The Miss Sarajevo Appreciatory place

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typhoon

New Yorker
Joined
Feb 18, 2002
Messages
3,021
I agree that this song must be on the Best of 1990-2000. That, and Lemon, Stay, HMTMKMKM, If God Will Send His Angels, Please, and a B-side disc, and I'm happy with it.
 
I just wanted to talk a little about this song. I feel its an underated piece of music from the band. I hope it is on this new Best of complilation as well because I sort of wish they would have went in this direction, a la Passengers, rather than switching gears and rolling into the album called POP. I love teh orchestra background, Pavarotti's vocals, and the whole atmosphere of the song. Its a mood piece as well as a strong political one. I have fallen for this song...we're getting hitched in July. YeeeHawwww!!!

I have a question about one of the lyrics:
Is there a time for tying ribbons?
A time for Christmas trees?
Is there a time for wedding tables?
And the night is set to freeze?


My curiosity lies in "the night is set to freeze"
What does this mean exactly? Is it a reference to taking a wedding picture? Or any picture for that matter?? That line has always baffled me.


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"You gotta put the women and children first, but you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York..."
 
I've always adored Miss Sarajevo, but I'm not sure whether I really see it as a U2 song, because I've always felt that it belongs to Pavarotti. I mean, they wrote it, of course, and Bono's vocals are as heartfelt and haunting as ever, but I still remember that hair-raising moment I first heard Pavarotti's beast of a voice on this song; I thought it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard and his part still brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it.

It's interesting that of all the singers on the "Pavarotti & Friends in Sarajevo" CD, Bono is the only one who smartly enough doesn't even try to compete with Pavarotti vocally. His singing on Miss Sarajevo is more like Edge's guitar playing on a "regular" U2 song.
 
If I had to take a guess on that line I would think it was in reference to the nightlife that Sarajevo once enjoy like so many other large cities that come to life at night such as New York, Paris, London, and to a certain extent, Bono's hometown, Dublin City, Ireland.

However, the once bright lights, and life that was once a part of the allurement of Sarajevo was gone, as merriment and life had given way to horror and death. So the warmth of the night lights had now gone out and had become in time when 'the night is set to freeze', and in that frozen in time the guns of war rage, and the shadows of the living seek shelter from the stinging rain of death and destruction, and for many in that city, you wish for reality to freeze, and in some way wish for all of it to be just a dream.

Chris

[This message has been edited by spanisheyes (edited 03-20-2002).]
 
Originally posted by tackleberry:


My curiosity lies in "the night is set to freeze"
What does this mean exactly? Is it a reference to taking a wedding picture? Or any picture for that matter?? That line has always baffled me.

Wow, that's a great observation about that line. I would've never guessed that. I always just took it literal, as in temperature-wise.
rolleyes.gif
to myself.

I agree about Miss Sarajevo. That song is one amazing piece of work. It is so subtle, but so STRONG at the same time. Growing up in a house with Pavarotti always playing, when I heard his aria in that song for the first time...I can't even describe how it makes me feel. I will tell you it does bring me to tears.

The whole song, it's just so solemn. Prooves that even though their country is being ravaged, they MUST continue with their lives, and celebrate holidays, turn to Mecca, and have beauty pageants. Beauty pageants that are being rained upon by shells.
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What are we going to do now It's all been said,
No new ideas in the house and Every book has been read....
 
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