Rate the Song: The Ground Beneath Her Feet

[digitize]

Let's move onto voting for the second half of All That You Can't Leave Behind today. Note: I am considering The Ground Beneath Her Feet to be a non-album song, not part of ATYCLB. However, because I expect a glut of 2000s non-album songs to end up being polled, I decided to alleviate the burden a bit by shifting this particular non-album song onto the ATYCLB round. I will do the same for Fast Cars.

Please rate The Ground Beneath Her Feet on a scale from 0 to 10, using whatever criteria you feel allows you to best evaluate the song as a whole. I will not set criteria for people to based on, but if you feel like your best evaluation of the merits of a song comes from voting only based on, say, the studio version, go right ahead and vote that way. Full information on the Rate The Song series may be found in this thread.

Have fun! This poll will close in 96 hours.

 

[trevgreg]

Not the band's own lyrics, but a solid number (especially the ending). 8.

 

[djerdap]

10

Best song of the 00s. Starting from the beautiful keyboard riff, over that lovely little acoustic guitar in the bridge, culminating with the moment when that solo comes crushing in, resulting in one of the best climaxes this band had to offer.

Such a shame it wasn't played live (and I'm not counting those half-assed acoustic versions).

 

[An Cat Gav]

The best of only a small handful of U2's 21st Century output that is as good as their best from the 20th. Stunning melody and great vocals, this song is way beyond awesome.
10

 

[OpenG180]

10

Best song of the 00s.

Yes, it is. Decade started very well with this and the very underrated Stateless... What a deceptively way to start the 00's...

 

[Nick66]

A moody but effective song that nonetheless is not even in the Top 10 for the 00's.

 

[djerdap]

A good song that nonetheless is not even in the Top 10 for the 00's.

Can you send me the link to this Top 10?

 

[Nick66]

Can you send me the link to this Top 10?

Sure. As soon as you send me the link that says it's the "Best Song of the 00s".

 

[djerdap]

Sure. As soon as you send me the link that says it's the "Best Song of the 00s".

Sure thing bro, there you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-XKz0eNb8

 

[Nick66]

Sure thing bro, there you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-XKz0eNb8

Um, yeah.

Let me guess..MDH was one of the "Best Movies of the 00s" as well!

I will give U2 this...they do have a knack for making decent songs for crappy movies.

 

[djerdap]

Um, yeah.

Let me guess..MDH was one of the "Best Movies of the 00s" as well!

I will give U2 this...they do have a knack for making decent songs for crappy movies.

Nope, I dislike the movie very much.

 

[gvox]

Love it, and the Rushdie novel.

 

[corianderstem]

Love the song. Read the book but struggled getting through it.

 

[Nick66]

Love the song. Read the book but struggled getting through it.

Yeah...the book the song is named for is arguably one of Rushdie's weakest, and in desperate need of an editor.

The movie the song is attached to is, of course, borderline unwatchable, and as Mel Gibson so aptly put it, "boring as a dog's ass".

The song, however, has a melancholic appeal to it. Though it's interesting U2 has never really bothered much with playing this one live.

 

[alanah]

Ah, I love the song too.

 

[trojanchick99]

Absolutely adore this song. Froom the moody beginning to the big finish, it's just beautiful.

 

[LemonMelon]

Not as wonderful as Stateless, but more wonderful than pretty much all of ATYCLB. 9

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah...the book the song is named for is arguably one of Rushdie's weakest, and in desperate need of an editor.

It was the first Rushdie I'd read, so I figured I needed to try something else. (It took forever and a day to get around to it, but last year I read Midnight's Children, which was pretty awesome.)

Million Dollar Hotel was horrible.

 

[Scorpionac]

Incredible.

 

[Nick66]

Hardly ever played live? CHECK
Not a single? Check
Relatively unknown outside of U2 fandom? CHECK

Yep, this one is a prime candidate to make the 00's Interference Top 10.

 

[topplehatU2]

Hardly ever played live? CHECK
Not a single? Check
Relatively unknown outside of U2 fandom? CHECK

Yep, this one is a prime candidate to make the 00's Interference Top 10.

It was played live though.

 

[Galeongirl]

Love the song a lot. Certainly one of my favourites off ATYCLB. Solid 8.

 

[popacrobat]

It was played live though.

And it was a promo single, with a music video and everything.

 

[corianderstem]

(wrong thread, Batman!)

 

[An Cat Gav]

I'm sure there was talk of releasing it as a single from the soundtrack but the MDH came out to close to the release date of ATYCLB, so in order to avoid the clash they never released it. Big shame.

 

[Nick66]

And it was a promo single, with a music video and everything.

It was only played live for one leg of the Elevation tour (hence the word "hardly"), and it was never officially released as a single (hence "not a single") and got very little airplay (hence "relatively unknown outside U2 fandom").

Here's the relevant excerpt from Wiki:

"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" was originally intended to be a single, therefore a music video was created for the song's release. However, Interscope Records declined to give the song a single release because U2 were on the verge of completing their new album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and record executives did not want to confuse fans by releasing a non-album single. Instead, a promotional single was released to media sources, but it received very little airplay on both radio and television.

 

[corianderstem]

.... a video? Huh, I'd never heard of that.

I knew they'd played it once - couldn't remember if it was the full song or just a bit of it. I do randomly remember that it was in Kansas City.

Oh jesus.

I thought I was in the When I Look At the World thread.

never mind.

 

[Galeongirl]

U2 The Ground Beneath Her Feet - U2 on tour

Played 33 times on two legs. That's quite impressive for a non single.

 

[mikal]

U2 The Ground Beneath Her Feet - U2 on tour

Played 33 times on two legs. That's quite impressive for a non single.

33 times? Wow! That was hardly played at all!

 

[Galeongirl]

33 times? Wow! That was hardly played at all!

Seeing as there were 133 total Elevation tour and promo shows, it was played once every 4 shows.