bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
ooh I'd like to hear that!
Morrissey and Bono
- Thread starter MikeyJB
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
ooh I'd like to hear that!
Ok give me a sec 
bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
lucas007
The Fly
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2004
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- 108
i love morrissey, great thread,
would be great to hear wire dub version though!
would be great to hear wire dub version though!
bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
I can send it to you if you'd like, just need your email.
redhill
Refugee
angelordevil
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Bigmouth Strikes Again
YouTube - Big Mouth Strikes Again (Again)
I've never been crazy about the vocals, but everything else about the song is truly amazing...I love the frantic drumming at the end.
Cactus Annie
Refugee
Uh..Bono calling Chris Martin a wanker was a joke. Don't any of you have any sense of irrelevence? Why does everyone on here take everything so literally?
lucas007
The Fly
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2004
- Messages
- 108
Bigmouth is one of my all time favorite Smiths songs.
bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
Ronnie269
Refugee
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I can imagine the smile on Bono's face as he sings;
"I know I'm unlove-able, you don't have to tell me...."
ozeeko
Refugee
Love both bands.
U2 are the better band and better songwriters, but come on it seems to me a no-brainer when it comes to lyrics. Morrissey destroys Bono lyrically. And it's not that Bono is a bad writer, it's just that Morrissey for me is in the upper eschelon of lyricists in the history of rock music, up there with Dylan, Reed and Cohen. He's got his own genius self-depricating style. He's miserable and hilarious at the same time. Not to mention he can be both empathetic and unmerciful towards any subject he lowers his pen to. Bono displayed a potential greatness during the JT-POP era. But lyrics aren't his strong suit lately. We see flashes of brilliance here and there, but it's not as consistent as before. That being said, Bono is a better singer and has a better knack for melody. So they both have their own advantages.
U2 are the better band and better songwriters, but come on it seems to me a no-brainer when it comes to lyrics. Morrissey destroys Bono lyrically. And it's not that Bono is a bad writer, it's just that Morrissey for me is in the upper eschelon of lyricists in the history of rock music, up there with Dylan, Reed and Cohen. He's got his own genius self-depricating style. He's miserable and hilarious at the same time. Not to mention he can be both empathetic and unmerciful towards any subject he lowers his pen to. Bono displayed a potential greatness during the JT-POP era. But lyrics aren't his strong suit lately. We see flashes of brilliance here and there, but it's not as consistent as before. That being said, Bono is a better singer and has a better knack for melody. So they both have their own advantages.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Comparing Bono's lyrics to Morrissey's really is just a matter of taste.
ozeeko
Refugee
Well, sure I guess it always boils down to taste, but i bet even Bono himself would admit Morrissey's a better lyricist.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Bono would supply a long list of people he claims to think are better than he, but that doesn't make it so...
Morrissey is great, but pit him at his best against Bono at his best and I'll take Bono!
Morrissey is great, but pit him at his best against Bono at his best and I'll take Bono!
ozeeko
Refugee
(not looking for a fight)
just curious, what do you consider Bono's best?
just curious, what do you consider Bono's best?
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Well, I am on the spot; but All I Want is You is pretty awesome.
Spending another 10 seconds thinking; Bad, A Sort of Homecoming, Unforgettable Fire, Where the Streets have No name, With or Without You, Exit, In God's Country, The Fly.... if I keep going I'll keep listing....
The fair thing is; compare Bono's BEST to Morrissey's best, not Bono's worst.
What would you rank from Morrissey's as being at the level of the above tracks?
(And there's no reason for this to be a fight, just a friendly discussion! )
Spending another 10 seconds thinking; Bad, A Sort of Homecoming, Unforgettable Fire, Where the Streets have No name, With or Without You, Exit, In God's Country, The Fly.... if I keep going I'll keep listing....
The fair thing is; compare Bono's BEST to Morrissey's best, not Bono's worst.
What would you rank from Morrissey's as being at the level of the above tracks?
(And there's no reason for this to be a fight, just a friendly discussion!
)ozeeko
Refugee
It's not that the lyrics for the songs you mentioned are at all bad, but the fact is...some of them need the music to support them!
Take the lyric for Bad and put that up against one of the Smiths' best songs, let's just take the most mainstream one for example: How Soon Is Now. Now, without having heard the music to those songs, just on written lyrics alone, I'd have to go with Morrissey because of the craft and how it reads. It's more poetically written. More effective overall, while Bono's lyrics are good within the context of the written music. The whole I'm wide awake wide awake wide awake section sounds great because Bono is belting it at the top of his lungs. But take certain lines which sound great in Bad, like "If i could you know i would, if i could i would...let it go...surrender...dislocate." It sounds so effective within the context of the song and the sound, but pit that against "I am the son and the heir of a shyness that his criminally vulgar. I am the son and heir of nothing inparticular" - without even hearing the music, it is absolutely chilling. (for me anyway). Not to mention the way he uses certain words, like vulgar, and twists it around, making it sound more sinister than it actually is, for he's really using the old definition of vulgar, which is "common". The sheer mastery and knowledge of language alone is what makes Morrissey a great lyricist!
But anyway, yea, if I was to pick Bono's best lyrics, it would be Running To Stand Still, Until The End Of The World and So Cruel. The top 3 for me.
Take the lyric for Bad and put that up against one of the Smiths' best songs, let's just take the most mainstream one for example: How Soon Is Now. Now, without having heard the music to those songs, just on written lyrics alone, I'd have to go with Morrissey because of the craft and how it reads. It's more poetically written. More effective overall, while Bono's lyrics are good within the context of the written music. The whole I'm wide awake wide awake wide awake section sounds great because Bono is belting it at the top of his lungs. But take certain lines which sound great in Bad, like "If i could you know i would, if i could i would...let it go...surrender...dislocate." It sounds so effective within the context of the song and the sound, but pit that against "I am the son and the heir of a shyness that his criminally vulgar. I am the son and heir of nothing inparticular" - without even hearing the music, it is absolutely chilling. (for me anyway). Not to mention the way he uses certain words, like vulgar, and twists it around, making it sound more sinister than it actually is, for he's really using the old definition of vulgar, which is "common". The sheer mastery and knowledge of language alone is what makes Morrissey a great lyricist!
But anyway, yea, if I was to pick Bono's best lyrics, it would be Running To Stand Still, Until The End Of The World and So Cruel. The top 3 for me.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Now, first of all you tell me to separate out how Bono sings the lyric, then you talk about how M delivers his? A little unfair, doncha think?
My second comment is that the two men are writing SONGS, not POEMS and that their lyrics do need to be judged as sung, not simply as read in a poetry book, right?
BUT let's take a look at the two songs you mentioned, and do our best to consider them simply as poems, for what that's worth;
How Soon is Now:
I am the son
and the heir
of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
I am the son
and the heir
of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
There's a club if you'd like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die
When you say it's gonna happen "now"
well, when exactly do you mean?
see I've already waited too long
and all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does
Bad:
If you twist and turn away
If you tear yourself in two again
If I could, yes I would
If I could, I would
Let it go
Surrender
Dislocate
If I could throw this
Lifeless lifeline to the wind
Leave this heart of clay
See you walk, walk away
Into the night
And through the rain
Into the half-light
And through the flame
If I could through myself
Set your spirit free
I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light
And to the day
Oooh oooh, oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh...
To let it go! And so fade away
To let it go!
And so fade away
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
Wide awake
I'm not sleeping, oh no, no, no
If you should ask then maybe they'd
Tell you what I would say
True colors fly in blue and black
Blue silken sky and burning flag
Colors crash, collide in blood shot eyes
Oooh oooh, oooh oooh, oooh oooh oooh...
If I could, you know I would
If I could, I would
Let it go
This desparation
Dislocation
Separation
Condemnation
Revelation
In temptation
Isolation
Desolation
Let it go
And so fade away
To let it go, oh yeah
And so fade away
To let it go, oh No
And so fade away
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
Wide awake
I'm not sleeping oh no no
I'm sorry, but if there is any validity to comparing lyrics like this then Bono just utterly destroyed Morrissey, don't you agree?
ozeeko
Refugee
No, I don't agree at all actually, haha.
I think looking at lyrics alone, Morrissey wins out. Taking the song as a whole, I'd have to hand it also to Larry Mullen, and to Adam, and to the Edge, and to Eno for providing the excitement...it wasn't just Bono who came up with that! But just looking at lyrics, which is what I'm talking about...Morrissey has got the upper hand.
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Really? lol! IMHO it was such a total smackdown that I almost kind of thought you'd give me the point! lol! I mean, as a poem I don't even think How Soon is Now is any good! It needs Morrissey's delivery to turn into the great work it is as a song..
But really I think this does go to prove my larger point. It is a matter of taste! You prefer Morrissey lyrics over Bono. I usually prefer Bono's over Morrissey. I can respect that opinion; Morrissey is fantastic, but for me, when Bono is at his best Morrissey is not in his league.....
redhill
Refugee
They are my two favorite singers...and...
One thing I have noticed, almost universally...is that almost no one likes BOTH of them.
If someone likes one...they usually hate the other...
I'm sure one could write an essay examining why...
It has to do, in part, with the "status" of each and what it means to some to be a fan...
One thing I have noticed, almost universally...is that almost no one likes BOTH of them.
If someone likes one...they usually hate the other...
I'm sure one could write an essay examining why...
It has to do, in part, with the "status" of each and what it means to some to be a fan...
Niceman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I like both!
This is so true. I soo get bashed when I try to talk about U2 on the Morrissey forum.
They are just from two completely different worlds. It's kind of pointless to even try to compare.
redhill
Refugee
I know it is a generalization, but do you think that there are more Moz fans that hate U2 than there are U2 fans that hate Moz?
I think I see more spit headed towards Bono over at the Morrissey-solo site then the other way around!
ozeeko
Refugee
I can respect that. I was just speaking lyrically, meaning lyrics on their own, on a seperate piece of paper, without musical accompaniment...to me it seems like a no-brainer that Morrissey is a better writer.
But that's also why i signalled out those select lyrics from Bono which i think are among his best. Running to stand still, so cruel, until the end of the world...take those lyrics on their own and they're excellent. They can exist without the music. They hold up. They tell a story. It's a complete thought. Bad's lyrics aren't bad, mind you, but i think it's mainly Bono's voice which is the star of that song. He could be singing the phone book on that number. The power comes from his voice, they way he belts out certain words. And again, this is why i think U2 are better song writers and melody makers than The Smiths.
redhill
Refugee
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