What U2 song should I use for class presentation?

[ZOOTVTOURist]

Im taking a popular music class at my college and our final presentation is to select a song, get up in front of class, play a few minutes of it..say why we chose it and connect it to ideas we learned from class (cultural resistance, hegemony, mass media..things like that)....I definitely want to do a less known u2 song...for time restrictions (the presentation itself is only 5 minutes) i thought about maybe promenade?...its so hard to choose because i could always just play 2 minutes or so of a song...i was also thinking of "stay" because the build up into the chorus is one of my favorites...i can also use live media like youtube and stuff so i can even take concert clips and show them to the class..

Well guys what do you think? what song/performance should i go with to really impress the class with u2!?

I'd go for the beautiful "Stay" then: With all happening during the ZOO TV days as part of mass media (critizising) culture it has the "Wim Wenders-Nastassja Kinski-Heinz Rühmann" movie story to tell, the therefore very arty adapted U2 video shooting in Berlin with Bono pretending to be the fallen (in love) angel.
Musically you get one of the best U2 songs, even a single, that hasn't been plaed to death on the other hand. You could talk about different studio editions (the soundtrack version, the single & album version), live alternations (from full band electric to full band acoustic until the Bono & Edge acoustic performance in 2001 & 2007).
Good luck!

 

[the tourist]

Play to ZooTV version if you do Stay, though.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Thanks for the help guys its a tough decision..i am liking the idea of doing SBS from R&H because of how powerful the performance was (if i had the time i would show the whole film!)...Stay is also up there on the list because i can tie it into the film and it is one of their greatest unknowns...The presentation is a week from today so I have plenty of time to really make a final decision..ill keep you posted on how it goes..also any more suggestions would be great

 

[thelaj]

I definitely wouldn't do Stay - great song but a bit "slow" for a presentation of this nature.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is a great performance, no doubt about that - but will these people really understand the significance of something which might have happened before they were born?

Gone, is a great rock song which sounds fresher now than it did in 1997. It has the great lyrical angle too.

Following that, Do You Feel Loved is an uncovered U2 song that feels really claustrophobic - again I don't feel it has dated.

Of course some tracks like Lemon, EBTTRT etc have dated (well) so steer away from.

 

[kingofsorrow]

i still say drowning man. war was the album that truly summed everything "u2". their hopes, dreams, inspirations, outlooks, religion, angst, etc, etc, etc. drowning man in a subtle yet poignant way pulled all the elements of the album and therefore everything "u2" together.
stay is a great song, but only represent u2 in 1 time period. same goes for bullet. yes i know songs can be interpreted any which way the listener wants, but DM is timeless.

 

[Joey788]

I would go with a live performance of something from the first half of Zoo TV. Maybe Zoo Station with the intro. That would definitely tie in well with mass media as well as showing U2's diverse sound.

 

[thrillme]

Like a Song? Maybe not so much cultural resistance...but in the current times, might be appropriate.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

Play to ZooTV version if you do Stay, though.

100%agreed – Dublin '93 is a fine choice ...

 

[Mr. Green Eyes]

I agree with the ZooTV version of Stay.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I wrote a short paper about the song "Zooropa" for a popular music class I'm taking. My focus was on Zooropa as a place entrenched in a culture that was obsessed with slogans and advertisements. We had to analyze both the music and lyrics though as well. But, that song would tie really well with your mass media theme.

 

[theFly51]

Zooropa baby!