Best Song Survivor: ATYCLB Round One

[LemonMirrorSky]

I really love the "Where I grew up there weren't many trees ..." lyric.
It manages to connect the event to Ireland's history, invokes an image of a place where life used to be but now isn't anymore, refers to the insanity of life ending other life and by using the word 'enemies' somehow underlines the innocence of the victims of the tragedy.

Hmm, I still don't understand what those lines mean. But somehow they don't bother me at all.

And what's wrong with any of these lyrics really?...

They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
so the monster will not break you

Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line?
To tell the ones who hear no sound who's sons are living in the ground

Bono has written far worse lyrics than these in the 00s!

Sure, the song title itself is a cliche. But I don't find anything wrong with the song otherwise. It's a pleasant melody with sombre vocals and quite an atmospheric feel in the instrumentation. It doesn't try too hard like several songs from ATYCLB.

 

[Nick66]

Hmm, I still don't understand what those lines mean. But somehow they don't bother me at all.

And what's wrong with any of these lyrics really?...

They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
so the monster will not break you

Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line?
To tell the ones who hear no sound who's sons are living in the ground

Bono has written far worse lyrics than these in the 00s!

Sure, the song title itself is a cliche. But I don't find anything wrong with the song otherwise. It's a pleasant melody with sombre vocals and quite an atmospheric feel in the instrumentation. It doesn't try too hard like several songs from ATYCLB.

The problem a lot of people here have with the song, when it comes right down to it I believe, is its earnestness. Coming after a decade of irony, U2 made what's essentially a very earnest record, and this is probably most exemplified in Peace on Earth. If you loved that irony, you're probably going to push back against this record. It's also a pretty simple lyric, and doesn't make any attempts at a double meaning or complexity, which some people are going to appreciate and some aren't. There's nothing wrong or right about it, it's just about where your inclinations lie.

And you're very right...while the lyrics are clichéd, Bono has written MUCH worse lyrics than this. In this case, however, he wasn't trying to be funny, or ironic, or playful, he was being about as in your face earnest about the sentiment as he could be, and certain people are just going to push back from that.

The lyrics to Mercy (in any version) are far, far worse than anything on this record, including Wild Honey, but that's considered to be some kind of U2 masterpiece around here (mostly because of its essentially unreleased status).

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

The problem a lot of people here have with the song, when it comes right down to it I believe, is it earnestness. Coming after a decade of irony, U2 made what's essentially a very earnest record, and this is probably most exemplified in Peace on Earth. If you loved that irony, you're necessarily going to push back against this record.

Ummm I'm one of those people! ATYCLB disappointed me like anything because I was a huge fan of Pop. Still am. But somehow, Peace On Earth doesn't disappoint me. It was one of the songs on the record that I actually liked from the get-go. The only songs I really liked from the beginning were Beautiful Day, Peace On Earth, When I Look At The World and New York. I had issues with all the other songs, pretty much. Maybe I'm weird.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

I just found this quote from the Wiki entry for this song and I have to say that I agree with Niall Stokes and Bill Graham here. Peace On Earth does have similarities to WUDM.

Irish journalist Niall Stokes calls "Peace on Earth" the band's most "agnostic song yet", saying that it "takes that sense of abandonment" felt in "Wake Up Dead Man" "a stage further".[4] Bill Graham echoes this view asking if this is "'Wake Up Dead Man' part two?".[5] Exclaiming that, "Bono does little to hide the bitterness as he spits out the words "peace on earth".[5] Critics have also compared and contrasted the song with the band's earlier single "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Višnja Cogan writes the "two songs deal with the same subject: the conflict and violence in Northern Ireland, whichever side it comes from. However, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' deals with an historical event and is approached in a particular way: the ideas of surrender, forgiveness and neutrality are very much present. "Peace on Earth" was written in the aftermath of Omagh and is much more emotional."[6] Ryan Jones of the Bergen Record felt that "Peace on Earth" contained echoes of the band's 1987 song "Mothers of the Disappeared" in its lyrics and the tone of the instrumental prelude.[7]
After the September 11 attacks, "Peace on Earth" gained widespread popularity in the United States. For instance, a Las Vegas radio station began playing the song immediately afterwards and it soon became one of their most requested songs.[8] It subsequently became highly requested on different radio stations in other American cities as well.[

I know people here will vehemently disagree with me and state that WUDM is far superior. I like both.

 

[Nick66]

Ummm I'm one of those people! ATYCLB disappointed me like anything because I was a huge fan of Pop.

Well, I think that makes sense, since the records are about as far away from each other stylistically as they are close together chronologically. Though I believe there are some moments in ATYLCB that have hints of Pop in there...and despite its "stripped down" approach, ATYCLB has its share of synthesizers...though they are more sanely used used here. There's not as much electronic separating U2 from the listener as there is in Pop.

Which you prefer of course is a matter of taste, though I'm not surprised fans of each may be polarized (though obviously there are a lot of people who love both as well).

I know people here will vehemently disagree with me and state that WUDM is far superior. I like both.

I like both songs as well, but I don't think they cover the same ground at all, thematically, stylistically or musically. I'd never think to compare them.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

I believe there are some moments in ATYLCB that have hints of Pop in there...and despite its "stripped down" approach, ATYCLB has its share of synthesizers...

Agreed. I think PoE really harkens back to Pop. And yeah, Beautiful Day has synthesizers. I don't agree with you though, that the usage on Pop was on an insane level! Look, it's really down to personal preference as you said. We all like what we like.

 

[Cactus Annie]

Hold on did someone just mention Indiana Jones?