Life begins with the first glance
The first kiss and the first dance
All of us wondering why we are here
In the crystal ballroom underneath the chandelier
Wet the glass until the glasses sing
We punish our hearts 'til the heart bells ring
Cos' where we come from we're not always kind
The human soul is what love leaves behind
We're the ghosts of love and we haunt this place
We're the ghosts of love in every face
In the ballroom of the crystal light
Everyone is here with me tonight
Every...one.. but you
Our first chance is their last dance
Our life is shaped by another's hands
Buttoning and unbuttoning a cold cold dress
Stopping and unstopping every cold caress
Born for bliss born for this
Every human life begins with a kiss
A kiss by every kind of possibility
And everyone is here tonight with me
We're the ghosts of love and we haunt this place
We're the ghosts of love in every face
In the ballroom of the crystal light
Everyone is here with me tonight
Every...one.. but you
http://www.u2start.com/songs/232
Bono leans in to my face so our noses are almost touching, and he sings, unaccompanied, “Life begins with the first glance, the first kiss at the first dance, all of us are wondering why we’re here, in the Crystal Ballroom underneath the chandelier . . . We are the ghosts of love and we haunt this place, in the ballroom of crystal lights, everyone is here with me tonight, everyone but you.” It is sean-nós in shades.
“I need to tell you something really weird about this song,” he says. “It’s called The Crystal Ballroom, which used to be the name of McGonagles in South Anne Street [now knocked down]. A whole generation of Dubliners would go to the Crystal Ballroom for dances, and many couples first met there. My mother and father used to dance together in the Crystal Ballroom, so that song I just sang you, which hasn’t been released yet, is me imagining I’m on the stage of McGonagles with this new band I’m in called U2 – and we did play a lot of our important early gigs there. And I look out into the audience and I see my mother and father dancing romantically together to U2 on the stage.”
Bono takes a deep breath and, speaking slowly, says, “I have just realised that my mother died 40 years ago yesterday, and here we are today playing our new album about Dublin, which is about my family and what happened to me as a teenager.
“My mother died when she was at her father’s funeral. She had a cerebral aneurysm. I was only 14. And in this song I am singing, “Everyone is here tonight, everyone but you.” And it’s me wanting to see my mother dance again in the Crystal Ballroom and for her to see what happened to her son.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/bono-s-dublin-a-long-way-from-where-i-live-1.1927184