Achtung Baby: the Emotional Evolution of a Relationship

[screwtape]

I have heard a lot of people say that Achtung Baby is the soundtrack of their lives. There is no denying that the entire album has some kind of cohesiveness that makes it such an incredible album to listen all the way through. This is just my attempt to identify a common thread. Any comments or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Bono on Achtung Baby:

"A landscape of the heart: twelve versions of one song."

"The album is quite literally a journey into the unknown. In a way, the album starts with birth and ends with conception."

Zoo Station

birth of a relationship: "I'm ready for what's next . . . I'm just down the line for your love"

Even Better Than the Real Thing

the metaphorical high of initial attraction, eros over agape: "My heart is where it's always been/and my head is somewhere in between" (My head is somewhere in between my heart and where my head should be)

One

separation followed by revelation: "You gave me nothing/Now it's all I got . . . We're one but we're not the same/We get to carry each other"

Until the End of the World

betrayal: "In the garden I was playing the tart/I kissed your lips and broke your heart"

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

sexual jealousy: "the deeper I spin/ the hunter will spin for your ivory skin"

So Cruel

realistic resignation to the differences between agape and eros: "Between the horses of love and lust/ we are trampled underfoot"

The Fly

aphoristic indifference: "A man will rise/A man will fall/from the sheer face of love/ like a fly on the wall/ it's no secret at all"

Mysterious Ways

spiritual origin of love: "One day you'll look back/ and you'll see/ where you were held/ how by this love"

Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World

love as shelter from the world: "I'm gonna run to you/ Woman be still"

Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

unconditional love: "There is a silence/ that comes to a house/ where no one can sleep/ I guess it's the price of love/ I know it's not cheap"

Acrobat

emotional insecurity: "When I first met you girl/ you had fire in your soul/ what happened to your face of melting snow"

Love is Blindness

the consummation of the relationship: "I don't want to see/ won't you wrap the night around me"



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"Mock the devil and he will flee from thee."
"The devil . . . the prowde spirite . . . cannot endure to be mocked." - Thomas More

 

[satellite]

For me Achtung Baby is about many of the things U2 had always written about before...love, relationships, hypocrisy of your own heart. In the 90s they just learned to convey these feelings in a different way...and they gave the album a funny name to distract us all from what was inside. Without doubt it's one of the great albums of the 90s ,if not the best. I've heard Bono comment that the start of AB was the worst time that they've ever shared in the studio. It would have been a crime if that album had never been made.

 

[TylerDurden]

Aah screwtape, I see from your name you know one of the biggest clues to the album & tour. It's said here alot, but if you want to scratch the surface of Achtung Baby, read "At The End Of The World". Alot of good explanations there.

 

[Salome]

personally I think Achtung Baby is about 4 religious Irish guys, who happen to be rock stars
and the fact that the difference between 'a star' and 'a normal person' is really only a small one

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

 

[ACROB@T]

At The End Of The World is a great book to uncover these details on Achtung Baby. I've never looked too deep into Achtung Baby in terms of religion but musically I've always been able to identify with it!