"The universe exploding 'cosa of one man's lie"

[Varitek]

No worries.... I was just restating what I said earlier about Bono being at the center of contradiction -- requiring his family life, yet gravitating to the street, being torn in two different directions to his role as an artist -- by using the example of Achtung Baby as the art in question. If he wasn't the torn artist, if he didn't live at the center of contradiction, if he wasn't living "with or without" that life, he wouldn't be creating art as powerful as Achtung Baby. So it's the point that he's making in The Fly which is exemplified by Achtung Baby, itself.

Maybe that's why the music has mellowed out so much now? Not to stir things up.

I like it. But maybe it's mellowed because he's older. He's no longer the young man so tempted and torn.

BTW can we just make this a thread about the whole album, which I am now listening to? Like how Zoo Station is about trying to convince yourself but not really being ready to be single, and Acrobat, which is so amazing... I'm never going to get any work done at this rate.

 

[Varitek]

Interesting interpretations. I think the song is about a burnt out old man having an affair with a younger woman. The lyrics/phone call is the old man going on a rant about why they should stay together. The bits of wisdom are his way of showing her that he knows the way of the world. As for the specific line asked about in the first post, I don't think it is a sign of guilt. People look at 'exploded' as a bad thing. I think the line is saying the universe has opened up because of the lie. So many new things are possible because of this affair. The song could very well be another song in the line of Deep In The Heart, Walk To The Water & Luminous Times. The suffocation and uncertainty of love is a running theme.

There's a different angle. I'm not sure - that answers my "child" issue but in a skeezy way. But I don't like it. "Our world is in darkness," "you know i don't see you when she walks into the room" are pretty piss poor ways of convincing somebody to stay together. And it doesn't fit well with the song's last line. But your thoughts on "exploded" having a positive meaning - maybe it has a dual meaning.

 

[The Slow Loris]

I like it. But maybe it's mellowed because he's older. He's no longer the young man so tempted and torn.

BTW can we just make this a thread about the whole album, which I am now listening to? Like how Zoo Station is about trying to convince yourself but not really being ready to be single, and Acrobat, which is so amazing... I'm never going to get any work done at this rate.

Haha, of course. I'm pretty good at bringing just about anything into a thread, myself, so let loose! Oh, there's that word again.

 

[Screwtape2]

There's a different angle. I'm not sure - that answers my "child" issue but in a skeezy way. But I don't like it. "Our world is in darkness," "you know i don't see you when she walks into the room" are pretty piss poor ways of convincing somebody to stay together. And it doesn't fit well with the song's last line. But your thoughts on "exploded" having a positive meaning - maybe it has a dual meaning.

I'm not saying it is a younger woman because of the word 'child.' I say she's younger because of the life lessons being told to her in the various verses. As for the world in darkness line, the man is saying things are bad and they are going to get worse but then at the chorus tells her what she does to him. It is a confession of his need for her. That does fit well with the last line because together as this burning star they are falling from the sky but in the process they've opened new possibilities in thier lives. He has to go but gives her that bit of hope. It does make sense.

 

[Varitek]

OK on to Zoo Station. I can't lose if I let loose. Neither could U2 if only they'd do it. Anyway.

I think the beginning "I'm ready" part of Zoo Station is convincing yourself that you are ready "for whats next" after a relationship is over. The push, the cool of the night, the street shuffle deal, let go of the steering wheel, crush: the single life, and letting loose . But then the doubt creeps in, the memories creep in: the whispered "she's just down the line," the "it's alright" as a repeated attempt at convincing yourself, the "hey baby" practice, over and over, for being back on the single scene. But the doubt keeps coming: the train makes the future into the past, makes time fly, but pressed up against the glass you're watching it go by, not letting it disappear in the distance, resisting sweeping it into the past or letting go of the past:
I'm just down the line from your love...(Zoo Station)

 

[Varitek]

I'm not saying it is a younger woman because of the word 'child.' I say she's younger because of the life lessons being told to her in the various verses. As for the world in darkness line, the man is saying things are bad and they are going to get worse but then at the chorus tells her what she does to him. It is a confession of his need for her. That does fit well with the last line because together as this burning star they are falling from the sky but in the process they've opened new possibilities in thier lives. He has to go but gives her that bit of hope. It does make sense.

What life lessons? I think that's him making excuses to his wife and himself. It's not like the 4 "its no secrets" besides darkness and stars are that deep, really, just stating what's there. Concience is a pest, liars don't readily trust, success can be eaten away by ambition.

 

[U2girl]

I view that as a line on his relationship/marriage. His internal universe (home, wife...family?) is falling apart because of his actions.

 

[u2boy_nl]

OK on to Zoo Station. I can't lose if I let loose. Neither could U2 if only they'd do it. Anyway.

I think the beginning "I'm ready" part of Zoo Station is convincing yourself that you are ready "for whats next" after a relationship is over.

In U2 by U2 Bono says it's about babies...

Which makes perfect sense:

I'm ready
I'm ready for the laughing gas
I'm ready
I'm ready for what's next
I'm ready to duck
I'm ready to dive
I'm ready to say
I'm glad to be alive
I'm ready
I'm ready for the push

It's a baby who's being born and who's ready for life.

The start of something new.

 

[Varitek]

^ yeah that makes sense.