(This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles. We're stealing it back.)
When you get to the bottom
You go back to the top of the slide
And you stop and you turn
And you go for a ride
Then you get to the bottom
Then you see me again
Do you, don't you want me to love you
Coming down fast I'm right here above you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
Ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Do you, don't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast now don't let me break
you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
When you get to the bottom
You go back to the top of the slide
And you turn and you stop
And you go for a ride
Then you get to the bottom
Then you see me again
Do you, don't you want me to love you
Coming down fast I'm right here above you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
Ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter...(and again)
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Van Diemen's Land (3:06)
- The
first song sang by The Edge! It's a rather beautiful piece but it's
rather dull as well. Lyrically, the song seems to be about a soldier
going to face a battle. Actually, now that I think about it, The
Edge is the only one who does anything in this song. At any rate,
the song only goes only for two and a half minutes, and then goes on to
some guy saying "What has happened...um...between the writing of The
Joshua Tree and the recording of The Joshua Tree,
and the tour, and the new songs." Unfortunately, I don't think this
statement makes much sense...and it's not a question. But hey, what
the heck.
Hold me now, oh hold me now
'til this hour has gone around
And I'm gone on the rising tide
For to face Van Diemen's land
It's a bitter pill I swallow here
To be rent from one so dear
We fought for justice and not for gain
But the magistrate sent me away
Now kings will rule and the poor will toil
And tear their hands as they tear the soil
But a day will come in this dawning age
When an honest man sees an honest wage
Hold me now, oh hold me now
'til this hour has gone around
And I'm gone on the rising tide
For to face Van Diemen's land
Desire (2:58)
- The
best song on the album in my opinion, and one of the ones released as a
single. The song has some great moments, in particular the opening
guitar strum, and the closing harmonica. All around an excellent
song! The music video is interesting. It starts off with Bono
and the band going around some town looking for eccentric people, and boy
do they find them. Bono's choice of hats is great here, but it's
the only time you see him wear it! He wears a red beret, and it really
matches him. The Edge also seems to be walking around, fulfilling
yet again, U2's tradition. The song's theme is extremely easy to
figure out...and if you can't, I pity you.
(Yeah)
Lover, I'm on the street
Gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
With a red guitar...on fire
Desire
She's a candle burning in my room
Yeah I'm like the needle, needle and spoon
Over the counter with a shotgun
Pretty soon everybody got one
And the fever when I'm beside her
Desire, desire...
And the fever...getting higher
Desire, desire...burning, burning
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah she's a promise
In the year of election
Oh sister, I can't let you go
Like a preacher stealing hearts
At a traveling show
For love or money money money
money money money money money
money money money
And the fever, getting higher
Desire, desire, desire, desire
Desire, desire
Hawkmoon 269 (6:22)
- The
great simile song! A long song, but worth a listen anyway.
Bono's proclaimations of needing the lady's love is strong and it really
is a great song. The bridge really carries the rest of the song for
sure (When the night has no end...). Only one small objection
is the title. It's cool, but I have no idea what it has to do with
the song. Good song.
Like a desert needs rain
Like a town needs a name
I need your love
Like a drifter needs a room
Hawkmoon
I need your love
I need your love
Like a rhythm unbroken
Like drums in the night
Like sweet soul music
Like sunlight
I need your love
Like coming home
And you don't know where you've been
Like black coffee
Like nicotine
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
When the night has no end
And the day yet to begin
As the room spins around
I need your love
I need your love
Like a Phoenix rising needs a holy tree
Like the sweet revenge of a bitter enemy
I need your love
Like the hot needs the sun
Like honey on her tongue
Like the muzzle of a gun
Like oxygen
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
When the night has no end
And the day yet to begin
As the room spins around
I need your love
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
Like thunder needs rain
Like a preacher needs pain
Like tongues of flame
Like a sheet stained
I need your love
I need your love
Like a needle needs a vein
Like someone to blame
Like a thought unchained
Like a runaway train
I need your love
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
I need your love...
Like faith needs a doubt
Like a freeway out
I need your love
Like powder needs a spark
Like lies need the dark
I need your love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love...
All Along The Watchtower (4:24)
Cover from Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding
- This
is such an excellent song, I always enjoy listening to the dynamic between
The Edge and Larry. They are by far the competing instruments, and
you can tell just by listening to the song. The song was originally
done by Bob Dylan (and later played by Jimi Hendrix in 1968), but I think this
one is a far superior version. As for what the song is about, it
seems the joker and the thief are discussing how blindly people take to
life, and ignore the dangers that can take life away. BUT the song
is actually about the Charles Whitman incident, when the 25 year old
army-trained sniper perched himself on a university watchtower and sniped
people on the ground for hours, before the police were able to burst in
and shoot him dead.
"There must be some way out of here"
Said the joker to the thief
"There's too much confusion here
I can't get no relief
Businessmen they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them know along the line
What any of this is worth"
"No reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who think that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And that is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
Because the hour is getting late"
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While horsemen came and went
Barefoot servants too
All I got is a red guitar
Three chords
And the truth
All I got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you
"There's no reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are some among us here
Say that life is just a joke
You and I, we've been through that
And that is not our fate (at least today)
So let us not talk falsely now
Because the hour is getting late
Late..."
(yeeeaaaaaahhhhhh...)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking
For (5:54)
Originally released on The
Joshua Tree
- You
know what? I was never a really big fan of this song, and the live
version really just puts me to sleep. The band came out with so many songs at around this
period, really good songs, they could have omitted some of these live versions
(some, not all) for some more new songs. It's an okay song, I will
admit, but there are far others I'd rather listen to. Plus, this
song doesn't end!
I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
He will lift you higher and higher
He will pick you up when you're low
He'll be the shelter from the storm
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
(Searching, looking, can't find it)
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
(I haven't found, oh baby, searching the fields)
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking
for
Freedom For My People (0:38)
- So...what
is this? It's not done by U2, it's outrageously short, it sounds
kind of silly. So why is it on here? Written and performed
by Sterling Magee, in 1988, if that makes any difference.
I need some freedom
Freedom for my people
I want some freedom
Freedom
Freedom, freedom for my people
I'd like some freedom
Silver And Gold (5:50)
- Now
THIS is a great song. I love the bass, Adam really outdid himself
this time. Then later, at Bono's request, The Edge plays some great
blues. This really is a fantastic song. I would tell you what
it's about, but Bono himself does at the end of the song.
In the shit house a shotgun
Praying hands hold me down
Only the hunter was hunted
In this tin can town
Tin can town
No stars in the black night
Looks like the sky fell down
No sun in the daylight
Looks like it's chained to the ground
Chained to the ground
The warden said
The exit is sold
If you want a way out
Silver and gold
Broken back to the ceiling
Broken nose to the floor
I scream at the silence, it's crawling
It crawls under the door
There's a rope around my neck
And there's a trigger in your gun
Jesus say something
I am someone, I am someone
I am someone
Captain and kings
In the ships hold
They came to collect
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Seen the coming and going
Seen them captains and the kings
See them navy blue uniforms
See them bright and shiny things
Bright shiny things
The temperature is rising
The fever white hot
Mister, I ain't got nothing
But it's more than you got
Chains no longer bind me
Not the shackles at my feet
Outside are the prisoners
Inside the free
Set them free
Set them free
A prize fighter in a corner is told
Hit where it hurts
Silver and gold
Silver and gold
(Yep, silver and gold...
This song was written in a hotel room in New
York city 'round about the time a friend of ours,
little Steven, was puting together a record
of artists against apartheid.
This is a song written about a man in a shanty
town outside of Johannesburg.
A man who's sick of looking down the barrel
of white South Africa. A man who is at the
point where he is ready to take
up arms against his oppressor. A man who has lost
aith in the peacemakers of the West while
they argue and while they fail to
support a man like Bishop Tutu
and his request for economic sanctions against South Africa.
Am I buggin' you? I don't mean to bug
ya...
Okay Edge, play the blues...)
Pride (In The Name Of Love) (4:27)
Originally released on The
Unforgettable Fire
- This
is a live version I always like to hear. So do the crowds in the
background apparently. This is another example of the great live
work U2 can do Not much more to say, except I love the variation
The Edge plays here.
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
(The Edge!)
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
(For the reverend Martin Luther King...sing)
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love...
Angel Of Harlem (3:49)
- Here's
another good song, but it's kind of hard to see it as true U2 style.
It's very old fashioned blues/jazz, with all the trumpets and saxophones.
But I really think that's what the song is getting at. As seen in
the music video, instead of U2 being featured prominently, it's mostly
black singers of the early jazz period. The only times you see U2
is them walking (The Edge too!) out of cars to the Rattle And Hum
movie premiers (which I must confess, I have yet to see). Also, as
a side note, most of this video is in black and white, yet again fulfilling
U2's music video tradition. In closing, I'd just like to say that
the old footage of the black fellow drumming at the end is great!
It was a cold and wet December day
When we touched the ground at JFK
Snow was melting on the ground
On BLS I heard the sound
Of an angel
New York, like a Christmas tree
Tonight this city belongs to me
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...Angel of Harlem
Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got John Coltrane and a love supreme
Miles says she's got to be an angel
Lady Day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...Angel of Harlem
Angel of Harlem
She says it's heart...heart and soul...
Yeah yeah...(yeah)
Yeah yeah...(right now)
Blue light on the avenue
God knows they got to you
An empty glass, the lady sings
Eyes swollen like a bee sting
Blinded you lost your way
Through the side streets and the alleyway
Like a star exploding in the night
Falling to the city in broad daylight
An angel in Devil's shoes
Salvation in the blues
You never looked like an angel
Yeah yeah...Angel of Harlem
Angel...Angel of Harlem...
Love Rescue Me (6:23)
- Country and
Western??? NOOOO!!!!! Oh God, the agony!! What were they
thinking?? I don't want to rustle some cattle while listening to
U2! I don't want to saddle my horse and lasso a colt! What
the hell?? Tell you what, let's forget this song ever happened and
move on.
Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up and don't let me fall
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me
Love rescue me
Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal
Love rescue me
And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea
I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
Said, love rescue me
In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
See the dark shades of what I used to be
See the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies
Love rescue me
Yea, though I walk
In the valley of shadow
Yea, I will fear no evil
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me
Love rescue me
Sha la la...sha la la la
Sha la la la...ha la la...
Sha la la la...sha la la la
Sha la la la...sha la la
Sha la la la...sha la la la
Sha la la...
I said love, love rescue me
I said love
Climb up the mountains, said love
I said love, oh my love
On the hill of the son
I'm on the eve of a storm
And my word you must believe in
Oh, I said love, rescue me
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah...
Yeah I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love rescue me
I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance
To a new world I can see
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me
Love rescue me
When Love Comes To Town (4:14)
- According
to Bono, this song was written because of B. B. King coming to Dublin to
perform. I find the percussion kind of annoying in this song.
Larry seems to make whacking the drums his only function in this song.
It becomes intrusive, but overall, the song is pretty good. The best
part of the song is actually King's blues performance, he really makes
the song worthwhile. A couple things about the music video.
Firstly, it's shot in black and white (hmmm...). Secondly, I like
the music video version FAR more than this one. It's done very well,
and I recommend seeing it. Small complaint: when King's applauding
at the end of the video, it freezes on him...and he looks like a muppet.
Ah well.
I was a sailor, I was lost at sea
I was under the waves
Before love rescued me
I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread
Now I stand accused of the things I've said
Love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that
flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
I used to make love under a red sunset
I was making promises I was soon to forget
She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown
But I left her standing before love came to
town
I ran into a juke joint when I heard a guitar
scream
The notes were turning blue, I was dazing
in a dream
As the music played I saw my life turn around
That was the day before love came to town
When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that
train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that
flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
[Repeat Chorus]
I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew
his sword
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I've seen love conquer the great divide
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that
train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that
flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
Heartland (5:02)
- Ah,
this is more like it. True U2, not live from a concert, an original
work. Something I think the album needed more of. This song
is very peaceful and very mellow, but not at all dull. The backup
vocals singing "Ohhh..." is really a great compliment to Bono's
deepened voice. This song is one of my favourite of the album, but
it contradicts "In God's Country" in the way that it makes America out
to be a very romantic and homey place. No real objections, but interesting
to note.
See the sun rise over her skin
Don't change it
See the sun rise over her skin
Dawn changes everything
Everything
And the delta sun
Burns bright and violet
Mississippi and the cotton wool heat
Sixty-six a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
Of the shining cities
In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland
See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost-ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on
In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland...heartland
Heartland...heaven's day here in the heartland
Heart...
God Part II (3:15)
- What
happened to God Part I? Anyway, this song is an extremely interesting
look at the difference between good and evil, moral issues, what people
do, and what they think. One of my favourites on the album, and a
dark song by far. The bass is once again excellent, and when The
Edge comes in, it tears the song into a really enjoyable rock song.
Don't believe the devil
I don't believe his book
But the truth is not the same
Without the lies he made up
Don't believe in excess
Success is to give
Don't believe in riches
But you should see where I live
I...I believe in love
Don't believe in forced entry
Don't believe in rape
But every time she passes by
Wild thoughts escape
I don't believe in death row
Skid row or the gangs
Don't believe in the Uzi
It just went off in my hand
I...I believe in love
Don't believe in cocaine
Got a speed-ball in my head
I could cut and crack you open
Do you hear what I said
Don't believe them when they tell me
There ain't no cure
The rich stay healthy
The sick stay poor
I...I believe in love
Don't believe in Goldman
His type like a curse
Instant karma's going to get him
If I don't get him first
Don't believe in rock 'n' roll
Can really change the world
As it spins in revolution
It spirals and turns
I...I believe in love
Don't believe in the 60's
The golden age of pop
You glorify the past
When the future dries up
Heard a singer on the radio late last night
He says he's gonna kick the darkness
'til it bleeds daylight
I...I believe in love
I feel like I'm falling
Like I'm spinning on a wheel
It always stops beside of me
With a presence I can feel
I...I believe in love
(Stop)
The Star Spangled Banner (0:43)
- Okay,
yahoo for America, yes, great. This piece was performed by Jimi Hendrix
in 1969, and if you sample just this song, you'll wonder why it's even
on here. You find out, as it ties right into the next song.
Instrumental
Bullet The Blue Sky (5:37)
Originally released on The
Joshua Tree
- With
an opening of the last song, Adam and Larry start this song, illustrating
an extremely powerful symbol of irony. I love this live version,
and I think it's just such a great song is great played live as well.
It's almost a more chilling version than the original. Great!
In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See them driving nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain
From the firefly, a red orange glow
See the face of fear
Running scared in the valley below
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue
In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue
(Yeah...all right)
(So this guy comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colors of a royal flush
And he's peeling off those dollar bills
Slapping 'em down
One hundred, two hundred
And I can see those fighter planes
I can see those fighter planes
Across the mud huts where the children sleep
Through the valleys and the quiet city street
We take the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
As a man breathes into a saxophone
And through the walls we hear the city groan
Outside it's America
Outside it's America)
(So I'm back in my hotel room with Johnnie
Coltrane and the love supreme.
In the next room I hear some woman scream
out that her lover's turning off, turning
on the television. And I can't tell
the difference between ABC news, Hill Street Blues,
and a preacher on the old time gospel hour
stealing money from the sick and the old.
Well the God I believe in isn't short of cash,
mister.
I feel a long way from the hills of San Salvador,
where the sky is ripped open,
and the rain pours through a gaping wound...pelting
the women and children...pelting
the women and children...
...who run...who run...into the arms...of
America)
All I Want Is You (6:30)
- Another
great ending song, and a fantastic song as well. The introduction
of The Edge is fantastic here, carrying the melody wonderfully. It
really illustrates what really love is about. The music video is
sad, but gets confusing. For starters, it's in black and white, keeping
that wonderful U2 tradition. It's about the circus, and the dwarf
falling in love with one of the acrobats. She's married or in a relationship already (with
the male acrobat), but he's got it bad for her, and she sees something
in him too. They keep exchanging looks at the dinner table.
The acrobats head off, and she does a bit of a strip tease for the acrobat
guy. Meanwhile, we cut across camp, stumbling across Bono and Adam
drinking (figures). In the morning, the dwarf and his good buddy
the strongman go out and he buys her a pretty ring. He plans on giving
it to her, but the male acrobat is always around. So, to get her
attention, he climbs up onto the trapeze and starts doing a little acrobatic
move. He falls, naturally, to the shock of the circus. The
camera takes his perspective as he falls...and starts flying around the
circus. He goes along the beach passing the band, who are walking
along (The Edge is walking too! Ha!!). The next scene and we're
all attending a funeral. Aw, poor dwarf guy died. But then...who's
this standing by the grave plot? It's the dwarf!? He then
drops the ring he bought onto the casket being buried, and everyone walks
off in silence. The acrobat lady died? Huh??? A moving
video shot very well, but it'll leave you scratching your head as to what
just happened.
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you'll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night
You say you'll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbour in the tempest
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold
All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You...all I want is...
You...all I want is...
You...all I want is...
You...
