Native Son...months later

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
G

gareth brown

Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
6,593
I've finally got round to listening to this properly after someone sent it to me again and I must say it's fantastic! I can now see why a lot of people prefer this to Vertigo.

It really makes you realise how over-'polished' Vertigo was and how useless most of the lyrics are! :ohmy: plus Bono's singing is much better...seriously, a LOT better. At 2:17, the way he holds that note is fucking SUPERB and makes me want to know why they didn't keep that in the final mix of 'Vertigo' which just sounded a bit bland at the end!

It would have made it SO much better! Just saying 'Yeah yeah yeah' over and over again is lame and overused! With that held note it makes you feel that the song should be played at MAXIMUM VOLUME and fill EVERY LAST BIT OF SPACE you have in the room!

Can't get enough of it...
 
It's NEARLY in one of the Jacknife Lee remixes...nowhere near as good though :(
 
They should play Vertigo AND Native Son at the shows instead of the 2xVertigo :censored:.
 
Native son ROCKS, the guitars are so much chingadod, and that overdub by guitar is sweet. And I wholeheartedly agree with you on Bono's vocals, awesome. Native son kills vertigo
 
I think that the lyrics are far superior in Native son....but here is what Lillywhite had to say about it..........



It was very important that we didn’t just try and re-cut all of the old stuff. That would have felt like a continuation of the bad things that had happened. So we worked on the new songs for a few weeks and got those going. And then we turned to a song that we’d always thought was everybody’s favourite – ‘Native Son’. It was good, but I wanted to re-cut it because it didn’t have the U2 spark.

We got the guitar sounding really good, and Adam was flying on the bass. There was a great feeling. And then I thought, it’s best if Bono goes up and does a live vocal – let’s get it really raw and do it like the old days. But when he started singing ‘Native Son’, it was rubbish.

I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘I can’t sing that.’ The way Bono looks at it, he’s got to go out for two years around the world flogging his wares and he has to believe in what he’s selling. Bono will not look you in the eye and say, ‘This is the best record we’ve made for years,’ if he doesn’t believe it. He’s got high standards.

So, we spent a long time trying to make it into what it is now. There must have been 20 different choruses, and another ten different chord changes we tried in the chorus. Eventually we stuck with the original chorus, which had the same chords as ‘Native Son’. But we couldn’t sing ‘Native Son’.

I double-tracked Bono’s voice, which we’ve never done before. It made it sound better, and eventually it became ‘Vertigo’ - but it wasn’t like, ‘That’s the one!’ We still thought it might not be good enough.


taken from the u2.com interview with steve.
 
Last edited:
While Native Son has better lyrics, I prefer the sound of Vertigo better - as well as Bono's singing.
 
I think I'd go with Vertigo. I love the background story to it, as opposed to Native Son's, which I'm unaware of.

And the "free" sung at 2:17 wasn't kept in Vertigo because, between you and me, I doubt Bono would be able to sing that night after night on tour.
 
U2girl said:
While Native Son has better lyrics, I prefer the sound of Vertigo better - as well as Bono's singing.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Native Son would not have given HTDAAB the xposure that Vertigo did.
 
But why is that kind of exposure neccessary?
And there you go - now you have little babies singing Vertigo in that CD compilation,along with Shitney and the rest of the poppy team.
Don't get me wrong,i love Vertigo,but still i believe it was waaaaaay too much played on music channels.
And yes,i prefer Native Son. :wink:
 
What is the background story to Vertigo?
Bono says so many different things it's hard to keep track.
I see it as a song about temptation set either at a concert or a night club. Relying on faith to get thru the urge to cave in.
That and it's littered with some typical hooks, in that sense it's really a perfect lead single, I just like Native Son better.

Native Son's background story is Leonard Peltier, which is about as inaccesible as could imagine.

Bono couldn't sing that "freee" in concert night after night.
But I don't think that's why they went with Vertigo.
They went with Vertigo because it's more catchy and more accesible to the average listener.

I think Native Son is a better song and could describe in different ways why but there isn't much point. Vertigo served to do what the band wanted it to do.
 
U2DMfan said:
What is the background story to Vertigo?
Bono says so many different things it's hard to keep track.
I see it as a song about temptation set either at a concert or a night club. Relying on faith to get thru the urge to cave in.
That and it's littered with some typical hooks, in that sense it's really a perfect lead single, I just like Native Son better.

Native Son's background story is Leonard Peltier, which is about as inaccesible as could imagine.

Bono couldn't sing that "freee" in concert night after night.
But I don't think that's why they went with Vertigo.
They went with Vertigo because it's more catchy and more accesible to the average listener.

I think Native Son is a better song and could describe in different ways why but there isn't much point. Vertigo served to do what the band wanted it to do.
Click to expand...

Vertigo is about this time when Bono was day-dreaming and he was in a nightclub called 'Vertigo'. He hated the music ('I can't stand the beats') and the people around him, until he found a girl that was wearing a Jesus cross ('girl with crimson nails').

He began to focus on the cross as it was the only thing in the nightclub that gave him comfort; the only thing that he recognized. And that's what Vertigo is about-finding God and recognizing Him and recognizing sometimes He's the only thing in your world that gives you comfort.
 
While, Vertigo does have the catchy, instant hit thing going on, I truly belive Native Son would have aged better. I've heard more people say they can't stand Vertigo, and after hearing Native Son, I can hardly blame them.

Native Son.:drool: :drool:
 
I've only heard a portion of Native Son as well as the alternate version to All Because of You on iTunes. I have to say they sound great but again I haven't heard the full versions. I plan on getting the Complete U2 but right now I'm saving for my trip to New York(I live in Sylvan Lake, Alberta) to see the boys in October. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could send me a copy of the songs. Remember I do plan on buying them eventually. I support my band:wink:

putnam3360@yahoo.ca

Thank you to whoever in advance. Much appreciated.
 
Hallucination said:
I've only heard a portion of Native Son as well as the alternate version to All Because of You on iTunes. I have to say they sound great but again I haven't heard the full versions. I plan on getting the Complete U2 but right now I'm saving for my trip to New York(I live in Sylvan Lake, Alberta) to see the boys in October. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could send me a copy of the songs. Remember I do plan on buying them eventually. I support my band:wink:

putnam3360@yahoo.ca

Thank you to whoever in advance. Much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Which songs do you want?
 
U2Man said:
They should play Vertigo AND Native Son at the shows instead of the 2xVertigo :censored:.
Click to expand...

I've had the same thought. Maybe Native Son to close out the show. By that point, the strange lyrics (b/c no one would recognize) wouldn't even be noticed.
 
Hallucination said:


Wow! Ummm... Native Son, All Because of You(original lyrics) and possibly Smile would fantastic. If it's possible namkcuR you'd be my hero.
Click to expand...

Ok, well I already uploaded Native Son...link is on the first page of this thread. I assume you know how ysi links are handled here. Go ahead and download that one while I upload the other two.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
i'll be the minority and say that i like vertigo better... and i'm not just saying that... i do.
Click to expand...

I don't think you're in the minority, really. Someone should do a poll to find out though :wink:

I like Vertigo overall better...I dunno, it just has "it." I think the band felt that way too. It's a close call though, I do like Native Son a lot, and the "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" part is incredible. Definitely should have put that in Vertigo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Reggie Thee Dog
Are we NOT discussing the Dolby Atmos Mix of Achtung Baby?
Replies
13
Views
1K
count rushmore
count rushmore
N
NBA 2023-24 Thread
11 12 13
Replies
388
Views
11K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
Janet H
Forum Downtime - software update 1/23-24
Replies
13
Views
683
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
U
Hey there! I finally made an account here!
Replies
2
Views
273
U2_family365
U
MrsSpringsteen
Atomic City
Replies
11
Views
1K
HeartlandGirl
HeartlandGirl

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom