HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/analysis/aiwiy.jpg[/SIMG]
By Devlin Smith
Contributing Editor
I?d probably heard the song when it first came out as the final song on ?Rattle & Hum? but it wasn?t until it appeared on the ?Reality Bites? soundtrack that I really became aware of ?All I Want Is You.? It did start to be everywhere, accompanied by its unique video, and called to me, reminded me at a time when U2 was broadening its musical horizons and seeming to become more flash and less true rock that at one time heart was really all there was to the band.
?All I Want Is You,? quite simply, is U2?s most passionate song. From the lyrics to the musical arrangement to Bono?s delivery, the entire song is full-fledged, U2?s grandest piece of art. It?s opera and epic novel, the ultimate account of love gone wrong, and it gets me every single time I hear it.
(Image: U2.com)
Like any U2 love song, ?All I Want Is You? is thorny. For years, I wondered about the romantic lives of the band members because they?ve never really been able to do a straight forward love song, all singing birds and blooming flowers, there?s always something darker, a certain longing and ache. ?All I Want Is You? takes that ache down to its most desperate point, a frantic phone message, a hastily-scribbled note just needing to say it all, to get in that final word.
The song begins with a hush, Bono?s voice at its raspiest with the rest of the band gently chugging behind him. He begins the laundry list, all the things she wants to get, wants to give. Then the song builds, indicting all those promises as empty compared to what he needs, simply her. The strings come in next, swirling around as Bono?s singing becomes more intense, Edge?s playing more methodical. The bass, drums and rhythm guitar conspire to create the song?s pacing backdrop, a scorned lover retracing the same steps in his apartment over and over again as he wonders where did it all go wrong.
All of these different musical elements, the wondrous creation of the members of U2 and pop legend Van Dyke Parks (Brian Wilson?s collaborator), work with and off of each other so well. The middle of the song is both cacophony and symphony, chaos and sense as somehow the storyteller sees the truth of his situation.
The pay off for all of this is one of U2?s proudest recorded moments, the different musical elements coming together to create the perfect runway for Bono?s souring vocals, three times calling out, ?All I want is you!? This is Brando?s Stanley screaming, ?Stella!!? at the top of his lungs in the pouring rain, this is mourning and heartbreak and frustration and agony, and it is so beautiful to listen to my heart actually swells whenever I hear it.
But that moment is really only about the song?s halfway point. Edge comes in with one of his greatest non-solo solos, calling forth the same pattern over and over again until soon, it?s gone, the band?s gone, and all that is left is the string section, swirling us out and above. I always imagine the band putting down their instruments at the point and walking away, a good day?s work completed. It?s a glorious way to end not just a song but also an album (two, actually, since U2 also chose this song to close out it?s first greatest hits collection).
There are days when I need a little extra, when the ride to work is too treacherous, when I?m feeling punk or out of sorts. Though it can?t solve all my problems, a song like ?All I Want Is You? just injects something into me, it?s brutal openness making me glad to be alive, glad to know happiness and sadness and love and heartache, glad to be the benefactor of pure artistic genius. And then Bono?s moment comes on, I punch the volume up as loud as I can handle, and I?m soaring. In the midst of all that, life is good.
By Devlin Smith
Contributing Editor
I?d probably heard the song when it first came out as the final song on ?Rattle & Hum? but it wasn?t until it appeared on the ?Reality Bites? soundtrack that I really became aware of ?All I Want Is You.? It did start to be everywhere, accompanied by its unique video, and called to me, reminded me at a time when U2 was broadening its musical horizons and seeming to become more flash and less true rock that at one time heart was really all there was to the band.
?All I Want Is You,? quite simply, is U2?s most passionate song. From the lyrics to the musical arrangement to Bono?s delivery, the entire song is full-fledged, U2?s grandest piece of art. It?s opera and epic novel, the ultimate account of love gone wrong, and it gets me every single time I hear it.
(Image: U2.com)
Like any U2 love song, ?All I Want Is You? is thorny. For years, I wondered about the romantic lives of the band members because they?ve never really been able to do a straight forward love song, all singing birds and blooming flowers, there?s always something darker, a certain longing and ache. ?All I Want Is You? takes that ache down to its most desperate point, a frantic phone message, a hastily-scribbled note just needing to say it all, to get in that final word.
The song begins with a hush, Bono?s voice at its raspiest with the rest of the band gently chugging behind him. He begins the laundry list, all the things she wants to get, wants to give. Then the song builds, indicting all those promises as empty compared to what he needs, simply her. The strings come in next, swirling around as Bono?s singing becomes more intense, Edge?s playing more methodical. The bass, drums and rhythm guitar conspire to create the song?s pacing backdrop, a scorned lover retracing the same steps in his apartment over and over again as he wonders where did it all go wrong.
All of these different musical elements, the wondrous creation of the members of U2 and pop legend Van Dyke Parks (Brian Wilson?s collaborator), work with and off of each other so well. The middle of the song is both cacophony and symphony, chaos and sense as somehow the storyteller sees the truth of his situation.
The pay off for all of this is one of U2?s proudest recorded moments, the different musical elements coming together to create the perfect runway for Bono?s souring vocals, three times calling out, ?All I want is you!? This is Brando?s Stanley screaming, ?Stella!!? at the top of his lungs in the pouring rain, this is mourning and heartbreak and frustration and agony, and it is so beautiful to listen to my heart actually swells whenever I hear it.
But that moment is really only about the song?s halfway point. Edge comes in with one of his greatest non-solo solos, calling forth the same pattern over and over again until soon, it?s gone, the band?s gone, and all that is left is the string section, swirling us out and above. I always imagine the band putting down their instruments at the point and walking away, a good day?s work completed. It?s a glorious way to end not just a song but also an album (two, actually, since U2 also chose this song to close out it?s first greatest hits collection).
There are days when I need a little extra, when the ride to work is too treacherous, when I?m feeling punk or out of sorts. Though it can?t solve all my problems, a song like ?All I Want Is You? just injects something into me, it?s brutal openness making me glad to be alive, glad to know happiness and sadness and love and heartache, glad to be the benefactor of pure artistic genius. And then Bono?s moment comes on, I punch the volume up as loud as I can handle, and I?m soaring. In the midst of all that, life is good.
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