lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Axver said:Laz, would you be happier if U2 hadn't touched Take You Down?
If no, why would you be happier if U2 don't touch Mercy? No-one here has the faintest idea how that song may evolve. Indeed, considering the fact it was considered for inclusion on the album, what we have is potentially close to the final version, so if U2 hold onto it for another album, it may not even change and this hysteria that it will be butchered is misplaced! Or it may evolve into a couple of legendary songs that we like more than Mercy itself. NO-ONE KNOWS and making pessimistic predictions is just stupidly cynical.
Let's not force U2's hand here. They're the artists. They have the creative licence, not any of us.
Axver, others have already tried to draw these parallels which are incompatible, to put it lightly. I have Take You Down. I'm quite familiar with it. I'm aware of what it spawned. And Take You Down is far, far from being some kind of masterwork. It is not epic, and it SOUNDS like a work in progress.
Mercy, on the other hand, has been called by many the best song U2 has recorded in years. It's was on many people's Top 10 after only being around for months. It's an extremely powerful track. Take You Down is the sound of a band opening doors, peeking around corners, and looking for something different. Mercy is what they FOUND there. There is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING superior to Mercy that can be extracted from Mercy. It is in a finished state, and Bono himself called it "the best B-Side you've ever heard". If they do revisit the track, it will be to make it more akin to whatever other new material they would be working on for another album.
And that's what has me worried. Yeah, U2 are the artists. But artists don't always make the best choices. For some, POP was a misstep. For others, ATYCLB was a backwards step. For some, Miami is like nails on a chalkboard. For others, Hands That Built America is an awkwardly written and sung aural sleeping pill. For some, the new mixes and Best of selections were fresh looks at older material. For others, they were an unnecessary and poorly chosen waste of time.
I'm hoping that an updated Mercy doesn't become a really bad choice to a lot of people. To you, it sounds "stupidly cynical", to me it's legitimate apprehension.