I Didn't Know That Was a U2 Song...

[FishNeedsABicycle]

Ok we've all heard it a million times...You know, you're riding in the car and nothings on the Radio so you insert(U2 CD of choice) into the player and

5...4...3...2...1...I didn't know that was a U2 song!

Why is it that U2's songs are so generally popular, but the boys, even the group is not? I mean I know U2 is the greatest rock and roll band of all time, but why does it seem the general populace is completely oblivious to the fact that U2 is a great band with great songs? And why is it that when you mention that you like U2...you are either met with one of two responses...

1. U2 rocks!
or
2. Don't believe the hype...

You either love 'em or you hate 'em...

Anyone have any interesting thoughts to share on the "I Didn't Know" phenonenon? Was there a time when YOU didn't know? And if so, was it an interesting conversion experience? What song got you hooked?

Talk Amoungst Yourselves...

Fishy <><
Queen of Elipses...


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Fishy
The Bedazzled Merch-Maid and Fashion Chair of Orgasmatron
and
The Original Hot Potato of LAYS

You put on the leather pants and the pants start telling you what to do. -Bono

 

[JessicaAnn]

So I was giving my sister a ride home from school and had the "Best Of" cd blasting loudly (as usual) ... When "The Sweetest Thing" came on, she said, "They sing this song too?"



------------------
Jessica

"Rock and roll doggie"
--Bono

"I'm very secure with the fact that I'm not black. I'm white, pink and rosy. But I've got soul."
--Bono

 

[U2Kitten]

Having been a diehard since the War days, I can't say that has or could ever happen to me. But I would be interested to hear your stories!

 

[Discoteque]

(let the tirade begin!!!)

Leigh, you nailed it right on the head. I've said this same thing MANY times to many people...they're songs are out there, yet no one really knows about the group! U2, to US, the U2 community--seems like THE BIGGEST, COOLEST BAND IN THE WORLD (oh, and they ARE! *

*), but to the rest of the world, it's like....they're just another group, no more, no less than many of the other groups heard on the radio.

So here's my whole take on it. I know it's VERY different in the UK - they are HUGE there, VERY much in the media a lot, very much a "household name", much more than here in the States. I used to work in radio here in Dallas for about 6 months and learned a LOT about how American radio is run, and it's NOT pretty.

There are specific formats that *must* be followed, specific songs that *must* be played, and only 24 hours in each day in which to cram all the millions of styles/genres/songs and commercials (that pay for it all) that are out there. Obviously it just can't be done, hence the very short list of specific formats to be followed. There's a whole lot more to it, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

U2 are who they are mostly because of TIMING. The fact they grew up WHEN they did and WHERE they did, and the whole changing/fluctuating music scene--the end of the disco/glam 70s into the punk of the 80s--left a lot of "musical holes" that could to be filled, and U2 found their niche and filled that very well. Gavin and Guggi's group, The Virgin Prunes, were another "niche filler" but they were so far on the other end of the spectrum, they didn't (or couldn't) break out of the Ireland/UK area like U2 managed to do.

There are SO many levels to this whole "why isn't U2 more popular" thing, it would take yet another book to get into all of it....

I'm just happy and thankful that I could grow up at a time when U2 even exists, because I feel that they have changed the musical landscape (not to mention hearts and minds) as much as either the Beatles or Stones ever did...it's just that it seems like it's taken 20 years for the rest of the world to catch up and take notice about how valuable they really are.

And sometimes it takes a tragedy like 9-11 before people look at, and realize, the depths of meaning of U2's music and lyrics...they're definitely not just some fluffy little pop boy band!!!!

ARE WE NOT MEN??

WE ARE U2!!!!

Disco

 

[Bonochick]

I've encountered people who didn't know that "With or Without You" is a U2 song.

That's pretty bad...

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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."

 

[scatteroflight]

I remember when I was much younger, before I was really a U2 fan, but when I liked some of their music, hearing "When Love Comes to Town" and being surprised that it was by U2--I guess at that point I was more familiar with stuff like New Year's Day and Pride.



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Love is the heartbeat of the universe

 

[Giant Lemon]

Originally posted by Bonochick:
I've encountered people who didn't know that "With or Without You" is a U2 song.

That's pretty bad...

That is bad! WOWY is usually the song that people identify U2 with, besides maybe Beautiful Day. I know several people that didn't know that Sweetest Thing, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, and HMTMKMKM were U2 songs. It's strange- people know the songs, but they don't realize that they're all by U2.

 

[Echo]

Have you ever hated a band for no reason? By that I mean, you hadn't really listened to their songs, but for some reason you just got this vibe, and decided to despise them, however irrationally?

I confess: I felt this way about U2 for six years!

I first heard U2 in 1992, when Mysterious Ways was being plastered all over the radio. I didn't have anything against the song, it was okay, but for reasons which I cannot explain I just thought to myself, "U2 sucks!" It might have been because they were so popular and I have a thing against really popular bands (like today's N'Sync or Limp Bizkit). If anyone asked me what I thought of U2, I would say, "Yeah, Mysterious Ways isn't bad, but other than that I don't like 'em."

A short while later I turned on MTV for the very first time. I saw a leather-clad man wearing enormous sunglasses and bounding across a concert stage. In the corner was an icon reading "ZOO-TV."
"What is THIS?" I said, and changed the channel.

A couple years later, I think 1995, I was riding in the car with my best friend at the time and her mom. Her mom was a big U2 fan, and we were listeing to Zooropa in the car. The only songs I specifically remember having heard were Numb and Lemon. When I heard Numb I thought, "Wait a sec...I remember seeing this guy on TV! They were like, tying him up and stuff!" Lemon I liked but was kind of freaked out by the falsetto vocals. I thought it was a woman singing "She bought lemons..."
So from then on, if it was brought up, I said "Well, I like Mysterious Ways and Lemon and Numb, but other than that U2 stinks."

In 1997 I did two reprts on Northern Ireland. One was a history of the conflict there, and another was an argument paper about whether I thought the situation would ever be resolved. It was a long and involved process, writing these, and one night in the middle of it I was listeing to the radio and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" came on. I'd heard the song before but not known what it was about. But now it had a very significant meaning to me. Thankfully the DJ came on immediately afterwards and said, "That was U2 with Sunday..." and I thought, "You mean U2 does that song too!?"
So I went out and bought a used cassette of War. (Wouldn't want to risk spending too much money on these guys!) I listened to the first three songs, then ran out of patience. New Years Day was good, too, but Seconds was kind of boring.
And so then, if someone brought up U2, I had to say, "Well, I like Mysterious Ways, and Lemon and Numb and New Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday, but thats IT..."

In 1998 I became obsessed with Tommy Lee Jones. I rented and watched all his movies, including "Blown Away," a film about Northern Irish terrorists. In the film Tommy's character buys a copy of the Joshua Tree (even though he's never heard of U2) and listens to it while he builds his bombs (Bono would NOT be happy to hear this). They played WOWY, ISHFWILF, and WTSHNN. The songs actually went really well in the movie, and I thought "Hey, I've heard these before. I LIKE these songs! You mean U2...? Oh dear."
So I went out and bought a copy of the Joshua Tree. I listened to it alone one night at full blast while I was cleaning my room. And I thought, "You know, maybe U2 isn't so bad after all..."

-Echo

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Bono-Man! An Epic Superhero Adventure
Experience it at http://www.geocities.com/bonogoestovegas

 

[FishNeedsABicycle]

LOL, Echo! Welcome to the forum, I like you style! Your post reminede me of someone who is trying to resist chocolate..."Ok this is the last on I swear!" Haha! I've only been a U2 fan for about two years...before that, I had heard of them, and let me stress heard like you hear about a group called the violent prunes, but you know nothing about them...It was just a name. I couldn't have told you how many people were in the band, let alone their names, or any of their songs! I was completly U2 clueless! The strange thing is I absolutly LOVED Mysterious Ways when it was on the radio, I would blitz everytime it came on, dancing and singing my little heart out! But never ONCE did it cross my mind to find out who sang it! Of course I was younger then, probably only 13 at the time, but it absolutly shocked and amazed me, when I did start to turn on to U2 that that was one of their songs! All of my current friends are in the music industry, and between talking about this Edge guy's technique or referring to this Bono dude's stage presense, who I was convinced it was just them mispronouncing Sonny Bono's last name, I began to wonder what all of the hype was about since I had been on this earth 21 years(at the time) and I had not heard of this group U2 that they kept going on about. I made the mistake of mentioning this, and after they all recovered from their heartattacks, I was entered into a crash course in all things U2! Within a few weeks I had listened to all of the albums, atleast once through, and determined that Achtung was my fave, still is, and the hunger for knowledge impressed my friends, becasue now they had someone new to talk to! They made it a fun experience becasue they started out by burning a CD with all of the songs I knew, which were more than I had thought! I think I was actually president of the "This is U2?" club for about a week there, as that is all that came out of my mouth! After I had learned those songs, Then they slowly moved me into the realm of POP and Zooropa, which I have to admit almost made me jump ship! But I hung around! And now look at me! I'm outta control!

Fishy <>< (sorry, that turned out to be longer than I thought)

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Fishy
The Bedazzled Merch-Maid and Fashion Chair of Orgasmatron
and
The Original Hot Potato of LAYS

You put on the leather pants and the pants start telling you what to do. -Bono

[This message has been edited by FishNeedsABicycle (edited 10-23-2001).]

 

[FishNeedsABicycle]

<----laughing at myself "Violent" Prunes...HAHAHAHA...sorry I meant Virgin Prunes!!!

Fishy <><

------------------
Fishy
The Bedazzled Merch-Maid and Fashion Chair of Orgasmatron
and
The Original Hot Potato of LAYS

You put on the leather pants and the pants start telling you what to do. -Bono

 

[Foadie]

I'm a very obsessive fan like many of you, but my friends think I'm a bit crazy. So I hadn't really heard much about Pop when it came out becuase it was at a hard time in my life. I've heard Discoteque a million times without EVER knowing it was a U2 song!!!!! Can you believe how dense I am? Don't you guys think I would have known Larry's drumming style? *slaps herself in the head*

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God Bless America and my city, NYC!

"Do you hear the words that are comin' outta my mouth?"

 

[Ana]

WOW Disco!

What a speech!!!!!!!

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...and I feel
like I'm holding on to nothing...

 

[Macphisto_esq]

Well I have never had difficulty identifying U2 songs! but I did have a vaugely related converastion a few days ago, so I'll put it here, no-one else will understand the fury *sigh*
Ok, I was in College, and casually talking to this girl who I didn't really know too well, and we were discussing music, I casually brought U2 in to the conversation (of course) she agreed they were good, and then I mentioned HMTMKMKM.

She looked puzzled, and as there were loads of people around, I didnt start singing it, I just said 'you know the Batman Theme!?....'

*Big mistake*

A wave of enlightenment swept her face , she smiled and began singing-

'Na-na-na-na-na-na naaaaaaa
Na-na-na-na-na-na naaaaaaa
BATMAN!'
(aka the Cartoon theme)

*conversation ended*

 

[UV2001]

I used to be a "I never knew that was a U2 song" but fair enough I am only 16 and my parents weren't fans. I must empasise the WEREN'T U2 fans. I used to sit in the car and say who sings that song because I really like it and the answer would come back "U2"
After a few months of this I worked out I liked quite a few songs. I desided to get a U2 album and so bought Achtung Baby. I now have all their albums and have converted all my family and a few friends and a 6 month old baby who cries when I am babysitting until I put U2 on and then she calms down and goes to sleep. My Mum now wants atleast 3 U2 albums for Christmas and my Dad wants ATYCLB.

 

[UV2001]

Originally posted by Macphisto_esq:
Well I have never had difficulty identifying U2 songs! but I did have a vaugely related converastion a few days ago, so I'll put it here, no-one else will understand the fury *sigh*
Ok, I was in College, and casually talking to this girl who I didn't really know too well, and we were discussing music, I casually brought U2 in to the conversation (of course) she agreed they were good, and then I mentioned HMTMKMKM.

She looked puzzled, and as there were loads of people around, I didnt start singing it, I just said 'you know the Batman Theme!?....'

*Big mistake*

A wave of enlightenment swept her face , she smiled and began singing-

'Na-na-na-na-na-na naaaaaaa
Na-na-na-na-na-na naaaaaaa
BATMAN!'
(aka the Cartoon theme)

*conversation ended*

Oh no!!!!! That must have been a nightmare I hope you set your friend straight even if u did have to sing infront of everyone. It would be worth it to protect U2 from getting a bad name.

 

[u2zed]

Well, this isn't exactly related, but I remember when I was about 10 I saw a R&H t-shirt for sale in a department store & I was kind of scared of it because at the time I thought U2 was a heavy metal band!

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you've got the right shoes to get you through the night

[This message has been edited by u2zed (edited 10-24-2001).]

[This message has been edited by u2zed (edited 10-24-2001).]

 

[adam's_mistress]

My older brother who is 6 years older than me, introduced me to the joys of U2 back in 1983.

We were in my brother's car (I was only 10 or 11 at the time and knew nothing much about music) and he pulls out this Bob Marley and the Wailers tape. He pops the cassette into the deck and out of the speakers comes this "Oh Oh Oh... She's a refugee..." and it was such a catchy tune I found myself tapping my toes on the floor of the car. I picked up the tape case and started scrutinizing the cover with all its little flags and the title in bold white Bob Marley and the Wailers "Survival" on it. I never said, "Hey, what's this song?" to my brother because surely, it was Bob Marley and the Wailers playing.

A couple of days later I went to go bug my bother like all little sisters do, and he was in his room listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers again on his record player. I said, "Hey, that's what we were listening to in the car, right?"

And he says, "Oh, U2... that's right. They're a great band. You should listen to them."

I was really confused. "But I thought this was Bob Marley and the Wailers because that's the tape you played in the car."

"Oh no," he said laughing. "U2 are hardly reggae. I only had my U2 tape in the Bob Marley Survival case because I'd lost the U2 case."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!" I said, feeling like an utter dolt. "I see."

*duh* But the rest was history.