1. Also. I haven't really listened to the song much. I'm waiting for a good quality version. (Release the studio version guys?)

    Also... Didn't someone say that there was a hint of SOE on the new Joshua Tree release? I remember reading this a while back....

    You don't think they stuck this on there did they?
  2. I see them quitting after Songs of Ascent, which will be put after Songs of Experience (I hope). You just don't know. I don't think they've already planned it, because otherwise why make such future plans. I feel they're living it day to day, year to year, see how they feel and such
  3. Some fascinating discussion and theories. Wouldn't surprise me if Bono is reading some of the discussion too and enjoying it, and perhaps that's partially why they've put the song out there, to gauge feedback and enjoy the discussion. He's certainly being cagey about elaborating on what its about. For now at least. But I have a feeling it might just be one of those songs that he won't ever elaborate on.

    Here's another potential theory to throw out there...

    Maybe it's a song to all his kids or one of his kids, or about fatherhood, and seeing his kids grow up, the passing of time, the passing of the baton to the next generation.

    Also bear in mind the photo at the end of the song on the screen of Elijah and Sian.

    Though that could be a red herring and just a nod to the album artwork of the next U2 chapter.

    I reckon the fact that there are so many different ideas of what the song may be about coming forward is a mark of some great songwriting.
  4. Originally posted by BigGiRL:[..]
    Why shouldn't a song about climate change not be emotional?

    I mean it's a very serious and devastating thing: thousand of species threatened with extinction, coral reefs disappearing, poor countries becoming even more poorer because there will be more drought for them. Irreversible processes. The bloody ignorance of people...
    The horrible future of our children... And their children. All because we failed to take action. Because we are so selfish...
    I mean, if that doesn't makes one cry...
    I actually quite like your theory! And you know, I feel it does fit the song - like many of U2's songs, The Little Things could easily mean multiple things at once. For example, I remember listening to the atU2 podcast discussing Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car and ALL of the hosts said they thought it was about God and His mercy - and I was just shocked! I was like, no! It's basically the OPPOSITE of that! But then I listened to it again, and could see where it's coming from. So with that in mind, I while I don't think climate change is, at least for me, the 'primary' meaning of the song, I think it's a very interesting and valid interpretation.

    And if I may, Joyce, I would like to lend my own look at that... you've got me thinking about it!

    Perhaps the first verses could be seen as humans' treatment of the planet? 'You walked in the world like you belong there', 'as easy as a breeze', etc - we were taking the world around us for granted as ours to use however we wanted. 'The words you cannot say, your big mouth in the way' - talking about environmental issues, especially in America, is often contentious and gets trod all over by politicians either denying climate change or using it as a way to build up their own image. 'The hunted has become the prey' - humans, the top of the food chain and architects of our own environment, have driven the planet to a point where we've put our own future in danger. Then the end is about worry and sadness over this problem - 'the end is not dawning, it's not coming, the end is here,' would in this interpretation clearly mean that we've reached this critical point already and we have to take action now if we ever want to improve things.

    So, like I said, I don't take environmental issues as the 'primary' meaning of the song, at least for myself. I think it's more akin to what others have mentioned - self-doubt in the rise from a new wave club act to the world's biggest superstars, becoming what you didn't like when you were a teen and set out on this road, feeling like you have so much to prove and like people don't really appreciate or understand your motivations and where you're coming from, etc. However, if you look at it with Joyce's climate change theory in mind, there's actually a lot of meat in the song to support it. I think that's really remarkable, and a perfectly reasonable way to look at the song!

    Cool theory, Joyce - you've gotten someone else to where they can totally see what you mean!
  5. Thanks C.! I really like your contribution with regard to perspective in the first verses
  6. Quickly made this (1:55 long)
  7. There is only one public thing Bono is allowed to regret and be ashamed of is the decades of Coexist/refugee/drop the foolishness.

    MASTERPIECE song though. U2 is the only classic rock band capable of creating new stuff better than older stuff.
  8. Originally posted by tchezao:There is only one public thing Bono is allowed to regret and be ashamed of is the decades of Coexist/refugee/drop the foolishness.
    .

    What does this have to do with the song?