"Please"-Various meanings

[TwoHeartsSL]

Please is a song that can be obvious at times, but can also have a lot of hidden or underlying themes or meanings. What are your takes on this song?

 

[Giant Lemon]

I mainly see Please as a reaction to the terrorism in Northern Ireland. It's about how the terrorists justify their actions by saying they're doing it for God or religion, but in reality that's not the case. I'm intrigued by the "get up off your knees" line. I've always interpreted it this way: People pray when they're on their knees, so this is an analogy for religion. So the song is saying that religion should not be a reason for violence. Hence, "leave it out" means that religion should be left out of violence and terrorism.

The "love is not what you're thinking of" line also goes along with this. The terrorists claim their actions are out of love of God, but the song states that their idea of love is really not love at all.

I also see "get up off your knees" as a reference to martyrdom. Since people are on their knees when they're at the mercy of someone (or about to be beheaded, for that matter), that line is saying that the terrorists should not cause all this violence in hope that they can be great martyrs for their cause.

This song is pretty interesting to me since it focuses on how the terrorists feel. It describes them as people who don't feel loved or wanted so they turn to something that they can devote themselves to in order to feel whole. I think the key is that the terrorists are only doing this for themselves, not for God, and that they ignore the suffering they cause other people: "But you could only feel your own pain."

Anyway, I think Please is a very poignant song, and I think that the way it can be applied to the current situation with Osama Bin Laden and everything speaks to its greatness.

 

[Lilly]

I think it's weird how it says "September, streets capsizing, spilling over, down the drain..." and so on. It was the first song I had listened to on 9/11 and it creeped me out. It is, however, one of my VERY favorite U2 songs.

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Go lightly down your darkened way.

 

[poptart2001]

i love please i know this isnt what you are asking but im gonna tell ya anyway lol
the song describes my mums and dads realatinship (they arent together no more)
when Bono sing "please get up of your knees"
it reminds me how i felt when i was a child begging them to stop!!!!so i always see this song as describing a bad relationship

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a vampire or a victim it depends on whos around

Dont let the Bastards grind you down

 

[UV2001]

Originally posted by Lilly:
I think it's weird how it says "September, streets capsizing, spilling over, down the drain..." and so on. It was the first song I had listened to on 9/11 and it creeped me out. It is, however, one of my VERY favorite U2 songs.

I remember reading an interview with Bono where he was talking about that part of the song and how weird it was that that whole part of the song fits not just where you left it but some past there too.

 

[tackleberry]

Who is on the cover of the "Please" single? I know this guy has something to do with the terrorism theme, but I forgot his name.

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"You gotta put the women and children first, but you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York..."

 

[MixingBliss]

I believe it's Gerry Adams, Northern Ireland's Sein Finn leader.

 

[Kieran McConville]

The great thing about Please, like a lot of these songs, is that it doesn't necessarily have to be about one thing only. Yes, it's certainly related more than just a bit to developments in Northern Ireland, but could also be between two people.