U2's Most Well Written Song

[MrPryck2U]

Miss Sarajevo

 

[moussy]

Streets
One
Exit
God part II
Walk on
Stay
The Fly
Bad
HMTMKMKM
Still Haven't Found

 

[Hoodlem]

Your Blue Room
Running to Stand Still
Until the End of the World

 

[Bluer White]

Red Hill Mining Town

 

[U2lunatic]

Stuck in A Moment
Wild Honey
Elevation
Vertigo
4th of July(especially the lyrics)

 

[Babydoll]

Bad, WOWY, Stuck, WILATW - it's incredibly underrated, this song.

 

[Carek1230]

SBS, WOWY, Bad...can't choose just ONE!!!

 

[Jeannieco]

The Joshua Tree. I know I know, it's an album, but as a whole it paints such a vivid picture so it's hard to divide it up in to pieces. Yes those pieces can stand alone at times, but together it's just a masterpiece of such skillful writing.

Second choice for single song I would have to say A Sort of Homecoming. Very poetic, that Bono.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Like A Song...
Hawkmoon 269
Love Rescue Me
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Please
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
The Fly
Bad
Silver And Gold

 

[MrBrau1]

Running To Stand Still The intro kills me. Those acoustic slide guitar and plucked notes.
It's so fricking delicate, right into that piano line. And that delivery by Bono. You can hear him
lick his lips. There's this chugging electic guitar that runs through the whole tune, it just
mezmerizes me. I can actually hear the walls closing it. The build into the outro is flawless,
and those 2 echoed drum hits...whoah. Was that real?

The flow of it is just effortless. And the bridge is given so much power thanks to that.

Kite Synth keys play melody and counter melody, then that beautiful slide guitar riff as the band kick
in. It settles into a nice country groove, Again, a wise lyric and delivery, and it starts to open up in the
pre-chorus, as Edge’s distorted guitar notes slide up the fret board into the big payoff. Huge chorus.
Larry and Adam steady, Edge really going off and Bono in full voice. It all goes up another notch during the
bridge, as U2 come to an emotional peak bested only by Bad. The tune has a strange yet brilliant
arrangement: verse /chorus/bridge/chorus/verse. Perfect economy.


Original Of The Species Stately. Effortless. Graceful. OOTS is all of those things.
It's the song I've always wanted U2 to write. Edge plays some amazing "Harrisonesque"
guitar fills, Adam and Larry ground the whole thing, and Bono's just wails with a giant
smile. Cement the whole thing together with a 12 string acoustic, simple piano notes,
and really effective strings. Oh, and those lyrics. 18 year olds couldn't write them.
Cynics couldn't write them. There's a real joy and hope that just matches the music to
perfection.

 

[Allanah]

Please, by a mile. First time I heard it, it sounded like a bitter love song. Then I really listened, and BAM. The full impact of what he was saying hit me. Wow. It's a much more mature, almost defeated take on the sentiment of Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Second place: WOWY. One of the most perfect combinations of lyrics and delivery. I still maintain that this is the most perfect piece of singing I've ever heard in modern music.

Runners Up:

Stay - it's just so... heartfelt and heartbroken at the same time. Lovely.

Until the End of the World - What a clever take on a very familiar story. Judas, the narrator? Fabulous.

Acrobat - Whenever I'm depressed and in need of a good kick in the ass, I listen to this.

In a Little While - What a perfect, effortless pop song with an outstanding vocal. And yeah, the "Slow down my beating heart" bit kinda makes me melt. Sometimes simple and straightforward is better.

All I Want is You -

I Still Haven't Found - I know a lot of people are sick of this one, but it's just one of those songs I will never, ever get sick of. I admit, it the song that hooked me (bought JT on a whim at age 17, and man was I glad I did.) When I heard it live I got all teary-eyed.

Do You Feel Loved - Managed to nail "sexy" without being "trashy." Quite an achievement.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill - What a fantastic take on the life of rock stardom. Very self-aware and clever. And again, a very sexy delievery of the lyrics.

Drowning Man - Just gorgeous. Play this one time live, dammit! I don't care if you have to tune the guitars down a full step for Bono to hit the notes, I just want to hear it.

Dirty Day - I sorta liked it on the album, but the live version from Sydney blows mind.

Shit! I forgot Running to Stand Still. Uhh.... everything MrBrau said. Something about, "You've gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice..." Guh. Stunning.

Zooropa - I admit to being a little weirded out the first time I listened to this, but once the moment at 4:00 hit, I was treated to the most joyous 2 1/2 minutes of pop I've ever heard. Fantastic lyrics, great delivery, and a lovely positive sentiment.

Bad - While not the most mature lyrics in Bono's catalogue, the delivery and passion in them makes them more than they are (isn't that what a great band does? Creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Remember that HBO special when Bono said he hated the lyrics to it? God bless Edge, he interjected that he thought it one of the most beautiful lyrics Bono had ever written.

 

[MrBrau1]

Please, by a mile. First time I heard it, it sounded like a bitter love song. Then I really listened, and BAM. The full impact of what he was saying hit me. Wow. It's a much more mature, almost defeated take on the sentiment of Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Second place: WOWY. One of the most perfect combinations of lyrics and delivery. I still maintain that this is the most perfect piece of singing I've ever heard in modern music.

Runners Up:

Stay - it's just so... heartfelt and heartbroken at the same time. Lovely.

Until the End of the World - What a clever take on a very familiar story. Judas, the narrator? Fabulous.

Acrobat - Whenever I'm depressed and in need of a good kick in the ass, I listen to this.

In a Little While - What a perfect, effortless pop song with an outstanding vocal. And yeah, the "Slow down my beating heart" bit kinda makes me melt. Sometimes simple and straightforward is better.

All I Want is You -

I Still Haven't Found - I know a lot of people are sick of this one, but it's just one of those songs I will never, ever get sick of. I admit, it the song that hooked me (bought JT on a whim at age 17, and man was I glad I did.) When I heard it live I got all teary-eyed.

Do You Feel Loved - Managed to nail "sexy" without being "trashy." Quite an achievement.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill - What a fantastic take on the life of rock stardom. Very self-aware and clever. And again, a very sexy delievery of the lyrics.

Drowning Man - Just gorgeous. Play this one time live, dammit! I don't care if you have to tune the guitars down a full step for Bono to hit the notes, I just want to hear it.

Dirty Day - I sorta liked it on the album, but the live version from Sydney blows mind.

Shit! I forgot Running to Stand Still. Uhh.... everything MrBrau said. Something about, "You've gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice..." Guh. Stunning.

You like to listen to the music and write about gets ya. I like that.

It's a rare thing here.

 

[Allanah]

Running To Stand Still The intro kills me. Those acoustic slide guitar and plucked notes.
It's so fricking delicate, right into that piano line. And that delivery by Bono. You can hear him
lick his lips. There's this chugging electic guitar that runs through the whole tune, it just
mezmerizes me. I can actually hear the walls closing it. The build into the outro is flawless,
and those 2 echoed drum hits...whoah. Was that real?

The flow of it is just effortless. And the bridge is given so much power thanks to that.

I love that bit in the "Classic Albums: Joshua Tree" DVD where they play back a rough recording of it, where Bono pulled out the first verse, improved out of his ass. Edge, while listening, just shakes his head and says, "Wow."

Kite Synth keys play melody and counter melody, then that beautiful slide guitar riff as the band kick
in. It settles into a nice country groove, Again, a wise lyric and delivery, and it starts to open up in the
pre-chorus, as Edge’s distorted guitar notes slide up the fret board into the big payoff. Huge chorus.
Larry and Adam steady, Edge really going off and Bono in full voice. It all goes up another notch during the
bridge, as U2 come to an emotional peak bested only by Bad. The tune has a strange yet brilliant
arrangement: verse /chorus/bridge/chorus/verse. Perfect economy.

Could a chorus to a song possibly be better than that? Maybe Electrical Storm. There's something in Bono's voice there that I found especially gorgeous. A perfectly smooth, easy, emotional vocal. And that "Heeeeeeeeeeey"? To die for.

Couldn't agree more. Kite just soars (pardon my unintentional pun.) I love the way you describe the impact the songs have on you; it's very poetic. Loved your "I Like U2's songs" thread a while back. Uhh.... that was you, wasn't it?

You like to listen to the music and write about gets ya. I like that.

The feeling is mutual. I'm not afraid to speak my mind on songs I don't like, but this is so much more productive, isn't it?.

I love threads like this. Keep those posts coming, people!

 

[fandangamoq]

Kite: I think that the "I'm a man, I'm not a child" verse is the single most realized piece of songwriting in U2's catalogue. The music soars, the emotion soars, and what's best, is that Bono carries you right up there with him.

With Or Without You: So absolutely, frighteningly dark. The band mesh so well on this track, and the lyrics are of a very unique nature in that they just matter. WOWY's lyrics matter. If you're happy, if you're sad, for whatever reason, for whatever emotion, Bono hits a nerve with this song. It's relevant. It always will be. This song is the reason U2 needs a frontman like Bono. It takes a kind of raw commitment and dedication, and undoubtably love to connect on this level.

One Tree Hill: Takes a heart-wrenching occasion and makes it a jubilant celebration of the life and love of Greg Carrol. This song is an overture, one that need be cherished forever.

The Fly: The chopping down of the Joshua Tree. No one but The Fly himself could have announced his pressence and intentions with the U2 of the 90's. He made it very clear this was a new band, and that as far as he was concerned, things were looking up.

Worthy but not-quite Noteworthy:
Lyrics-wise:
Please
Stay (Faraway, So Close)

Music-wise:
Elvis Presley and America
Promenade
Original Of The Species

Both:
The Unforgettable Fire
Gone
Running To Stand Still
Lemon
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

 

[DevilsShoes]

[Bad - While not the most mature lyrics in Bono's catalogue, the delivery and passion in them makes them more than they are (isn't that what a great band does? Creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Remember that HBO special when Bono said he hated the lyrics to it? God bless Edge, he interjected that he thought it one of the most beautiful lyrics Bono had ever written. [/B]

I don't think Bono geniunely hates them, in U2 by U2 he's very complimentary about the song, calling it 'truly great' at one point, he just think's he could have done much better and that a song of that calibre deserved better.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Acrobat
First Time
Wanderer
Love Is Blindness
Stay
TTTYAATW
UTEOTW
OTH

 

[Z00rop@83]

Stay
WOWY
Bad
Love is blindness
Acrobat


i seriously cant say enuff about these songs

 

[Bono's Betty]

Bad
Running to Stand Still
Stay
Gone
All I want is You
WOWY
Dirty Day ... The list could go on and on.

*edited* to add The First Time

 

[MrBrau1]

Drowning Man - Just gorgeous. Play this one time live, dammit! I don't care if you have to tune the guitars down a full step for Bono to hit the notes, I just want to hear it.

This is a real turning point for U2. With this tune they begin to get into that "other worldly" type of music. They came close to this with "Tomorrow" from October, but they really nailed it on "Drowning Man." So many great bands simply don't have these type of songs. Those inspirational, epic thingys. U2 have them in spades, and this is where it started. It's the most important song on War. Screw "SBS" and "NYD." "Drowning Man" is the moment.

 

[dietcokeofevil]

With or Without You
Exit
Hawkmoon
All I want is You
Acrobat
Until the End of the World
Dirty Day
Please
Gone
Wake Up Dead Man
Kite
Original of the Species

 

[MrBrau1]

what's with all the lists?

This is supposed to be U2's crowning moment, the thing they do best, and everyone posts lists?

Bitching about U2 takes up paragraph after paragraph after paragraph, but praise gets the honor of 10 song lists?

Be more better.

 

[Allanah]

This is a real turning point for U2. With this tune they begin to get into that "other worldly" type of music. They came close to this with "Tomorrow" from October, but they really nailed it on "Drowning Man." So many great bands simply don't have these type of songs. Those inspirational, epic thingys. U2 have them in spades, and this is where it started. It's the most important song on War. Screw "SBS" and "NYD." "Drowning Man" is the moment.

Agreed. Drowing Man is one of the finest pieces of music I've ever heard recorded, by anyone.

To hear this one live...

 

[corianderstem]

Bitching about U2 takes up paragraph after paragraph after paragraph, but praise gets the honor of 10 song lists?

All this posting on Interference has given everyone carpal tunnel, so we must turn to brevity to save our wrists.

 

[Alisaura]

Bitching about U2 takes up paragraph after paragraph after paragraph, but praise gets the honor of 10 song lists?

Be more better.

Running to Stand Still
Love Is Blindness
One Tree Hill
Hawkmoon 269
Heartland
Wake Up Dead Man
Please
Bad
etc.

What can I say about those songs? They all give me chills, make my hair stand on end, take me to another space, plant visions in my brain. To me, they are as close to sonic and lyrical perfection as you could hope for. In my wildest dreams, I would aspire to be able to produce that sort of poetry, to be able to inspire the sort of feelings and effects in others that those words inspire in me. I love the imagery. I love the emotion and meaning Bono can convey in his voice as well as his words. I love the music that gives further layers of meaning and power and colour and feeling. This is why I love U2, after all.
I can't say I love the words of a song if I don't also love the music - one reason I love U2 is that they marry words and music so beautifully. One isn't the same without the other.

Excellent call on Drowning Man, incidentally.

 

[Salome]

stuck in a moment

gorgeous melody
great lyrics
beautiful music
and it all fits perfectly

 

[LyricalDrug]

One
Stay
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found
With or Without You
All I Want is You
Please
Until the End of the World
Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World

 

[coolian2]

stuck in a moment

gorgeous melody
great lyrics
beautiful music
and it all fits perfectly

I wuv you.

 

[U2opra]

they're all too good!!!

 

[annie_vox]

Love Is Blindness
Stay
Mofo
Running To Stand Still
Miss Sarajevo

 

[Lancemc]

People have trouble just picking one song don't they?

Bono's best song lyrically speaking has to be Stay (Faraway, So Close). That song simply blows me away every time, no matter how many times I hear listen to it. As close to perfect as the B man has come.

Miss Sarajevo gets a close second though.