October - so beautiful to me

[gobshite]

October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care?

October
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on and on

God i love this song, it confirms my belief in inspiration and genius combined when i hear this. What do you all think, can't get excited by it or really taken.
I love the beutiful simplicity of the echoing piano, the "simplicity" and truth (to me at least) of the lyrics and the final refrain and lyric that seems to pulse supreme and sublime in my being long after the song has finished. Sorry about my inadequate (to be polite about it descriptions) - jules

 

[Zooropa man]

Love it!

 

[BVS]

Used to be one of my favorites, can't really listen to it anymore. My ex-wife walked down the aisle to this song...

 

[jonnytakeawalk]

Used to be one of my favorites, can't really listen to it anymore. My ex-wife walked down the aisle to this song...

Yikes that would be painful to listen to then

Very interesting song to walk down the aisle to though

 

[BVS]

Very interesting song to walk down the aisle to though

It was just an instrumental version, the church organist played it on the piano, we got married in October...

It actually worked very well, too bad the marriage didn't.

 

[pop marter]

I love the piano line. Does anyone know what the lyrics relate to?

 

[theoriginal]

I found this quote from Bono about the album October, though I'm sure this spills over into the title track as well.

'October'...it's an image. We've been through the '60's, a time when things were in full bloom. We had fridges and cars, we sent people to the Moon and everybody thought how great mankind was. And now, as we go through the '70's and '80's, it's a colder time of year. It's after the harvest. The trees are stripped bare. You can see things and we finally realize that maybe we weren't so smart after all, now that there's millions of unemployed people, now that we've used the technology we've been blessed with to build bombs for war machines, to build rockets, whatever. So 'October' is an ominous word, but it's also quite lyrical.

What I've heard most often is that the song is about the death of his mother. There is death imagery (trees stripped bare), apathy in the face of loss (what do I care), and the feeling that his mother will always be with him in spirit (you go on).

Like most U2 songs I think it can support more than one valid interpretation.

 

[kimby]

You know, the 2nd verse seems to suggest God...

"you go on and on"

The Eternal, as it were.

 

[cobl04]

Love it.

I have always imagined it to be this amazing, metaphorical song.

 

[annie_vox]

"And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on and on"

I love this lines... I always imagine those castles like in "Lord Of The Rings" and storys of that king, and the heros who fight for them... Like they are immortal.
But I'm almost sure it's a reference to God...

 

[cobl04]

They are great lyrics. Course someone had to wreck it for me when I asked what the deeper meaning is.

"Uh... in autumn the leaves fall of the trees... as in they're stripped bare..."

 

[BVS]

They are great lyrics. Course someone had to wreck it for me when I asked what the deeper meaning is.

"Uh... in autumn the leaves fall of the trees... as in they're stripped bare..."

It's called a metaphor.

 

[BonoVOX40]

I'm a history major (will have a hard time finding a job I know) I love this song when he says as annie says
"and kingdoms rise,
and kindoms fall,
but you go on,
and on..."

It always makes me think of the Mesopotamians and the Greeks, and the Romans, and the British empire, and how they truly did rule for hundreds of years...but October has ruled and will rule longer...

 

[TheQuiet1]

It's a lovely song.

 

[mad1]

here, is that Bono or The Edge who sings 'and on' in a very soft manner, almost in the background as the piano tune changes to a finish?


it is a beautiful song, very very haunting to me.......

it's sound captures any 80s stuff I remember........from fashion style to events.....