Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
If Bob Hewson hadn't been suffering from cancer before eventually passing away in August 2001, would we have seen a totally different U2 this decade? Plus wasn't The Edge's daughter diagnosed with cancer too? The more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that the main reason the band has (and esp. Bono who obviously has a very strong influence on the other 3) really mellowed down and softened up lately is directly due to these tragic events.
I can see it in the lyrics of songs like... Stuck In A Moment (these tears are going nowhere, baby...), Walk On (and I know it aches and your heart it breaks, you can only take so much..), Kite, In A Little While (slow down my beating heart...), parts of New York (mid life crisis, lose your balance lose your wife in the queue for a lifeboat...), Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Miracle Drug (God I need your help tonight..), LAPOE (here's my heart I'll let you break it... we need love and peace), One Step Closer, OOTS (the end is not as fun as the start..) etc. etc. etc... Granted, there are upbeat songs too like Beautiful Day, Wild Honey, Elevation, Vertigo, COBL, ABOY etc. but everything is pretty much themed on love. Everything. They've been reeeeally pulling at our heart strings... something they have probably never done??? Except for maybe Tomorrow from October which was influenced by (surprise!) Bono's mother's death!
Are you hearing me? It seems like Bono's basically a very sensitive man who is having a hard time getting over his father's death. And to make things worse, now there's Sian's illness. And all of this is showing big time in their music. And hence the much more direct lyrics. Less poetry.
See, they were political and full of fiery passion in the 80s. They were cool as heck in the 90s. Now they're tugging at our heart strings? And maybe people that aren't so soft on the inside or at least don't show it... or people that haven't had the misfortune of losing a loved one.. can't relate to this new incarnation.. Maybe... That's my rough take on it.
Thoughts?
I can see it in the lyrics of songs like... Stuck In A Moment (these tears are going nowhere, baby...), Walk On (and I know it aches and your heart it breaks, you can only take so much..), Kite, In A Little While (slow down my beating heart...), parts of New York (mid life crisis, lose your balance lose your wife in the queue for a lifeboat...), Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Miracle Drug (God I need your help tonight..), LAPOE (here's my heart I'll let you break it... we need love and peace), One Step Closer, OOTS (the end is not as fun as the start..) etc. etc. etc... Granted, there are upbeat songs too like Beautiful Day, Wild Honey, Elevation, Vertigo, COBL, ABOY etc. but everything is pretty much themed on love. Everything. They've been reeeeally pulling at our heart strings... something they have probably never done??? Except for maybe Tomorrow from October which was influenced by (surprise!) Bono's mother's death!
Are you hearing me? It seems like Bono's basically a very sensitive man who is having a hard time getting over his father's death. And to make things worse, now there's Sian's illness. And all of this is showing big time in their music. And hence the much more direct lyrics. Less poetry.
See, they were political and full of fiery passion in the 80s. They were cool as heck in the 90s. Now they're tugging at our heart strings? And maybe people that aren't so soft on the inside or at least don't show it... or people that haven't had the misfortune of losing a loved one.. can't relate to this new incarnation.. Maybe... That's my rough take on it.
Thoughts?