Shuttlecock XXI: Laz is Bigger Than Anyone in His Way

[Kieran McConville]

And even if the lyrics didn't all land, there's a lot to be said for economy. No word salad on that song, or on POP more generally.

Probably the only lyric on POP that makes my eyes roll into the back of my head is 'the blind leading the blonde', but that's If God Will Send His Angels, and although it's got its good points, it's probably the least successful track on the record.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've always found the bridge of Playboy Mansion extremely powerful.

Don't know if I can hold on
Don't know if I'm that strong
Don't know if I can wait that long
'Till the colors come flashing
And the lights go on

Then will there be no time of sorrow
Then will there be no time for shame
And though I can't say why
I know I've got to believe

When I look at those lyrics, the overstimulated, casino-like imagery is there ("till the colors come flashing/and the lights go on"), but juxtaposed against the airy, ethereal backing, it feels like the heavenly and the carnal clashing with each other, a man using the only language he knows to describe the eternal. He longs for a time when the sorrow and shame he feels will finally end, and he's not sure it ever will, but he has the vague sense that it might, if only because he needs to cling onto something. That's 90s U2 in a nutshell.

So yeah, a lot of the details of the song are goofy, but it's in service of a really sad, lonely bit of storytelling.

 

[Axver]

See, you'll - and not just you - say things like this, but what does lyrical failure mean in this context? Is it cause a consensus formed about one or two lines in a song and that's that? Because I'd make a decent case that the lyrical content of Playboy Mansion, taken in total, is pretty much the distilled manifesto of what POPmart aspired to be (funny, as the song did not feature).

I never bought a lotto ticket
I never parked in anyone's space
the banks they're like cathedrals
I guess casinos took their place
Love, come on down
let my numbers come around...

That part, and what LM quoted, are great. The problem is the start. I just cannot get past that opening verse. It's a rehash of Zooropa, but without the cleverness or any sense of timelessness. Zooropa's verses work even if the taglines are not at all familiar; Playboy Mansion begins with a lyric that sounded lame and dated even when I first heard it in 2002. It doesn't recover for me.

And there is no redeeming Miami's lyric.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

All this Pop love makes me happy. Anyone with a record player should do themselves a favor and pick up the vinyl reissue. It sounds amazing.

 

[brooklynmike]

His tone was so miraculous back in the day that a few careful strums of distorted guitar could change the tenor of songs like WGRYWH, which is effectively a catchy pop song that he darkens several shades. However you may feel about The Playboy Mansion, Edge's wah pedal work adds a necessary layer of sleaze, whereas his slide work creates a heavenly counterpoint to the song's carnality. The colorful sound manipulation of Lemon and SDABTO took those songs in a psychedelic direction that didn't feel forced; it was a natural progression from his unbridled playfulness in the studio.

Songcraft is important, but lots of decent, passable musicians write good songs. They're not all that hard to find. A studio alchemist that can transform a few notes into a dazzling waterfall is very rare. Alas, lately we've settled for chunky power chords and tributes to his old solos. Until Edge feels the urge to take his guitar work somewhere special, the band will remain stuck in neutral.

Awesome post.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I've always found the bridge of Playboy Mansion extremely powerful.

Don't know if I can hold on
Don't know if I'm that strong
Don't know if I can wait that long
'Till the colors come flashing
And the lights go on

Then will there be no time of sorrow
Then will there be no time for shame
And though I can't say why
I know I've got to believe

When I look at those lyrics, the overstimulated, casino-like imagery is there ("till the colors come flashing/and the lights go on"), but juxtaposed against the airy, ethereal backing, it feels like the heavenly and the carnal clashing with each other, a man using the only language he knows to describe the eternal. He longs for a time when the sorrow and shame he feels will finally end, and he's not sure it ever will, but he has the vague sense that it might, if only because he needs to cling onto something. That's 90s U2 in a nutshell.

So yeah, a lot of the details of the song are goofy, but it's in service of a really sad, lonely bit of storytelling.

I could also read it as a paean to the American dream; casino capitalism. "And though I can't... say why... I know I've got to belieeeeeve". That's tent revival, Amway seminar talk.

 

[Kieran McConville]

That part, and what LM quoted, are great. The problem is the start. I just cannot get past that opening verse. It's a rehash of Zooropa, but without the cleverness or any sense of timelessness. Zooropa's verses work even if the taglines are not at all familiar; Playboy Mansion begins with a lyric that sounded lame and dated even when I first heard it in 2002. It doesn't recover for me.

And there is no redeeming Miami's lyric.

OJ, a Big Mac, Michael Jackson... sure, the references were what they were. But like you say, it's only part of the song, not really that big a part of it for me.

Miami is just the most divisive U2 song ever, bar none. There is and never will be, any in-between with that one. I'd like to say that the further U2 strayed from what "U2 are supposed to be like", the more they got a big thumbs-down from fans, but that would leave out too many acknowledged favourites like Lemon, so... I dunno.

 

[cobl04]

Really enjoyed the discussion on Playboy Mansion, gang

I've said it many times, but I'll pad out my post count with it again: Edge is the problem with modern U2. Bono's increasingly obtuse lyricism is "a" problem, but Edge has always guided the musical direction of the band with his brilliant, experimental guitar work, and now he is neither brilliant nor does he experiment with his guitar. It's the same old shit all the time. No curveballs, no surprises. The bar has been lowered to the point where the solo on The Troubles is considered a major highlight.

His tone was so miraculous back in the day that a few careful strums of distorted guitar could change the tenor of songs like WGRYWH, which is effectively a catchy pop song that he darkens several shades. However you may feel about The Playboy Mansion, Edge's wah pedal work adds a necessary layer of sleaze, whereas his slide work creates a heavenly counterpoint to the song's carnality. The colorful sound manipulation of Lemon and SDABTO took those songs in a psychedelic direction that didn't feel forced; it was a natural progression from his unbridled playfulness in the studio.

Songcraft is important, but lots of decent, passable musicians write good songs. They're not all that hard to find. A studio alchemist that can transform a few notes into a dazzling waterfall is very rare. Alas, lately we've settled for chunky power chords and tributes to his old solos. Until Edge feels the urge to take his guitar work somewhere special, the band will remain stuck in neutral.

GREAT post. And thank you for saying what you said about The Troubles etc. Things really have degenerated to the point where we're like "oh the solo on The Troubles is beautiful" or "his guitar work on SLABT" is really cool, and both of those things are true, but we're so devoid of how good his work used to be that we're holding up examples of greatness when they used to be shit he could do in his sleep, and a step below the examples you mention.

See, you'll - and not just you - say things like this, but what does lyrical failure mean in this context? Is it cause a consensus formed about one or two lines in a song and that's that? Because I'd make a decent case that the lyrical content of Playboy Mansion, taken in total, is pretty much the distilled manifesto of what POPmart aspired to be (funny, as the song did not feature).

I never bought a lotto ticket
I never parked in anyone's space
the banks they're like cathedrals
I guess casinos took their place
Love, come on down
let my numbers come around...

I think the Edge is genuinely dismissive of U2's own earlier work

I get this impression sometimes too.

 

[Axver]

OJ, a Big Mac, Michael Jackson... sure, the references were what they were. But like you say, it's only part of the song, not really that big a part of it for me.

Since it's right at the start, it sinks the song for me. I'm just "oh here's the silly dated trivial song, skip". I rarely get up to the good part.

It's interesting that in 2001 the band considered a live medley of Kite and Playboy Mansion. I wonder how that would've gone.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I can't see how those two go together in any way, thematically or... musically?

 

[Axver]

Exactly why I'm so curious. It hardly makes sense.

 

[Kieran McConville]

How about a medley of New York/Miami/Cedarwood Road. All places!

 

[Axver]

You've got to put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for
MIAMI, MY MAMMY!

 

[kabigon]

It does seem an odd match, but there are common themes of loss, disorientation, uncertainty etc. between the two.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I always felt like Bono did the bad/awkward/absent/dead-dad thing so much better with Dirty Day. Now Dirty Day/Playboy Mansion, that could be interesting.

 

[Axver]

I'm all for a Father Is an Elephant/Dirty Day medley myself.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Not familiar with that one.

 

[Axver]

Unreleased song from the Boy Tour. The chorus is "my father is an elephant but he doesn't remember me". I think it's the first song Bono wrote about his dad?

 

[lazarus]

Unreleased song from the Boy Tour. You wouldn't know it.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Yep, that's just too obscure even for me. But it sounds like it'd fit the theme. Not that many dad songs to choose from with U2. There's... that... I guess... but then there's Dirty Day, Kite, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Yer Own, and that's pretty much it.

 

[ImOuttaControl]

I can't see how those two go together in any way, thematically or... musically?

Musically? Identical chords in the verses. (E & A or Asus2) I don't know how many BPM each song is but it's very close as well as the strum pattern. I just picked up my acoustic guitar and it was easy as can be to play the chords and alternate lyrics from both songs without skipping a beat. I'm sure someone crafty with audio editing could easily do a mash up of the songs.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Yeah ok. But surely you can see how they don't feel like similar songs.

I mean, you want to play the similar chord game, sure, I've already gone there in my brain. City of Blinding Lights and Miami.

 

[ImOuttaControl]

Yeah ok. But surely you can see how they don't feel like similar songs.

I mean, you want to play the similar chord game, sure, I've already gone there in my brain. City of Blinding Lights and Miami.

I agree they have a different feel. I was just responding to the statement that they don't go together musically and pointed out that musically they are very similar.

That being said, it would have been extremely easy for the band to transition into The Playboy Mansion at the end of kite by skipping to the 3rd verse "I never bought a lotto ticket" or the part "then there will be no time for sorrow." I'd say musically and lyrically those would both be excellent with Kite.

 

[Axver]

Yep, that's just too obscure even for me. But it sounds like it'd fit the theme. Not that many dad songs to choose from with U2. There's... that... I guess... but then there's Dirty Day, Kite, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Yer Own, and that's pretty much it.

I know a lot of people here are very keen on Kite, and I'm not denying it's a good song, but I'd say the only great one there is Dirty Day, and that greatness only came out properly live.

On the other hand, you can make one hell of an EP from great tunes about his mum. I Will Follow / Tomorrow / Lemon / Mofo, fuck me that's the good stuff, get it into my veins.

 

[LemonMelon]

Imagine a run of The Ocean/Tomorrow/Iris/Cedarwood Road on this tour.

Fuuuuck

 

[cobl04]

U2 might have fucking dogged the shit out of Australia in recent years, but no other country got the version of Kite we did. I'm not sure there's ever been such a cavernous gap between a studio U2 track and a live version, and I'm saying that as someone who loves the studio version of Kite.

 

[cobl04]

Imagine a run of The Ocean/Tomorrow/Iris/Cedarwood Road on this tour.

Fuuuuck

Except Cedarwood Road is replaced with Mofo and Lemon back-to-back.

 

[LemonMelon]

Except Cedarwood Road is replaced with Mofo and Lemon back-to-back.

Tbh they have their place in this set as it is. There's a huge opening for 90s material at the beginning of the second act that they predictably aren't tapping into the way they could be.

 

[Axver]

U2 might have fucking dogged the shit out of Australia in recent years, but no other country got the version of Kite we did. I'm not sure there's ever been such a cavernous gap between a studio U2 track and a live version, and I'm saying that as someone who loves the studio version of Kite.

Oh yeah that owned.

I feel privileged to have heard six of its eight performances. And yes I'd say the one that was released was the best. The one in New Zealand without the didgeridoo was a bit weird.

Except Cedarwood Road is replaced with Mofo and Lemon back-to-back.

Keep Cedarwood Road, put Mofo and Lemon in for Iris.

Now we're talking.

 

[cobl04]

That won't fly on reddit mate.