson Mandela
By Kimberly ?hippy? Egolf
2003.08
(Photo: U2.com)
For as long as humans have populated the Earth, war and violence have been omnipresent. Though destructive and contrary, violence has now become a customary part of life. But developing alongside of this violence has also been a tradition of protest against such harsh behavior. Writing, painting, and, of course, music have all been employed as forms of protest at one time or another in the history of human culture. Perhaps most people will think immediately of the 1960s when such a phrase as ?protest songs? was widely used. Flourishing in this decade of social change and possibility, the protest song was developed into a specific genre. The form has become one closely connected with a specific time; a form that had largely been relinquished after the early 1970s as the Vietnam War ended and the pioneers of the genre went in different directions with their music.
However, virtually out of nowhere, came U2's War album of the early 1980s. Containing some of U2's most recognized tunes, the album is somewhat of an enigma. What was its inherent inspiration, and how did U2 come to make such a record? What does the record have to say?
As has now become U2 legend, the band almost disbanded during the recording of the October album, finding it hard to reconcile their Christian faith with the rock n? roll lifestyle they were living. After intense personal struggles, the band members all decided that their faith could work with their goals as a rock n? roll band. This early turmoil would help U2 to create one of the most unique rock n? roll environments and communities in the world. Their entire organization became an extension of the principles they wished to practice in their lives. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that they are managed by a company called ?Principle Management??) And the October album became U2's finest and most clear expression of what they had been learning about faith.
But, as most U2 fans will know, the band continued to struggle. Adam, not having shared the profound religious experiences of Bono, Edge, and Larry, began to feel a rift between him and the other three members. This rift once again threatened the life of the band. And, it is my opinion (perhaps not shared by many others), that the War album came out of this struggle. Not as a direct product of what the band were going through. But, for artists, the experiences in their own lives always influence their work. So it is my conjecture that, because of the struggles within the group, they were more heightened to the themes they dealt with on the War album. Respecting that thought, this album was more a product of the members of U2 taking a different look at the world. They had spent enough time as Christians to really be able to take a closer look at the world they inhabited. As with any time one is exposed to a new idea, it takes some time to process it and then to apply it to the world around you. So the War album is a combination of the struggles going on within the band, and the band collectively taking another look at this world in which they?d lived for 20 years.
And it seems that what they saw all around them was war and destruction and fighting. When they looked at the world, they witnessed daily scenes that depressed them, made them angry, and mobilized them to action. And thus they produced their ?protest? album, War.
Every song on this album deserves it?s own in-depth analysis. But that would not only take me a long time to write, it would require a very dedicated reader! So I?ve decided to structure the rest of this essay in a different way than I usually do. I am going to offer a relatively short analysis of each song, attempting to synthesize it into the larger pattern of the album and also of U2's career. So, we?ll begin at the beginning...
?Sunday Bloody Sunday?
This first track is a scathing indictment of the violence in Ireland. The ?Bloody Sunday? most likely referred to in this song took place in January 1972 when English paratroopers shot and killed 14 civilians marching in a banned civil rights march in Derry. This incident sparked escalated violence in the years that followed - violence which would have been witnessed by the teenage members of U2. The song asks a question that holds a place of central importance throughout the band?s career: How long must we sing this song? ?Sunday Bloody Sunday? cries out against the indifference shown by a majority of the world: ?And today the millions cry/ We eat and drink while tomorrow they die.? It also paints a picture of the destruction wrought by violence: ?Broken bottles under children?s feet/ Bodies strewn across the dead end street.? This song has become somewhat of an anthem for U2 and has gone through many changes over the years. But perhaps it should be best remembered as it is on the album: a rallying call against the destruction and desolation of violence.
?Seconds?
Describing the mere seconds it takes to make some of the most important decisions in the world, the song begins with a sort of apocalypse that only takes the time of a flash of lightning (one of the seconds). The song ends with an image of people ?doing the atomic bomb,? taking only a second to push a button and release such a deadly weapon. The song also speaks of revolutions. With the refrain, ?fall, rise and fall...,? we?re also reminded that revolutions take only seconds to come and go, as do empires, but the wounds of violence and hatred are never forgotten and the damage can never be undone. ?Seconds? also introduces the second overarching question of the album, along with ?How long must we sing this song?? - ?Do they know where the dance comes from?? As we know, the band were still fitting their Christianity into their lives, and with this question they ask if the people perpetrating violence realize where the life that they are destroying comes from. (For the band, the ?dance? comes from God.)
?New Year?s Day?
The song commences with an image of a world covered in white (snow? ash?), a world that hasn?t changed. Even the promise of a new year, a time of renewal and recovery, hasn?t been able to change the landscape. But the song also speaks of a ?chosen few? who stand with their ?arms entwined? and are determined to ?break through? and ?be one? even though the world, which is waging wars for gold, tries to keep them separated by violence and hatred. Rather than asking a question, as the previous two songs on the album have, ?New Year?s Day? proposes the solution of unification across worlds and continents instead of division.
?Like A Song?
This song shows the division talked about in ?New Year?s Day? - a division that has been ushered in by people (governments? nationalist organizations? terrorists?) trying to indoctrinate young people and convince them to ?wear a badge, a uniform.? But the singer rebels and refuses to believe in what he?s being told. Instead, he preaches his own doctrine, claiming ?Angry words won?t stop the fight/ Two wrongs won?t make it right? and then asking God for a new heart with which to be able to feel and to be able to stop the violence. The singer also calls for the tolling of the bells, a traditional activity done for the dead; also, curiously, an activity which is used to signal victory.
?Drowning Man?
?Drowning Man? opens with the bells spoken of in the last song, which seems to signal a victory. In this song, a strong, comforting figure (God? Jesus?) promises that ?the storms will pass? if the singer ?holds on tightly? to the love that is being offered to him. Instead of the hatred and war present in the world, in which the singer seems to be drowning, this figure is offering the singer something to pull him out of the water: a love that will last forever.
?The Refugee?
Refugees are obviously a product of war and violence. As we?ve seen many times in recent decades, when countries are destroyed, large amounts of people are displaced, and are often not welcome in the surrounding countries. This song is the story of a woman refugee who?s family has been torn apart by war. She?s told she should try to escape (to ?live in America?), but instead she waits, first for her father, and then for her lover to come back from war. The uncertainty of her life is perhaps the most striking thing in this song. She lives in a state of limbo, not knowing whether she should stay or leave, not knowing whether those she loves are alive or dead.
?Two Hearts Beat As One?
?They beat on you, beat on me, beat on love.? This song can be looked at as a love song, but it can also be looked at as a song of commitment to a cause. Realizing that he ?can?t stop the dance,? the singer commits to doing something, taking some action because this might be his last chance.
?Red Light?
?Red Light? sees the singer putting his theory of love from ?Two Hearts Beat As One? into practice. He tries to help someone struggling with life in the world. He says, ?I pour my love out for you/ And I?ll bring you through/ See you?re not alone.? Instead of abandoning this person who?s walked away from him, he decides to continue helping in an effort to get through and win a victory for love.
?Surrender?
The word ?surrender? is most often used in context of battles and wars. And here we see a woman, Sadie, who seems about to give up: ?She got herself up on the 48th floor/ Gotta find out/ Find out what she?s living for.? The world has taken over her life. She?s tried to do everything the way she?s supposed to (?Tried to be a good girl and a good wife/ Raise a good family/ Lead a good life?), but it?s not good enough for her. She needs something more. So the singer counsels her to surrender, surrender to love. Instead of fighting the battles of the war for other people and for ideals that she doesn?t share, she should instead give over to a love that can heal her and help her.
?40"
Based on Psalm 40 from the Christian Bible, this song echoes the question of the first track of the album: How long to sing this song? But, in stark contrast to ?Sunday Bloody Sunday,? ?40" is hopeful; even joyful. The singer has found a way out of the ?miry clay,? which is the death and destruction of the world: he has found God and love. And these two forces combined, for the singer, become the most powerful combatants against the forces of war in the world. How long to sing this song? becomes a question of hope, and a clarion call to the people of the world to make it happen.
Thus, the War album takes us on a journey of question and answer, and we discover that U2's answer to war is love. Their answer to the dictators of the world is God. While the songs paint somewhat bleak pictures of destruction and death, they also offer a way out. A way that is perhaps even more relevant today than it was when the album was released.
?After all, there is but one race - humanity.? - George Moore
?The time for the healing of wounds has come. The time to build is upon us.? - Nelson Mandela
very good
