Ending of SNL SYCMIOYO

[ADecentMelody]

I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered earlier. I didn't find it.

What do you guys make of what Bono said at the end of SYCMIOYO during the SNL performance:

There's no regrets
No tears goodbye
I don't want you back

Is it finally his goodbye to his dad? Is it along the lines of his dad is now in a better place, not suffering from cancer anymore?

 

[Mark Freedman]

It was discussed, buried in another thread. Basically, these are lyrics to another song (I forget who), but he probably sang them for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[macphistofreak]

I think it was a goodbye to his dad.
It made me cry.

 

[Mark Freedman]

I think this song has the potential of reaching the One heights live. They'll play around with it a bit more as the tour goes on.

 

[FitzChivalry]

The first two lines made me sad, but that last line just dropped the bottom out of me. Just the way he delivered it, "I don't want you back." It was so definitive and final. No ifs, ands or buts.

"I don't want you back." On the one hand it made me feel like he was saying that his Dad's in a better place and he would never want to bring him back to the pain of old age and dying that he had at the end of his time in this world.

"I dont' want you back." On the other hand, it almost felt like an accusation. Like Bono doesn't want him back because of all the trouble they had as father and son, and now that his Dad's gone, Bono doesn't want all that pain and frustration back.

At once both sweet and aggressive.

I think it's because my Dad and I are going through some rough patches and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", God, I swear Bono wrote it about my Dad and I.

So that last line. "I don't want you back." Wow, that REALLY got to me.

God U2 are powerful!

 

[ADecentMelody]

I agree. I lost my dad at about the time that I got into U2. With or Without You was that song for me and helped me through it night after night. SYCMIOYO, however, gives me a more solid outlet and can relate a bit more because it's so nakedly written. In this song, Bono is exposed for the whole world to see.

I thought this discussion deserved its own thread.

 

[Ancalagon]

Those lines are from the song 'No Regrets' - I think it was written by Scott Walker? Midge Ure did a rather nifty version of it, long ago. It goes:

There's no regrets
No tears goodbye
I don't want you back
We'd only cry again
Say goodbye again
The hours that were yours
Echo like empty rooms
The thoughts I used to share
I now keep alone
I woke last night and spoke to you
Not thinking you were gone
And it felt so strange
To lie awake alone

 

[Axver]

Am I going completely crazy, or did Bono sing some of that during the album Q&A today?

 

[Ancalagon]

That's right, Axver; he did.