"The Wanderer" appreciation thread.

[xaviMF22]

I this song.....one of the best on Zooropa and has

some of Bono's finest lyrics

I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye

Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can't walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don't want God in it

I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name

I went with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents

I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father's right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don't you wait up
Jesus, I'll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I'd be back by noon

Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

and Johnny Cash singing is like your grandfather telling you an old story...

 

[Zoots]

Definitely some of the finest lyrics! Are you sure Bono wrote them? Cos to me it looks like something Cash would write. But great twist at the end of Zooropa by inviting the great Johnny Cash to sing a song. Awesome falsetto touches by Bono at the end! Man, U2 really were at the top of their game in 1993!

 

[xaviMF22]

Definitely some of the finest lyrics! Are you sure Bono wrote them? Cos to me it looks like something Cash would write. But

I've wandered about this as well....

but this was back in 1993....Bono was on top form back then...so I don't doubt he wrote this.......

 

[dietcokeofevil]

I read something somewhere that Bono did write the lyrics, but felt that Cash's voice would be a better fit for them.

Agreed. I love the song.

 

[xaviMF22]

has anyone heard this song with headphones?...there are some wonderful
backing vocals buried in there......

they sound like Brian Eno's

 

[tiny dancer]

Definitely one of my favorite songs!!!!

 

[dietcokeofevil]

I did not become a hardcore U2 fan until Zooropa and this song in particular. I listened to and liked U2's stuff up until that point...but they really started getting my attention with Achtung Baby...and then this Zooropa thing was just so weird and beautiful...this was a band with balls

(as compared to U2 of the 80's that had good songs despite annoying the hell out of me)

 

[xaviMF22]

I'd love to know what inspired Bono to write this beauty

 

[europop2005]

the re-worked version for the johnny cash tribute was fantastic...especially the added guitar

 

[Zoots]

the re-worked version for the johnny cash tribute was fantastic...especially the added guitar

You're not talking about the "wa wa wa wa wander" version, are you? That one was horrible!

 

[europop2005]

some people liked it

 

[mandrake]

I loved the wa wa wa wanderer bit. Too bad it was only played once

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I admit I used to skip The Wanderer when Zooropa first came out, but it's a song I've really been getting into lately, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite songs off of Zooropa. My only complaint is that beeping at the end of it. I was listening to it in the car last weekend and nearly drove off the road when that part came on because I'd forgotten about it

 

[FitzChivalry]

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!

Ok, I know I say that about a LOT of songs, but it's no secret that I LOVE Zooropa, and this song is just

And, yes, Bono did write the lyrics, but felt it was made for Johnny to sing.

And, as I stated in the "Things You Shouldn't Admit Here" thread, I HATE how Edge RUINED the only live version we have of this beautiful gem with his LAME-ASS DOO-WOP WANNABE I why, why, why, why wander. It makes me want to cry at how gorgeous that live version could have been!

Edge falsetto=

 

[dietcokeofevil]

Edge Doo Wap

 

[Zoots]

I HATE how Edge RUINED the only live version we have of this beautiful gem with his LAME-ASS DOO-WOP WANNABE I why, why, why, why wander. It makes me want to cry at how gorgeous that live version could have been!

Once again, we agree!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

One of my favourite songs off Zooropa, I mentioned this in another thread but I love playing the CD in the car with someone who has never heard it before and seeing the look on their face when this song comes on...

 

[xaviMF22]

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!


And, as I stated in the "Things You Shouldn't Admit Here" thread, I HATE how Edge RUINED the only live version we have of this beautiful gem with his LAME-ASS DOO-WOP WANNABE I why, why, why, why wander. It makes me want to cry at how gorgeous that live version could have been!

Edge falsetto=

Edges' falsetto


and doesn't he sing " wa, wa, wa, wa, wandering" ?

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

I love The Wanderer. My dad raised me with Johnny Cash, and then I became a U2 fan, and it was like a match made in heaven

Some time ago I did a bit of a write-up about the song, which included quotes about it from U2 At the End of the World, I'll quote some of it here for those interested (bits from the book are in italics) :

"..hearing Johnny Cash sing over a trippy, distorted track about wandering through a wasteland "under an atomic sky" is as bizarre as it gets.."

Zooropa is a very WTF album, and ending it with Johnny Cash is absolutely the most WTF way to end such an album. After this trippy journey through space (I actually refer to Zooropa as "purple space crack"), you're suddenly brought quickly back down to earth by the Man in Black.

The song starts out with this crazy bass beat, there's something very cheesy about it. And then boom, there's Johnny Cash. It is bizarre. I can only imagine how strange that must've been for anyone listening to Zooropa for the very first time, if they didn't realize the final song would be sung by Johnny Cash.
The song itself, is about a man, using the call of God as an excuse to leave his family and responsibilities. He believes himself to be chosen by God, and goes out looking for God in some rather Godless places. As the book puts it, the protagonist is, "..a self-righteous pilgrim who reveals himself, over the course of the lyric, to be pretty much deranged."
The book also points out something I hadn't really given much thought to before. Picture Bono singing the song, picture it in the context of Bono amidst the chaos of the ZooTV tour.
"..when Bono sings the song it comes off as a mea culpa for all the glitz and surface that U2 has spent the last two years creating. When Bono sings "The Wanderer" it seems like a public confession that beneath the fly shades he is hoping to find God by searching through the glitter and trash."

Remind anyone of a particular line in Mofo? "Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash...."
Mmm-hmm.

 

[FitzChivalry]

and doesn't he sing " wa, wa, wa, wa,
wandering" ?

Yeah, I think that's it. Regardless, I believe Edge is doing a falsetto cover of the Del Shannon "classic" 'Runaway' which has the lyric I wonder/I wo, wo, wo, wo, wonder, why/she ran away . . ." . . . . one of the few Motown songs that has ALWAYS bugged the crap out of me! I hate that song!!!! And Edge doesn't make it any better!


Edge high backing vocals in the 80s =

Edge falsetto in late 90s/00s =

 

[dietcokeofevil]

Okay Edge, sing the blues...

 

[LyricalDrug]

I loved the wa wa wa wanderer bit. Too bad it was only played once

Those are Edge's all-time, best vocals EVER.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Those are Edge's all-time, best vocals EVER.

Now, Bono's falsetto at the end of The Wanderer off Zooropa is just

 

[FitzChivalry]

I this song.....

some of Bono's finest lyrics

I couldn't agree more. These lyrics are great. And the "under an atomic sky" has the same kind of feel and dread as the "under a blood red sky" line from NYD.

Definitely on of my favorite U2 songs.

 

[xaviMF22]

I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can't walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don't want God in it

I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father's right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don't you wait up
Jesus, I'll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I'd be back by noon

Bono

 

[Blue Room]

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!

And, as I stated in the "Things You Shouldn't Admit Here" thread, I HATE how Edge RUINED the only live version we have of this beautiful gem with his LAME-ASS DOO-WOP WANNABE I why, why, why, why wander. It makes me want to cry at how gorgeous that live version could have been!

Edge falsetto=

Its interesting because the first time they tried the song on the third leg Edge didnt do the falsetto. It was Bono's idea for him to add it. Honestly, I dont think it makes it better or worse either way. Its to bad they never did it at a concert. Not sure where it would have fit into the setlist though. I do like the falsetto Edge was doing at the end of the song though.

 

[xaviMF22]

I do like the falsetto Edge was doing at the end of the song though.

 

[WCF]

I wonder why so many people dislike this song. The Wanderer is one of the best off Zooropa and one off the best of U2 period, at least in my opinion. I currently prefer it to ISHFWILF and I just love the lyrics. Cash was a great addition to it.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

I wonder why so many people dislike this song. The Wanderer is one of the best off Zooropa and one off the best of U2 period, at least in my opinion. I currently prefer it to ISHFWILF and I just love the lyrics. Cash was a great addition to it.

Yep. A lot of the Joshua Tree huggers didn't dig the album at the time. It sure as hell worked for me though.

 

[Alisaura]

One of my favourite songs off Zooropa, I mentioned this in another thread but I love playing the CD in the car with someone who has never heard it before and seeing the look on their face when this song comes on...

I would love to have seen the look on my own face when I heard it for the first time! I was just becoming a U2 fan and didn't know anything about the genesis of Zooropa, or Johnny Cash... major WTF moment! I thought Bono's voice had broken again or something

Brilliant song, though. I especially love the line, "I went walking, with a Bible and a gun" - the track was pretty dark until that point, but as the book said, that was the moment you realise 'this guy is completely nuts'. Gave me shivers.