salomeU2000
The Fly
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/introspect/lonelinessthumb.gif[/SIMG]
By Rabab Ahmed
Loneliness is a feeling that can take over one's mind at any random time. It can happen in the middle of dinner, in the middle of the night, while drawing a picture, anytime. There is no beginning, nor no end; no reason for the sorrow, yet it happens. Such is loneliness. Loneliness is the vast expanse of rice fields in a Bangladeshi village on a full moon night. It is the lone tree, the one straw-and-tin hut in the middle of miles of blackness. It is sleeping under a tree in the middle of miles upon miles of unknown fields. Loneliness is the old man in rags walking along 42nd St. looking for shelter because his children have thrown him out. It is having loved once, then being blinded and losing love to death. Loneliness is never knowing love again. This loneliness is a reflection of the emotions one can find in the songs of U2. Such is the loneliness that I feel, that I see when I close my eyes as I listen to these songs. In U2's music these feelings can be found, where the sorrows of the human heart are expressed through music. Not many poets or singers can do justice to such strong emotions as U2 has done in many songs, four of which are analyzed below.
?With or Without You?
I noticed this attribute when I was submerged in this miniscule state of mind. I felt that the world was too big and the people too small. I felt that even amidst friends and family, one could feel utterly and hopelessly lonely and dissatisfied with life. As I sat and pondered, I suddenly noticed the song in my ears. Again I became aware of the deep quietness of Bono's voice as I heard "With or Without You." I perceived the quiet desperation as he screamed in strained notes, "I can't live, with or without you." Some people might say that it is a love song, that it does not exude loneliness, yet when one pays attention to the lyrics, to the music, to the entire ensemble, to the way the song is presented, one cannot help but hear and feel the pain.
The song begins with a mournful and lonely guitar and is perfectly complemented by Bono's penetrating voice. Throughout the song, he says he will wait for her, whether it will be with or without her. Further into it he says, "Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I want more," indicating his discontent, while she gives herself away he still waits for and wants more.
The song seems to feed into loneliness, and in some cases may provide an outlet for such feelings. I could feel it in the singer's voice, in the band?s music. From Bono's heartrending voice to Edge's soulful guitar, and even to the drumbeats within, I could hear it. Loneliness. It crept like dawn, seeping through and taking over all of me.
?All I Want is You?
"All I Want is You" is a classic love song and also thoroughly emanates a deep sadness entwined with loneliness. The idea of the song itself is heart-wrenchingly poignant in that she wants all of these things, "diamonds on a ring of gold/love not to grow cold," yet all he wants is her. The simple manner in which he says this expressing his one and only desire reflects the loneliness within. Again, the calm and quiet music pooled with the singer's serene voice does proper justice to the aura of the song. He says, "You say you'll give me eyes in a moon of blindness, a river in a time of dryness, a harbor in the tempest," but all he wants is she. She offers him the impossibilities of this world, yet they do not match up to his sole need - she.
These are some of the most touching and contradictory lines that few, if any, other love song has been able to compare to. This longing and this desire feed to the sentiments of loneliness. The song remains quiet throughout, starting out with a low and slow guitar coupled with Bono's voice, and then the drums and louder guitars kick in. However, at the very end the tone of desperation and solitude seem to take hold as the music builds higher and Bono's tones change to a repetition of "All I want is you." These notes sound so distressed and lonely, the stress is on the "you" constantly, screaming it, hoping, wanting and needing to be heard. The ending also presents the guitar picking up as well, and repeating certain bits over and over, just like he screams "you" continually.
?Who?s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is one of the most tenderly expressive songs I have heard. The song has an interesting beginning, bringing into it U2's unique ability of perfectly complimenting lyrics and music into all of their songs. He says in the second line, "Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot for any spirit to haunt," depicting words that are simply beautifully haunting. The images that arise from this line are of being abandoned, being deserted by a loved one. It's loneliness at its most picturesque. The song's resounding question is, "Who's gonna ride your wild horses, who's gonna drown in your blue sea?" He's beseeching her, it seems, turning his loneliness upon her, asking her who will now be the one to adore her. The song is ultimately uniquely poetic, and full of uncanny images. He says, "You're a piece of glass, left there on the beach," indicating desertion, heartache and something beautiful nevertheless. She's so frail, so precious like glass, yet broken, left amidst the beauty of the beach, her surroundings. Yet there's a bit of hope in this lovely being, this lovely piece of glass, it can provide a reflection of its surrounding beauty. It can have a sparkle of its own.
The song mirrors his sense of abandon fully as he says, "Well you leave me, just out of reach, baby, can we still be friends?" In this state of lonely hope he says, "Don't turn around again, don't turn around your gypsy heart, come on now love, don't you look back." His aching words sound so desperate and full of meaning. He repeats to her, not to turn around, calls her heart a "gypsy", not sure what she wants, which he echoes throughout the song, in how she's dangerous and leaves his heart blank and broken.
The song is thoroughly haunting as he continually beseeches her in a voice of such despair. The very last line of the song is the most touchingly heartbreaking of all, as he says, "Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses, who's gonna take the place of me?" The allusion of her kisses as salt water is brilliant, yet depressing. One cannot have too much salt water, it stings, although the taste is striking. Her kisses are similar, they leave him with a bittersweet aftertaste, wanting more but not being able to have more. The second part of the line stands alone, coming out at me with immense strength, signifying a final hopelessness, a final question of who will follow.
?Love is Blindness?
At this point in my life I have heard thousands of different songs by different groups but there are three songs that never fail to make me cry. "Love is Blindness" is one of these songs. The song is, without a doubt, dripping with emotion. It begins most quietly, creeping up, accompanied by the peaceful voice of Bono. The description of love and what it entails is fascinatingly saddening. He says, "Love is drowning in a deep well, all the secrets, and no one to tell." The picture of a deep well is in front of my eyes, the loneliness of it all reflected within, being unable to swim in one's own pain, love and loneliness.
The words chosen for this song are picturesque. "Love is blindness, I don't want to see, won't you wrap the night around me," this is loneliness at its extreme, when one doesn't want to see anymore, to feel anymore all that is left to desire in this world is to be covered with the blanket of darkness. He says, "Love is clockworks and cold steel, fingers too numb to feel," which is a perfect description of love, a mechanical and numbing feeling that one cannot escape.
The song screams loneliness, from the very beginning to the end, where Bono finishes with, "Oh my heart, love is blindness." The music at the end acts as a perfect topper, slowly leading into complete silence, absolutely dripping with pain all the while.
These songs are unique in their ability to reflect the pains of loneliness. When one is feeling lonely it is comparatively easier to find such emotions in songs, however, there are other songs like the ones I mentioned that appear to always possess that uncanny feeling of solitude and beauty. It is not necessarily always sad, but lonely. Such is the beauty of loneliness.
By Rabab Ahmed
Loneliness is a feeling that can take over one's mind at any random time. It can happen in the middle of dinner, in the middle of the night, while drawing a picture, anytime. There is no beginning, nor no end; no reason for the sorrow, yet it happens. Such is loneliness. Loneliness is the vast expanse of rice fields in a Bangladeshi village on a full moon night. It is the lone tree, the one straw-and-tin hut in the middle of miles of blackness. It is sleeping under a tree in the middle of miles upon miles of unknown fields. Loneliness is the old man in rags walking along 42nd St. looking for shelter because his children have thrown him out. It is having loved once, then being blinded and losing love to death. Loneliness is never knowing love again. This loneliness is a reflection of the emotions one can find in the songs of U2. Such is the loneliness that I feel, that I see when I close my eyes as I listen to these songs. In U2's music these feelings can be found, where the sorrows of the human heart are expressed through music. Not many poets or singers can do justice to such strong emotions as U2 has done in many songs, four of which are analyzed below.
?With or Without You?
I noticed this attribute when I was submerged in this miniscule state of mind. I felt that the world was too big and the people too small. I felt that even amidst friends and family, one could feel utterly and hopelessly lonely and dissatisfied with life. As I sat and pondered, I suddenly noticed the song in my ears. Again I became aware of the deep quietness of Bono's voice as I heard "With or Without You." I perceived the quiet desperation as he screamed in strained notes, "I can't live, with or without you." Some people might say that it is a love song, that it does not exude loneliness, yet when one pays attention to the lyrics, to the music, to the entire ensemble, to the way the song is presented, one cannot help but hear and feel the pain.
The song begins with a mournful and lonely guitar and is perfectly complemented by Bono's penetrating voice. Throughout the song, he says he will wait for her, whether it will be with or without her. Further into it he says, "Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I want more," indicating his discontent, while she gives herself away he still waits for and wants more.
The song seems to feed into loneliness, and in some cases may provide an outlet for such feelings. I could feel it in the singer's voice, in the band?s music. From Bono's heartrending voice to Edge's soulful guitar, and even to the drumbeats within, I could hear it. Loneliness. It crept like dawn, seeping through and taking over all of me.
?All I Want is You?
"All I Want is You" is a classic love song and also thoroughly emanates a deep sadness entwined with loneliness. The idea of the song itself is heart-wrenchingly poignant in that she wants all of these things, "diamonds on a ring of gold/love not to grow cold," yet all he wants is her. The simple manner in which he says this expressing his one and only desire reflects the loneliness within. Again, the calm and quiet music pooled with the singer's serene voice does proper justice to the aura of the song. He says, "You say you'll give me eyes in a moon of blindness, a river in a time of dryness, a harbor in the tempest," but all he wants is she. She offers him the impossibilities of this world, yet they do not match up to his sole need - she.
These are some of the most touching and contradictory lines that few, if any, other love song has been able to compare to. This longing and this desire feed to the sentiments of loneliness. The song remains quiet throughout, starting out with a low and slow guitar coupled with Bono's voice, and then the drums and louder guitars kick in. However, at the very end the tone of desperation and solitude seem to take hold as the music builds higher and Bono's tones change to a repetition of "All I want is you." These notes sound so distressed and lonely, the stress is on the "you" constantly, screaming it, hoping, wanting and needing to be heard. The ending also presents the guitar picking up as well, and repeating certain bits over and over, just like he screams "you" continually.
?Who?s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is one of the most tenderly expressive songs I have heard. The song has an interesting beginning, bringing into it U2's unique ability of perfectly complimenting lyrics and music into all of their songs. He says in the second line, "Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot for any spirit to haunt," depicting words that are simply beautifully haunting. The images that arise from this line are of being abandoned, being deserted by a loved one. It's loneliness at its most picturesque. The song's resounding question is, "Who's gonna ride your wild horses, who's gonna drown in your blue sea?" He's beseeching her, it seems, turning his loneliness upon her, asking her who will now be the one to adore her. The song is ultimately uniquely poetic, and full of uncanny images. He says, "You're a piece of glass, left there on the beach," indicating desertion, heartache and something beautiful nevertheless. She's so frail, so precious like glass, yet broken, left amidst the beauty of the beach, her surroundings. Yet there's a bit of hope in this lovely being, this lovely piece of glass, it can provide a reflection of its surrounding beauty. It can have a sparkle of its own.
The song mirrors his sense of abandon fully as he says, "Well you leave me, just out of reach, baby, can we still be friends?" In this state of lonely hope he says, "Don't turn around again, don't turn around your gypsy heart, come on now love, don't you look back." His aching words sound so desperate and full of meaning. He repeats to her, not to turn around, calls her heart a "gypsy", not sure what she wants, which he echoes throughout the song, in how she's dangerous and leaves his heart blank and broken.
The song is thoroughly haunting as he continually beseeches her in a voice of such despair. The very last line of the song is the most touchingly heartbreaking of all, as he says, "Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses, who's gonna take the place of me?" The allusion of her kisses as salt water is brilliant, yet depressing. One cannot have too much salt water, it stings, although the taste is striking. Her kisses are similar, they leave him with a bittersweet aftertaste, wanting more but not being able to have more. The second part of the line stands alone, coming out at me with immense strength, signifying a final hopelessness, a final question of who will follow.
?Love is Blindness?
At this point in my life I have heard thousands of different songs by different groups but there are three songs that never fail to make me cry. "Love is Blindness" is one of these songs. The song is, without a doubt, dripping with emotion. It begins most quietly, creeping up, accompanied by the peaceful voice of Bono. The description of love and what it entails is fascinatingly saddening. He says, "Love is drowning in a deep well, all the secrets, and no one to tell." The picture of a deep well is in front of my eyes, the loneliness of it all reflected within, being unable to swim in one's own pain, love and loneliness.
The words chosen for this song are picturesque. "Love is blindness, I don't want to see, won't you wrap the night around me," this is loneliness at its extreme, when one doesn't want to see anymore, to feel anymore all that is left to desire in this world is to be covered with the blanket of darkness. He says, "Love is clockworks and cold steel, fingers too numb to feel," which is a perfect description of love, a mechanical and numbing feeling that one cannot escape.
The song screams loneliness, from the very beginning to the end, where Bono finishes with, "Oh my heart, love is blindness." The music at the end acts as a perfect topper, slowly leading into complete silence, absolutely dripping with pain all the while.
These songs are unique in their ability to reflect the pains of loneliness. When one is feeling lonely it is comparatively easier to find such emotions in songs, however, there are other songs like the ones I mentioned that appear to always possess that uncanny feeling of solitude and beauty. It is not necessarily always sad, but lonely. Such is the beauty of loneliness.
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