The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town
You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere
You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case
What you don't have you don't need it now
What you don't know you can feel it somehow
What you don't have you don't need it now
Don't need it now
Was a beautiful day
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get
Out Of (4:32)
- Hmm...I'm
really not too sure what to think about this song. For starters,
it's not really rock, it's almost soft rock. Musically, it's got
that piano-like tone that goes through the whole song, and it makes the
song kind of dull. Although Bono's singing in it brings the song
to a greater level, especially in the best part of the song: the bridge.
The song is really quite obvious though, it's about a person who's come
across a tremendous obstacle/trauma and gets stuck in it. Bono's
telling the person that life goes on, and you have to go with it.
This makes the song very anthematic and the type of song people can relate
to. There are two music videos for this song. The first is my favourite,
and it takes place in a football game. After a bunch of U2 references
by John Maddon, the video opens with a young guy who's about to make the
kick of his life and win the game. But he misses it. The video
is this moment being repeated from a different perspective each time.
Watch the kid's perspective. As the stress gets to him, he sees one
of his teammates dressed in lingerie, and then dressed as a giant bunny.
Bono's in the crowd just taking it easy, The Edge is walking (!) up some
stairs when he slides off some nachos and lands on his back, Adam's reading
a newspaper and ignoring everything, and Larry is getting REALLY psyched
in the game (the director told him to act like an avid soccer fan).
The second video is far simpler, with Bono getting thrown out of a van
and the moment is repeated from a different perspective constantly.
Also seen is the rest of the band, as they try to cross the street to get
to him. Nice imagery for sure. The song is okay, but I tend
to skip it.
I'm not afraid
Of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me
That I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company
I never thought you were a fool
But darling look at you
You gotta stand up straight
Carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere baby
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
I will not forsake
The colors that you bring
The nights you filled with fireworks
They left you with nothing
I am still enchanted
By the light you brought to me
I listen through your ears
Through your eyes I can see
And you are such a fool
To worry like you do
I know it's tough
And you can never get enough
Of what you don't really need now
My, oh my
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Oh love, look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm 'til you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if our way should falter
Along the stony pass
And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along this stony pass
It's just a moment
This time will pass
Elevation (3:46)
- (Please note:
this review is about the original song, NOT the Tomb Raider mix.
As such, the music video is not reviewed either. I felt that this
song and the Tomb Raider mix should have been on The Best of 1990
- 2000 and B-Sides, because I enjoyed them) I love
this song. The first time I heard it was during a laser-U2 show.
Anyway, musically it's one of the hardest songs on this album. It opens
slowly with a chime playing, then The Edge's guitar picking it up, then
the whole song coming into a strong melody. The song at first listening
seems to be about a woman, and Bono's spirits being lifted, but I tend
to disagree. I think of it as being about fame, and how people view
the famous. This is a great song, and one of the best on this album.
High, higher than the sun
You shoot me from a gun
I need you to elevate me here
At corner of your lips
As the orbit of your hips
Eclipse
You elevate my soul
I've got no self control
Been living like a mole now
Going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high
Elevation
A star
Lit up like a cigar
Strung out like a guitar
Maybe you can educate my mind
Explain all these controls
Can't sing but I've got soul
The goal is elevation
A mole
Digging in a hole
Digging up my soul now
Going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high
Elevation
Love
Lift me up out of these blues
Won't you tell me something true
I believe in you
A mole
Digging in a hole
Digging up my soul now
Going down, excavation
Higher now
In the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high
Elevation
Elevation
Elevation
Elevation
Elevation
Walk On (4:55)
- This is a
pretty good song, and the second single to be released. It starts
with a slow piano intro, with Bono's slow singing. But when The Edge's
guitar belts out the melody with great gusto, the song gets going.
It's somewhat slow, but it's pretty cool nonetheless. You can hear the
piano emphasize the climax of the song, which is a nice touch. The
song is dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under virtual house
arrest for trying to rally the people of Burma to change the government's
policies. The band sympathizes with her and tells her through this
song that her fight is a good one. Notice the album's title is a
strong component of the lyrics. The music video isn't really much
of anything except the band playing and a whole bunch of people and faces
being showcased. However, as with "One", the band isn't looking for
special effects, but for deep meaning and emotion. Which I think
is quite successful.
And love
Is not the easy thing
The only baggage
That you can bring
Not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind
And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long
way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong
Walk on
Walk on
What you got, they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on
Walk on
Stay safe tonight
You're packing a suitcase for a place
None of us has been
A place that has to be believed
To be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird
In an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom
Walk on
Walk on
What you got
You can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on
Walk on
You stay safe tonight
And I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on
Walk on
Home
Hard to know what it is
If you never had one
Home
I can't say where it is
But I know I'm going
Home
That's where the hurt is
And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on
Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you feel
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you care
It's only time
And I'll never fill up all I find
All that you sense
All that you scheme
All you dress up
And all that you see
All you create
All that you wreck
All that you hate
Kite (4:23)
- This is a
fantastic song. It was the last single to be released, and as such
it didn't stay on the radio long because everyone had the album by that
point. Musically, it's very reliant on the guitar and a rushed violin
sound at the beginning. Now, there's a very nice guitar solo that's
kind of short but the weird part is that it seems to take the place of
half a verse. The song was supposedly inspired when Bono was out
with his little girl flying a kite. And the song seems to support
this (Who's to say where the wind will take you...), and the song
is about the possibilities you can have with your future. You can
do and be anywhere in your future which is very daunting and sometimes
underestimated. I think he's definitely relating this to his daughter.
Something
Is about to give
I can feel it coming
I think I know what it means
I'm not afraid to die
I'm not afraid to live
And when I'm flat on my back
I hope to feel like I did
And hardness
It sets in
You need some protection
The thinner the skin
I want you to know
That you don't need me anymore
I want you to know
You don't need anyone
Or anything at all
Who's to say where the wind will take you
Who's to say what it is will break you
I don't know
Which way the wind will blow
Who's to know when the time has come around
Don't want to see you cry
I know that this is not goodbye
It's summer, I can taste the salty sea
There's a kite blowing out of control on the
breeze
I wonder what's gonna happen to you
You wonder what has happened to me
I'm a man
I'm not a child
A man who sees
The shadow behind your eyes
Who's to say where the wind will take you
Who's to say what it is will break you
I don't know
Where the wind will blow
Who's to know when the time has come around
I don't want to see you cry
I know that this is not goodbye
Did I waste it
Not so much I couldn't taste it
Life should be fragrant
Rooftop to the basement
The last of the rock stars
When hip hop drove the big cars
In the time when new media
Was the big idea
That was the big idea
In A Little While (3:37)
- I'll admit,
this song bored me at first. But I really grew to love it.
There's a really a lovely section to the song that really shoots this song
up to be one of the best on the album, in my opinion (Slow down my beating
heart...). Musically, it's quite slow, but that's not a bad thing
because it certainly allows me to hear more of Larry's drumming, which
is quite nice in this piece. The song isn't very cryptic, which is
cool, but there may be some confusion as to who this song is about.
While some people think it's about Bono's wife and/or family, I think it's
about one of Bono's daughters (his eldest?) whom he refers to as Spanish
Eyes (also note: that's the name of a song on the B-Sides for The
Best of 1980 - 1990). The song really seems to be about Bono
missing his family, but he addresses the one daughter. Anyway, nice
piece.
In a little while
Surely you'll be mine
In a little while I'll be there
In a little while
This hurt will hurt no more
I'll be home, love
When the night takes a deep breath
And the daylight has no air
If I crawl, if I come crawling home
WiIl you be there
In a little while
I won't (be) blown by every breeze
Friday night running
To Sunday on my knees
That girl, that girl
She's mine
And I've know her since
Since you were a little girl
With Spanish eyes
Oh, when I saw her
In a pram they pushed her by
My, how you've grown
Well it's been
It's been a little while
Slow down my beating heart
Man dreams one day to fly
A man takes a rocket ship into the skies
He lives on a star that's dying in the night
And follows in the trail
The scatter of light
Turn it on
Turn it on
You turn me on
Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love
Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love
Slow down my beating heart
Slowly, slowly love
Wild Honey (3:45)
- I'm a bit
stuck on this song. Musically, it seems a little too folk/country,
but it still has some nice moments. Lyrically, it's kind of hard
to say whom Bono is singing to. For the most part though, I'll side
with the evidence that Bono's singing this love song to God (Did I know
you...before the world was made...). If that's the case, he's
just singing about his love for God and childlike view of God, and foregoing
all the metaphysical, "are you really there" sort of mentality. It's
an okay song.
In the days
When we were swinging from the trees
I was a monkey
Stealing honey from a swarm of bees
I could taste
I could taste you even then
And I would chase you down the wind
You can go there if you please
Wild honey
And if you go then go with me
Wild honey
Did I know you
Did I know you even then
Before the clocks kept time
Before the world was made
From the cruel sun
You were shelter
You were my shelter and my shade
If you go there with me
Wild honey
You can do just what you please
Wild honey
Yeah, just blowing in the breeze
Wild honey
Wild, wild, wild
I'm still standing
I'm still standing where you left me
Are you still growing wild
With everything tame around you
I send you flowers
Cut flowers for your hall
I know your garden is full
But is there sweetness at all
What is soul
Love me
Give me soul
If you go then go with me
Wild honey
Won't you take me, take me please
Wild honey
Yeah, swinging through the trees
Wild honey
Wild, wild, wild
Peace On Earth (4:46)
- This song
is very much a continuation of "Wake Up Dead Man", in that Bono is pleading
for Jesus to come and bring peace to us. It's also very much like "Miss
Sarajevo" in that it addresses very strong issues about war. The
huge problem I have with it is that it's quite boring musically, and with
the trippy sound effects in the background, it makes me wonder who they're
trying to appeal to. To be honest...it sounds like it's geared towards
the elderly.
Heaven on Earth
We need it now
I'm sick of all of this
Hanging around
Sick of sorrow
I'm sick of the pain
I'm sick of hearing
Again and again
That there's gonna be
Peace on Earth
Where I grew up
There weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you
And it's already gone too far
Who said that if you go in hard
You won't get hurt
Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No one cries like a mother cries
For peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the color in his eyes
Now he's in the dirt
Peace on Earth
They're reading names out
Over the radio
All the folks the rest of us
Won't get to know
Sean and Julia
Gareth, Ann, and Breda
Their lives are bigger than
Any big idea
Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
Jesus in this song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth
This peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
When I Look At The World (4:15)
- This is such
a great song, and one of the best on the album. It starts off with
muted guitar, then moves into the upbeat melody which reminds me (I'm not
sure how) of "Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World". This song
is pretty heavy in terms of lyrics, with Bono noting that the world is
really screwed up and that Jesus views it all differently than we do.
And Bono reinforces this by stating that he wants to be like Jesus (I
try to be like you...), he can't walk through life without Jesus (But
without you it's no use...), and that he wonders how Jesus sees him
(Tell me what's wrong with me...). It's a very touching piece,
whether you're Christian or not, and the end really wraps the song up smoothly.
Great!
When you look at the world
What is it that you see
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees
I see an expression
So clear and so true
That it changes the atmosphere
When you walk (in)to the room
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
When the night is someone else's
And you're trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep
When there's all kinds of chaos
And everyone is walking lame
You don't even blink now do you
Or even look away
So I try to be like you
Try to feel it like you do
But without you it's no use
I can't see what you see
When I look at the world
I can't wait any longer
I can't wait 'til I'm stronger
Can't wait any longer
To see what you see
When I look at the world
I'm in the waiting room
I can't see for the smoke
I think of you and your holy book
When the rest of us choke
Tell me, tell me
What do you see
Tell me, tell me
What's wrong with me
New York (5:28)
- The song is
pretty boring lyrically. It's about some guy who's discovered New
York, and what a great city it is. This is a dangerous sort of thing
to base a song around, and can come to catastrophic results, like "Miami".
BUT, musically it's brilliant. This is by far the hardest rock song
on the album. It starts off really slow, and picks up slowly, but
not slow enough that you lose interest. By the two minute mark The
Edge soars in on an awesome guitar piece that hallmarks this song.
Another saving grace for this song is some of the funny lyrics in here
(They even got the police...), but by far this is an excellent way
to wrap up an album...if it was the last song.
In New York freedom looks like
Too many choices
In New York I found a friend
To drown out the other voices
Voices on a cell phone
Voices from home
Voices of the hard sell
Voices down a stairwell
In New York
Just got a place in New York
In New York summers get hot
Well into the hundreds
You can't walk around the block
Without a change of clothing
Hot as a hair dryer in your face
Hot as handbag and a can of mace
New York
I just got a place in New York
New York, New York
In New York you can forget
Forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in
But it's down to Alphaville
New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
New York
The Irish been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall
Asphalt, asphalt
They even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
Religious nuts, political fanatics in the
stew
Happily not like me and you
That's where I lost you
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York
In New York I lost it all
To you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out
My midlife crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat
You got to put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for
New York
New York
New York
New York, New York
In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice whispering
Come away now
New, New York
New...
New York
New York
Grace (5:31)
- This is an
okay song, but it sounds like the type of depressing song you'd hear in
Chicago at a blues club. Musically, it's very repetitive, but not
too badly, I'll give it that. Thank God the percussion came in.
The song isn't really about some woman, but about God's grace on people
(not too dissimilar from "Gloria"). I guess it's okay as a closing
song, but my chief complaint is that it's too long, and sometimes Bono
misses a beat.
Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name
Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that
Changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness
In everything
Grace
She's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty
In everything
Grace
She carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips
Between her fingertips
She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things
Grace finds beauty
In everything
Grace finds goodness
In everything
