Native Son

[Rob33]

ok, I haven't heard Native Son in awhile, and I just felt the need to express this!

Listen to this, pay careful attention at 1:17 around, that verse!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5k2k58ceW1g

that is one of the most beautiful melodies from Bono and great cohesion overall at that part specifically...For reasons such as this, Native Son makes me want to keep listening over and over, whereas Vertigo got a little boring shortly for me personally

Anyone think we will hear melodies like this from Bono on the next album? I seriously can't believe the beauty at 1:17!!!!! l Listen please!

 

[Zoots]

Definitely a better song than Vertigo! No clumsy intro and out of place spanish. Much better bridge with the beautifully sustained "Free" instead of that cheesy line on Vertigo. More interesting lyrics especially the chorus and still something you can rock out and have fun to!

But in my opinion, the perfect song would be a blend of the good parts from both NS and Vertigo. Both have their own high points but I just think NS has more of them.

 

[gman]

All the working demos from Bomb are better than the final cuts IMHO. They have a raw edge (no pun intended!) to them that the album versions sadly lack.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Vertigo for the win.

Seriously.

Take a step back and follow me down the path to the fall of 2004.

Every U2 fan on Earth was rockin out to Vertigo. And loved it. It was the perfect re-introduction. Don't deny it. If you deny the fact that you loved Vertigo when it first came out....well then I'm going to sign you up with Sigmund Freud and Niles Crane for some intense psycho-therapy sessions.

If Native Son had been that first single....that first new U2 song....instead of the hooky/catchy awesomeness of Vertigo....damn i don't even want to think about the ramifications of that.

HELLO HELLO

 

[Zoots]

Every U2 fan on Earth was rockin out to Vertigo. And loved it. It was the perfect re-introduction. Don't deny it. If you deny the fact that you loved Vertigo when it first came out....

I don't think anybody here is denying that! At least I'm not. And I still like rocking out and singing along to Vertigo. It is perfect single material, much more so than Native Son. All I'm saying is Native Son is the better rock song. If it had made the Bomb, it wouldn't have been the first single... or single at all.

 

[Moser]

Vertigo kept U2 going strong. I don't think Native Son could have done the same. It's a good lyric nonetheless, but U2 needed Catorce.

 

[popacrobat]

isn't that Edge singing at 1:17 forward until the chorus?

 

[Rob33]

isn't that Edge singing at 1:17 forward until the chorus?

there's no way, I HIGHLY doubt that

 

[Rob33]

Vertigo for the win.

Seriously.

Take a step back and follow me down the path to the fall of 2004.

Every U2 fan on Earth was rockin out to Vertigo. And loved it. It was the perfect re-introduction. Don't deny it. If you deny the fact that you loved Vertigo when it first came out....well then I'm going to sign you up with Sigmund Freud and Niles Crane for some intense psycho-therapy sessions.

If Native Son had been that first single....that first new U2 song....instead of the hooky/catchy awesomeness of Vertigo....damn i don't even want to think about the ramifications of that.

HELLO HELLO

yes I agree, I think Vertigo is one of the most energizing songs live ever for U2- I was merely pointing out the melody that starts at 1:17, unbelievable

 

[Peterrrrr]

Vertigo easily!

Why, I think Native Son is to popy.

The only thing that I think they should have put on Vertigo is the long "Free" note.

 

[Varitek]

I don't think anybody here is denying that! At least I'm not. And I still like rocking out and singing along to Vertigo. It is perfect single material, much more so than Native Son. All I'm saying is Native Son is the better rock song. If it had made the Bomb, it wouldn't have been the first single... or single at all.

U2 are clearly sellouts.

 

[Varitek]

Definitely a better song than Vertigo! No clumsy intro and out of place spanish. Much better bridge with the beautifully sustained "Free" instead of that cheesy line on Vertigo. More interesting lyrics especially the chorus and still something you can rock out and have fun to!

But in my opinion, the perfect song would be a blend of the good parts from both NS and Vertigo. Both have their own high points but I just think NS has more of them.

I think I see you there in the youtube comments

 

[Zoots]

I think I see you there in the youtube comments

 

[vaz02]

Vertigo was such a great comeback single but i think it lacked the cutting edge lyrics which has led to ridicule by a lot of the music community.

Native son shown a lot of potential and im disappointed they didnt progress on it.

Native son is by far the superior rock song, vertigo is too poppy imo.

 

[LemonMelon]

You can explain the lyric change in one of two ways:

1. The band felt the lyrics and music did not mesh as well as they could have.

2. The band sold out.

It's a difficult call, since either choice is understandable. I've never felt Native Son's lyrics fit with the poppy riff-rock feel of the music. At all. And apparently the band didn't either. It's a good song in either form, but it's not some fucking brilliant lost gem or something. This is about on par with putting Sunday Bloody Sunday's lyrics over the Sweetest Thing.

 

[65980]

'Vertigo' is much better. The chorus is more more powerful.

I will say the lyrical subject-matter of 'Native Son' is more interesting, since 'Vertigo' is basically the same kind of post-ironic search for spirituality in moral decadence as a lead-off single that we already got with 'Discotheque'.

But 'Vertigo' is better. Also, I completely disagree that the alternate versions of the HTDAAB songs are better. In my opinion, they're all crap except 'Yahweh', which is as good as (not better) than the released LP version.

 

[Zoots]

It's a good song in either form, but it's not some fucking brilliant lost gem or something.

Agreed.

I do love the way he sings that last verse of Vertigo... "I can feel your love teaching me how..." and the guitar accompanying it, and this is absent on Native Son. So

And just cos I spent the past 2 hours working on this.... here's my best attempt at an ideal Bomb. I know it's not perfect because we can only work with the songs we have and certain songs like Vertigo and Native Son for example could have probably benefited with parts from both songs! Anyway...

1. Love And Peace (cheesetastic "or else" removed )
2. City Of Blinding Lights
3. Native Son
4. All Because Of You (alternate version)
5. Miracle Drug
6. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
7. Original Of The Species (single version)
8. Yahweh (alternate version)
9. Fast Cars
10. A Man And A Woman
11. Crumbs From Your Table
12. One Step Closer

Optional: Hidden track, Mercy

LAP makes a good opener and if one is impatient to get to the much better song, it's easy to skip. Native Son/Vertigo and ABOY always went well together for me. Sometimes and Original went great together on the tour. Yahweh and Fast Cars is perfect for me. Can't explain it. Fast Cars and AMAAW are musically similar. Crumbs is the high before the mellow ending just like New York/Grace. This list works for me right now... until I change it again!

ETA: I'm not sure I prefer the ABOY alt. version thaaaat much to the album version but anything is better than that ear piercing intro that's why I chose the alt version.

 

[Rosebud]

I like NS and it has its strong points, but I'd say Vertigo is definitely superior - esp. as a hard rocking show opener. I can see it's sure easy to get sick of it and want to praise Native son to the moon after listening to Vertigo on not only the album, but radio, internet, and bootleg after bootleg after bootleg after bootleg...

 

[Moser]

I always thought that the Vertigo Banjo version was far superior. Good show opener.

 

[gweeps]

Native Son rocks the pants off Vertigo.

Plus it has a much more meaningful message.

I consider them two very different songs.

 

[rihannsu]

You can explain the lyric change in one of two ways:

1. The band felt the lyrics and music did not mesh as well as they could have.

2. The band sold out.

It's a difficult call, since either choice is understandable. I've never felt Native Son's lyrics fit with the poppy riff-rock feel of the music. At all. And apparently the band didn't either. It's a good song in either form, but it's not some fucking brilliant lost gem or something. This is about on par with putting Sunday Bloody Sunday's lyrics over the Sweetest Thing.

It wasn't the band that changed the lyrics, it was Bono. Lillywhite told the story in several interviews that when he came in to work on the album and had the band set up together in the room to play through what they already had, Bono got 30 seconds into Native Son and came to a screeching halt saying "I can't sing that song for two years on the road." For whatever reason the song no longer worked for Bono with those lyrics and if Bono can't get into the song he can't sing it. After this Edge and the others fiddled with the music a little changing something (I don't remember what Steve said) then Bono came in and improvised on the lyric. Lillywhite also said that the Native Son lyric was a case of Bono trying to write to a specific issue which often comes out forced and doesn't sit well with the music.

Dana

 

[Rachel D.]

I don't think that "Native Son" would have made a good first single the way "Vertigo" did, because the lyrics are too harsh and political. U2 would have had to find a "friendlier" song for the first single to appeal to the general public, and that's what "Vertigo" is. But "Native Son" is a pretty good song on its own, anyway.

And that is Edge singing in that one part. I don't know what's in the 1:17 mark, but if you're talking about the "... I know I can't stay / If I stay I know what's next" section, then I do believe that is the Edge.

 

[phillyfan26]

Native Son by a mile. Better lyrics plus Edge's verse.

 

[popacrobat]

Native Son by a mile. Better lyrics plus Edge's verse.

This is the verse that starts at about 1:19 right? as I said earlier in this thread, I'm 99% certain that is Edge singing and not Bono.

 

[popacrobat]

And that is Edge singing in that one part. I don't know what's in the 1:17 mark, but if you're talking about the "... I know I can't stay / If I stay I know what's next" section, then I do believe that is the Edge.

nice.

 

[Rob33]

And that is Edge singing in that one part. I don't know what's in the 1:17 mark, but if you're talking about the "... I know I can't stay / If I stay I know what's next" section, then I do believe that is the Edge.

interesting, to me the beginning of the verse really sounds like bono

"Don’t want to run away" then it phases into Edge? I don't know, but either way, that melody is very beautiful. Can anyone see melodies like that on the new album?

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

The lyrics in Native Son sound 'forced' to me. Like Bono was trying 'too hard' to be political, I think that's why he stepped back from them and went another direction.

"Officer put down the gun"...I dunno, I never dug that lyric at all...

 

[popacrobat]

interesting, to me the beginning of the verse really sounds like bono

"Don’t want to run away" then it phases into Edge? I don't know, but either way, that melody is very beautiful. Can anyone see melodies like that on the new album?

no, dont want to run away is edge.

 

[LemonMelon]

The lyrics in Native Son sound 'forced' to me. Like Bono was trying 'too hard' to be political, I think that's why he stepped back from them and went another direction.

"Officer put down the gun"...I dunno, I never dug that lyric at all...

Yeah, exactly.


Thanks to rihannsu for posting the true story. I had read that before but had forgotten.

 

[last unicorn]

I agree about the "Native Son" lyrics sounding too forced, like Bono is trying too hard to be political, and they are quite simple at the same time. Bono said he doesn't want to sing these lyrics, and "Vertigo" is the better single and better live track.

I'm not so sure about who's singing the particular verse mentioned above, but I agree it's a great verse, my favourite one in the song, reminds me a lot of "old" U2. I've always believed it's Bono, but then again Bono's and Edge's voices can sound so alike.