GEN
Active topics
U2 - Every Breaking Wave (360 version)
 Era:
2010-2019
  2. Lyrics really are some of the best in my opinion from Bono in a long time. They are simple, but they are so brilliant at painting a picture and building an atmosphere. The last time I think he wrote Lyrics of that kind of nature was during the 90's.

  3. yep, great lyrics. some of the best since Pop I'd say. HTDAAB didn't have any good lyric, NLOTH some fantastic ones as well on ATYCLB.
  4. OMG, they just played EBW, is it like WOWY as reported?

    I will have to have a listen - this teaches me to not visit for a few days.

    And am starting to really like Glastonbury, would have gone down well with the festival crowd.
    If the solo was longer it'd be reminiscent of their blistering Lovetown rendition of All Along the Watchtower

    Also where can I hear the electric version of North Star? YT link?

    Return of the Stingray guitar is pretty boring though, doesn't go anywhere and the high pitched percussion sounds silly, works ok as an intro jam though, but surely they could come up with something better, eg. why don't they do the Being Born chorus with Bono screaming the ohhs.
  5. Originally posted by vanquish:OMG, they just played EBW, is it like WOWY as reported?

    I will have to have a listen - this teaches me to not visit for a few days.

    And am starting to really like Glastonbury, would have gone down well with the festival crowd.
    If the solo was longer it'd be reminiscent of their blistering Lovetown rendition of All Along the Watchtower

    Also where can I hear the electric version of North Star? YT link?


    here u are



    Glasto indeed is a great song. The solo is perfect as it is. Im not a big fan of long solos...
  6. dying to hear studio versions of North Star and Every Breaking Wave. Really hope for an EP later this year.
  7. Thank you!

    OK, listened to EBW, very underwhelming, the lyrics are good, but the verse melody is merely ok and doesn't develop to much, no interesting chorus either, unlike North Star which definitely seems to have a better melody.

    And Edge is just playing arpeggiated chords, so it's basically an electric 'acoustic' cover, I don't think the instrumentation in the studio version will sound anything like this, which is good as it was very mundane sounding guitar.

    The lyric melody is quite weak though, so am hoping Bono does something different in the album version.

    And funnily enough, I don't mind the 'Ay Hey Heys' they're a bit silly sure (like most Bono's vocalisations) but without them the song would sound completely flat.

    With regards to long solos, I don't want a 2 min solo, I'm talking more about one longer than 10 seconds long. Like the length of say the solo in Even Better Than The Real Thing.

    EDIT: Ok listening to North Star electric, definitely a better singing melody than EBW, the contrast between the low key verses and the long, high notes he hits in the chorus makes it much more interesting. The change of cadence in the bridge is also interesting.
  8. I think the lyrics sound like they are from Achtung Baby, between So Cruel, Hild Horses and One and I think it sounds like a world class song, cannot wait to hear the studio version
  9. Originally posted by u2spear:I think the lyrics sound like they are from Achtung Baby, between So Cruel, Hild Horses and One and I think it sounds like a world class song, cannot wait to hear the studio version


    Hmm, except for these lines :

    I don’t know if I’m that strong
    Don’t know if I’m that strong
    Got to be somebody
    To need someone


    Which are very ATYCLB/HTDAAB esque and sound very cliched and seem like trite sentimentality.

    You don't find lines like that in WOWY, So Cruel, or One.

    Bono's current lyric writing seems to be good, but occassionally a cringeworthy line or two slip in, which somewhat detracts from the lyrics, see MOS, UC, GOYB, SUC, IGCIIDGCT, Winter, Cedars etc. It's annoying because I can't understand why he just can't write like he did back in the later 80s/90s (even up to Pop), is he just spending less time on polishing his writing? Or has he forgotten some of his poetic skill after working on ATYCLB and HTDAAB as his writing clearly retains traces of that more simple, less eloquent style

    Probably the best lyrics he's written in recent times are the ones to Disappearing Act, which are totally classic Bono, very dark and moody, no glurge - but ironically we don't know if they were written now or back in 1985.
  10. Yes, there are some lines that need some work. But for the most part, I think they are very good. I still stand by what I say about the "Hey now" parts. Yes they might add a bit more life back into the song but they don't fit. They need to be changed to something else for it flow better. It's like they build up an atmosphere with the lyrics then the "Hey now" bit kick in and the atmosphere stops dead in its tracks and not for the better either. But hey that's just my opinion.

    By the way I completely agree with you with Disappearing Act - that proves Bono is capable of writing like his old self but why he chooses to sing cheesier cringe worthy melodies/lyrics like you said, is beyond me. He seems to stray into the habit of trying to make it more appealing like what he did with most songs on HTDAAB. But really it isn't more appealing, it's dumbing it down. He is trying to make the song more simple and accessible to a new audience who are used to their simple Rock/Pop tunes, which I really dislike.

    Like the song Winter for example, so much potential. Classic U2 sound and atmosphere. But lines like "We're like butter on toast" is just terrible in my opinion.
  11. Originally posted by u2opra:Yes, there are some lines that need some work. But for the most part, I think they are very good. I still stand by what I say about the "Hey now" parts. Yes they might add a bit more life back into the song but they don't fit. They need to be changed to something else for it flow better. It's like they build up an atmosphere with the lyrics then the "Hey now" bit kick in and the atmosphere stops dead in its tracks and not for the better either. But hey that's just my opinion.

    By the way I completely agree with you with Disappearing Act - that proves Bono is capable of writing like his old self but why he chooses to sing cheesier cringe worthy melodies/lyrics like you said, is beyond me. He seems to stray into the habit of trying to make it more appealing like what he did with most songs on HTDAAB. But really it isn't more appealing, it's dumbing it down. He is trying to make the song more simple and accessible to a new audience who are used to their simple Rock/Pop tunes, which I really dislike.




    Yes, dumbing down is the right word - however not all the lyrics on ATYCLB/HTDAAB are bad, BD, Vertigo, COBL etc have some great lines, but then there are some real shockers, like Elevation, Crumbs, All Because of You, Walk On etc.

    For example COBL has great writing and probably would be nearly as good as Streets if it didn't have the annoying "time, time ,time ' breakdown, which just sounds childish and ruins the atmosphere of the song.

    And I think with the 'hey now' parts, they'll probably make more sense in the context of the album version, but true they do sound a bit country & western.

    BTW what's the best performance (with the best video/audio recording quality) on YT of Glastonbury?
  12. Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

    Yes, dumbing down is the right word - however not all the lyrics on ATYCLB/HTDAAB are bad, BD, Vertigo, COBL etc have some great lines, but then there are some real shockers, like Elevation, Crumbs, All Because of You, Walk On etc.

    For example COBL has great writing and probably would be nearly as good as Streets if it didn't have the annoying "time, time ,time ' breakdown, which just sounds childish and ruins the atmosphere of the song.



    Yeah there are some gems on HTDAAB but not many. Like you say with COBL, it could easily have been the next Streets but again you rightly point out, certain lines break away the melody/flow of the song.

    I agree about BD and Vertigo and they work because they are playful, much like GOYB - which I like too. It's like if the content of the song is playful then sure it makes sense to use playful lyrics. However for moody songs that require setting an atmosphere or allowing a person to paint a picture in their mind, Bono now sometimes spoils that by throwing a real stinker of a lyric now and then in, which distracts the listener and breaks their immersion into the song - well does for me anyway.

    I don't know where Bono has learnt this style from. His lyrics from UF, JT, AB, Passengers and parts of Pop are almost flawless. Some of that writing came back in NLOTH but again, like ATYCLB and HTDAAB before it, some songs had the atmosphere broken by lazy/cheesy lyrics.