City of Blinding Lights appreciation thread

[cjboog]

City of Blinding Lights has been one of my favorite U2 songs since the first time I heard it. Today it only continues to grow on me and is great in the Chicago DVD. I hope this song stays around in the next tour! Anyone else think it's great and if you do, how does it compare to U2's old work?

 

[J_NP]

It was actually one of the songs that I was really excited to see in the concert , probably the best song of the album live.

How does compare , very simple , it's the streets of the 00s.

 

[JCOSTER]

"Can't you see the beauty inside of me, what happened to the beauty I had inside of me?" considering the song was written after 9/11 about the audience which attend the show post 9/11, the song has so much more meaning than I think people know.

"time won't take the boy from this man".....awsome lyrics about a time of lost innocence.

Personally, I especially loved the song when I saw them at MSG and Bono came across and reached out to me and sang the beauty inside verse while reaching across to me. I could have died on the spot.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Ok Ok I'll get me coat......

 

[catlhere]

Streets Lite

If a more "U2-ish" sound like this and miracle drug is where the boys are headed for the next album, count me in

 

[dazzledbylight]

COBL.......O M G.......
actually i forget that part of it IS about the audience.....attending the post 9-11 show {shows?} .

I willl have to go and recontemplate that subtlety.

But in the meantime ....I think it's one of the most sonically uplifting {both in instrument and vocal + harmonies parts} songs they'd ever done taken as a whole.

It reminds me of the sonic uplift again BOTH musically played and vocally sung + the harmonies}- of The Three Sunrises {very underated}......one my MY all time favorite U2 and any other bands songs.

I practically tingled with EXCITMENT when they opened with itat the Garden {May}, and was also EXTREMELLY thrilled when they played it live in Brooklyn first time !

I was there on the first night of U2 @ MSG post 9-11.........I couldn't get tix, and it became my FIRST NET SEARCH for any tix....after 3 days of my hair standing on end and several close-but-no-cigar misses -- I got a seat 2 hours before the show. I just.had.to.BE.THERE.

It WAS one of the most intense/surreal experiences of my life {and i've lived through some of the most awful/surreal times in the USA up till 9-11}. It was very carthartic. As soon as I saw them climbing the stairs to the stage I started crying, and practicaly sung every song while crying at the same time through all of them.

Oh you 're very, Very, VERY LUCKY JCOS to have had that sung to you.{and be that close...all my attemps at getting GA tix failed miserably! }

ANd the stage lighting with it was unbelievable Beautiful.
I would love them to play/sing it again next toour, too.

 

[Jack In The Box]

great opener for a concert, here in Mexico it was magic... "Mexico City of Blinding Lights"... *sigh* beautiful

 

[namkcuR]

If a more "U2-ish" sound like this and miracle drug is where the boys are headed for the next album, count me in

Count me out. No resting on laurals

 

[Zoots]

Maybe if Even Better Than The Real Thing wasn't the soundtrack of my life when I was 13, I would enjoy City Of Blinding Lights even more. Don't get me wrong, I love COBL for the uplifting feel-good concert opener that it is! But all said and done, at the end of the day, I get a 'been there done that' vibe from it. Maybe if I'd gotten into U2 in 2004 instead of 1992, I would have a completely different opinion.

 

[clifedge]

How does it compare , very simple , it's the streets of the 00s.

Well said...

 

[cjboog]

I know that but is it better than Streets? I personally think yes

 

[ozeeko]

I dunno. To me, COBL sounds like a song written by a U2 cover band. Also, I think it's a song that would probably go over well in concert, but on the album it just doesn't hit me on any emotional level. Not to mention the "ooooo" part rattles my speakers everytime I listen to it. And the lyrical subject matter isn't my cup of tea. It's written about a concert audience I wasn't there to witness or be a part of.

 

[youtooellen]

such a beautiful opening song. as I look back at my concert experience with my brother (who isn't too much of a U2 fan but still enjoys the music), even he had chills up and down his spine when the lights exploded in the arena.

it's just such a beautiful song in itself

 

[Carek1230]

LOVE IT!!! Every time I hear this song it brings me back to THE moment at the beginning of the shows I was at this tour when it was played. I look up and expect to see the confetti falling to the ground, my body tingles and I smile with glee. Great lyrics, very uplifting song, gets the heart pumping, gets everyone on their feet, swaying and singing to the music. I think it is one of my top 3 favorites on HTDAAB and possibly the most memorable song from the Vertigo tour. I love the music that can take me back to a moment or to a feeling like this one moves me.

 

[Cask]

City of Blinding Lights is one of my favorite, and will always have a special place for me. After being a U2 fan for a long time, I never had a opportunity to watch the band live. But finally, last year in Oakland I had it. And it was like a dream come true, like I was in one of the DVDs that I had seen so many times before. First seeing The Edge, Adam and Larry and finally Bono on the tip of the ellipse was a feeling I cannot describe, and no other concert or song will top that experience, altough hearing Streets live for the first time was pretty close. Luckily I got to see them again in Mexico City, and COBL again made me feel really excited. And, besides it being the opener of the concerts I have been to, I thought it was a great song since the first time I heard it, even since a bootleg I heard recorded outside a TV studio (I dont remember which show was that from, but it was an audience recording from a few weeks before the album release).

 

[roy]

I fell in love with this song the very first time I heard it from the mini BBC show. Gorgeous, gorgeous song.

 

[annie_vox]

What I like most about this song is the lyrics... Very inspiring and beautiful yet simple. And live this is just

 

[cjboog]

I actually love the music video. It is just a simple concert but I love the direction and it's just fun to watch for me.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

When I first listened to the albu version, I thought it was one of the worst of HTDAAB. Seriously, the album version sucks so much compared to what is given live!
I went to 5 Vertigo Tour concerts, and YES, the song was one of the highlights for me. Edge's guitar is splendid, it makes me fly.... it is beautiful....
I really don't know and understand why they recorded such a weak and bad album version, it is not the same song.

 

[sami0201]

it's the streets of the 00s.

It's so much better live than on the album. Fantastic opener. I get chills every time I hear it now.

 

[XHendrix24]

Quite possibly my favorite song from this era. So much energy.

 

[Schmeg]

I've also loved this song from the first time I heard it. Great song live, great opener, and it has taken on a lot of personal meaning for me.

 

[gherman]

I love this song. I played it to death for a while and then took a break from it. When I listened to it agian I really surpased most of thier other songs for me. There is something about that song in its simplisity that just elevates me to a different level.

 

[BonosBaby12]

I am in love with COBL! Believe it's one of the best songs that U2 has done. Like others whenever I hear it I am taken back to my concert experiences and the excitement I felt when it started. Just gives you such a great feeling all over no matter where it is that you are listening to it!

 

[MacPhistoPT]

It's an awesome song Shows they still got it...

 

[waynetravis]

COBL is a great song. i really like the video, but the live version on the DVD is excellent, one of the best songs on the tour.

Definetly Streets of the '00s

 

[BonosBaby12]

COBL is a great song. i really like the video, but the live version on the DVD is excellent, one of the best songs on the tour.

Definetly Streets of the '00s

Completely agree!

 

[U2girl]

One of the best on the album IMO, next to Original of the species, One step closer and Sometimes.

My favourite bit is the "wooo ooo ooo" falsetto bit right before the chorus, Edge's riffs soar there, and of course the "time" verse, it really takes off. That said, I think Kite is the best out of the "U2-sound" songs we have gotten in this era (Walk on, Kite, Miracle Drug, City, Crumbs, Yahweh).

 

[JCOSTER]

Oh you 're very, Very, VERY LUCKY JCOS to have had that sung to you.{and be that close...all my attemps at getting GA tix failed miserably! }


[/B]

I was right behind Larry 1st row rear stage, so there was maybe 6ft between us but we were on the same level so when he reached across and I reached across my husband was holding on to the belt loop of my pants afraid I was going to go over into the sound equipment! Still what a moment to be looked at and even noticed by Bono, everytime I hear that part no matter where I am I think of that moment!

 

[Roland of Gilead]

This song has everything going for it. Great video! Great concert opener! Great sound! Great single cover! I mean, what isn't great about this song?

This will definetly be one of those timeless U2 classics. I love the fact that it wasn't overplayed too much as a single. At least, I rarely heard this on the radio or saw the video. Not like Vertigo, All Because of You, and Sometimes... . City still seems "fresh" to me as crazy as that might be.