SOX
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  1. Funny...I love The Little Things, and to this day continue to complain that they skipped it on my 3 JT 2017 shows, and couldn't be bothered with it on SOE tour, WHICH still irritates me that they played lesser material, ignoring Little Things, Red Flag Day, Book Of Your Heart(which I doubt they have the guts to play). It's funny, they used to know what the best songs on an album was. I am in what I believe is in the minority...that SOI is their worst album. I even call it Songs Of Ignorance sometimes...My hopes for Songs Of Ascent and whatever else they do are low, so I can be happy. I do like SOE a lot more, but maybe rank it 11 or 12 among their 14 albums. I don't hate SOI, but some album has to their worst...but their a great band, great career. And I wouldn't change a thing. Except for the fan club, the double dipping we kept getting for Sydney, lack of archive material, ticket issues with the fan club...oh wait...I wouldn't change a thing!
  2. Originally posted by Faceman2000:[..]
    Thank you for that explanation, that makes a lot of sense and I haven’t seen someone explain that so clearly before. Admittedly a couple of the lyrics in that song really bother me (“Oh la la la” being of course the biggest offender,) but that final bit beginning with “Sometimes. . .” through till the end is really a phenomenal set of lyrics. Thanks for taking the time to explain that.


    Thanks for reading, and I'm glad it resonated! I remember being at the JT17 Rose Bowl show and the Little Things not really connecting in the moment. I couldn't really decipher the lyrics over the PA.

    A few days later at the airport, I watched a YouTube video from the show and really heard it..I let the lyrics in. And I started sobbing, much to the confusion of those around me haha. It's just such an emotional bullseye, for yours truly.
  3. Originally posted by Faceman2000:[..]
    Despite what I said earlier, I’m also in the “SoI is great” camp - I’m just aware many fans strongly disagree and wanted to acknowledge that. I genuinely do not understand all the love Little Things gets though - it just sounds like U2 on autopilot to me. It’s a solid song, cuz I mean it’s U2, but it sounds like a dozen other songs they’ve written without anything in particular to distinguish it. Other songs on SoE caught my attention much more.


    it's U2 mixing their vulnerability with that automatic U2 u say, but it's great, it's probably the best song on the album, it's when innocence meets experience
  4. Originally posted by jnatzke11:[..]
    Have to hop on to defend/explain the Little Things...for me, its status as a Top 3 U2 song of the last 20ish years rests in its lyrics. I've never heard Bono at more of a vulnerable, at-the-ledge-ready-to-jump moment than this


    i admit that your review about Little Things mades me hear it with more attention and now i think that its better than i thought... stills not my top 3 from SOE, but can grow more
  5. A little off topic, but Little Things is an incredible song, the best on SOE & I’m still completely baffled that they didn’t play it on the SOE tour.
  6. Originally posted by Kembacelts8:A little off topic, but Little Things is an incredible song, the best on SOE & I’m still completely baffled that they didn’t play it on the SOE tour.
    They were still chasing hits, choosing pop accessibility over quality. Apparently in the NY Times interview, Bono said they have come to grips with this...I am not sure I believe him, but they have been seeking this relevance and acceptance since the "Failure of NLOTH." Playing Get Out Of Your Own Way instead of Little Things was a great example of them NOT getting out of their own way. Not really off topic though...it will be interesting to see if Songs Of Ascent is really even finished, and if it plays like a band seeking relevance, or a band just trying to make the best songs they can make. I'm expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. Maybe Bono will call me and play the songs over the phone lol.
  7. Originally posted by jnatzke11:[..]
    Have to hop on to defend/explain the Little Things....

    But aren't U2 songs (all art?) viewed through the lens of personal connection and defined by what they mean to us, and us alone? The Little Things has been an anchor for me during depression, and I keep going back to it. But that's just me .


    You nailed it… I had tears in my eyes when I was plying the record for the first 20x times :/ so so regret not listening to it earlier (Vancouver live version) only caught it live once in Chicago so I wasn’t “prepared” … can’t imagine why they dropped it on JT and even more on 2018 tour … u2 logic GREAT SONG
  8. I think U2 lost faith in Little Things because they felt the audiences response to it was underwhelmed. Here you have a tour that's a legacy album tour, targeted to appeal to a lot of casual fans. Then they decide to end this concert with a new song, that nobody has heard, hasn't even been released yet. And even thought it's a good song, it is a bit of a slow burn. So it's no surprise that while they were playing it, a lot of people were heading for the exits to beat the traffic.

    I personally didn't listen to Little Things before my JT concert in Cleveland, because I wanted to be surprised by it. To my dismay, they didn't play it!! I did get the live debut of "Best Thing" in Indianapolis a couple months later, so that was pretty cool too. The Spotify singles version of "Little Things" is my favorite version.
  9. Another +1 for little things as one of their best. Out of everything they’ve done in the last 13 years, I’d rank it 2nd behind Breaking Wave. A real shame it will likely be never played again as goes for many SOI & SOE.
  10. If you had to pick the best combined 12 - 14 songs off SOI and SOE what is your track list / running order?
  11. 1- Love Is All We Have Left
    2- Lights Of Home (St Peter's String Version)
    3- California (There Is no End To Love)
    4- Every Breaking Wave
    5- Iris
    6- Volcano
    7- Raised By Wolves
    8- Sleep Like a Baby Tonight (Alternative Version)
    9- Invisible
    10- Landlady
    11- Little Thigs
    12- Cedarwood Road
    13- 13 (There Is a Light)
  12. That's good! I would try to fit The Crystal Ballroom in there somewhere.