Bad

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should u2 drop "Bad" from their next tour?

  • No, it's the epitome of their live show

    Votes: 42 48.8%
  • No, it's a good tune, and Bono's voice can take it

    Votes: 32 37.2%
  • Yes, I rather hear another song be played, though "Bad" is a classic

    Votes: 10 11.6%
  • Yes, I never really liked the song

    Votes: 2 2.3%

  • Total voters
    86
Joined
Mar 4, 2002
Messages
18
hey everyone... it's my first post. I've been reading some of the posts about Bono's voice, which is so soulful now. But it doesn't have the power that it used to. One of his best vocal performances is on the epic song "Bad", but as we can hear on the Boston DVD, the voice just can't take it. He even skips the second verse with the "lifeless lifeline to the wind" (which might not be because of his voice... but why else?).

"Bad" is my second favorite song, just second to "The Fly", but on the next tour... do you think U2 should drop it, and play a song like "Acrobat", or another favorite among these message boards?
 
I really don't care he can't hit the high notes on that song as he used to. It's all about the feeling when they perform that song, and that's still very much in there. So NO, don't drop it! :shame:
 
i voted yes, cuz i never really liked the song. it's all right live, but the studio version sucks.

anyway, like you said, his voice isn't the same as it used to be (not worse or anything, just different) and he can't really hit the high notes as well as he used to. i think it would be better if they stuck to songs that they could play...uhh...awesomely? :D
 
Heck No!

It's my favorite song.

Bono's unleashed passion (whether or not his voice can keep up on some nights) is unparallel to 99.9% of live songs they do.

I love love love love Bad.
 
This is the one that sends chills down your spine when you hear it or watch it at a concert, on a concert mp3 or a concert video. Taking this song out would be a VERY bad move.
 
It takes on such a different meaning though when he guts it out...as he did during various points on the Elevation Tour...plus, there are and will be so many people who haven't heard it live in person...to think that people might not get that opportunity would be a tragedy.

However, with that being said, I wouldn't mind at all Please (full band version) being substituted for it (considering both came right before Streets on different tours). As far as passion goes, Please does the trick just as well if not better.
 
There are some songs that should transcend the polls of Interference, and Bad is one of those songs. As a fan of 20 plus years, I get very concerned when we as fans cheapen U2 by mentioning songs they should play or shouldn't play live on stage. U2 have remained successful because of their fans, and despite their fans, and Bad is a song that will forever define the power that U2 possess within a song. It is a song that almost bigger than the very voice who sings it, the very players who play it, because within its message is a song of hope in the midst of consuming tragedy. So Bono can't sing with the same power in his voice that he sang the song when he sang it at Live Aid in 1985, but for God's sake, please understand everyone that he is 42 years old, and when you are that age, I have to believe that what you give away in power, you take back in the song coming from the soul, because you truly understand life better, and you realize that the very song you sing could easily be the song sung about yourself. Bono's voice is exactly where it should be, because you see, he has been giving his fans his all for 20 plus years, and who are we to sit here day after day, and have continual polls and post about how Bono's voice used to be, how if only he could still sing like that today. Please help me to understand this type of madness, and help please help me to understand how we think that somehow we have the power to influence U2 to take out of their live show a song that is almost more than themselves, or even their fans, but is a song that is the very essence of U2's life and message. Before their was Please, before their was One, and even before their was Peace on Earth, U2 gave us Bad and the power of hope in the face of hurt through their voices, their instruments, through ever fiber of their beings. I challenge you to go back and watch Bad at Live Aid, watch Bad on Rattle and Hum on the Joshua Tree tour, listen or watch Bad from Santiago, Chile on the Popmart Tour, and watch again Bad from the Boston DVD on the Elevation tour, and don't close your eyes and heart up and just listen to the voice, but watch Bono's expressions, his body language, watch as he pours every ounce of hope and deperation into the song, watch the regret, the pain, the relief, the overwhelming sense of exctasy that maybe somehow will not have to take that same journey that friends and loved ones did that inspired Bono to pen the very words in Bad. Just watch, and let your heart answer the question if Bad be taken away. It has never been a question of mine, but have reveled in the privilege and pride to have been in the audience many a time when Bad has been played from the Unforgettable Fire tour to the Elevation tour, and I still get the overwhelming sense that I'm hearing the very core being of Bono's soul, and we all know that in the end, soul will always win over power.

Chris
 
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pinkfloyd said:
Cut the Joshua Tree into rubbles , put away bad and turn on Dirty Day and Miami !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:laugh: :rant: :dance:

R U insane????!!!!! :coocoo: :huh:

Bad is not one of my favorites but it is a classic that defines the band and should stay!!!!!
 
RavenStar said:
I like the song but I wished they played more stuff from AB and Zooropa and PoP.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Especially Pop and Zooropa. I like Bad, I love Bad, and I think Bono still does a pretty good job at it, because he's got so much feeling. Soul.

I always thought Bono skipped the "lifelines" verse because he forgot it.....:eyebrow:

btw, pinkfloyd, you are hilarious but i still totally seriously agree with you...I love bad but I want some more Pop in the set!
 
Ultravioletbabe said:


R U insane????!!!!! :coocoo: :huh:

Bad is not one of my favorites but it is a classic that defines the band and should stay!!!!!

bad is a very good song and so is Dirty Day for example , and Miami live kicks ass too .
 
Not only is SpanishEyes' (Chris's) post exquisitely brilliant, but I tend to think that Bono sings "Bad" even better than he used to.

Listen to some performances of "Bad" during the ZOO TV era. People go on and on about how great Bono's voice was then, but I'm not convinced. Part of the change was how he sang. Part of it was his image. But I also think that part of it was his voice was giving just a bit - and it has NOW recovered. When I listen to "Bad" during the ZOO TV era, often Bono did a falsetto for the "I'm wide awake" lines - and a falsetto here just doesn't work. But during the Elevation Tour, Bono belted and screamed that part like he did when he was 25.

This song isn't about "hitting the high notes" or falsettos - it's about screaming, screaming for your life. To drag up that type of power and emotion night after night is horribly challenging, but Bono, nearly 20 years after that song was written, can still do it.

The "Streets/Bad" combo was brilliant, and, IMO, surpassed that of "Please/Streets", which I thought was nearly impossible.

Therefore, keep "Bad." It is one of those songs that transcends time. I fear that its message, sadly, will never die - but that makes the song all the more powerful and perhaps even necessary.
 
well said!

doctorwho said:
Not only is SpanishEyes' (Chris's) post exquisitely brilliant, but I tend to think that Bono sings "Bad" even better than he used to.


This song isn't about "hitting the high notes" or falsettos - it's about screaming, screaming for your life. To drag up that type of power and emotion night after night is horribly challenging, but Bono, nearly 20 years after that song was written, can still do it.

The "Streets/Bad" combo was brilliant, and, IMO, surpassed that of "Please/Streets", which I thought was nearly impossible.

Therefore, keep "Bad." It is one of those songs that transcends time. I fear that its message, sadly, will never die - but that makes the song all the more powerful and perhaps even necessary.

:yes:
 
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pinkfloyd said:
Cut the Joshua Tree into rubbles , put away bad and turn on Dirty Day and Miami !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:laugh: :rant: :dance:

Bad was on The Unforgettable Fire.

But you can still try to cut down the JT if ya want (although I think they already did that phase) ;)

:cool:
 
some tunes I can't go to a u2 concert without:
1. streets
2. bad
3. pride
4. one
5. with or without you:wave:
 
Amen to spanisheyes?s words...and also doctorwho?s.

Bad is much more than a simple song to me, much more than music and lyrics, much more than just the sound and the words. And I?m still to see and listen to it played live in this life. So I selfishly say...keep Bad on the setlist, keep the dream alive.
 
There's some songs that never seem to fail in U2's setlist, and Bad is among them. I liked it on all tours (the falsetto "i'm wide awake" was interesting IMO), and i thought Bono's voice in Boston was good.

So... of course keep it.
 
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