Atomic Reaction
SOMETIMES
YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN
Sure to be
a single -- this may well be U2's most touching ballad
since "One." It's written about Bono's late
father and when you hear lyrics such as, "You don't
have to put up a fight, you don't have to always be right,
let me take some of the punches for you tonight"
and learn Bono sat by his dad's bedside most nights as
he was dying, it's spine-tingling. Bono sings the chorus
in falsetto, and the lyric is highly autobiographic: "You're
the reason I have the operas in me" relates to his
dad's love of classical music, while he notes similarities
to his dad in the line, "It's you when I look in
the mirror, it's you when I pick up the phone."
Key lyric:
"You and I fight all the time, that's all right,
we're the same soul -- if we weren't so alike you'd like
me a whole lot more."
LOVE AND
PEACE OR ELSE
One of the
record's stranger tracks, it starts with a dose of distorted
feedback before moving into a weirdly funky groove --
the same kind of grimy swagger Nick Cave has on his records.
Always sounds like something's trying to burst out from
underneath.
Key lyric:
"Lay your love on the track, we're gonna break the
monster's back."
CITY OF BLINDING
LIGHTS
Written as
a love song to New York, it once again has that trademark
Edge guitar running throughout and is a very big, very
1980s-sounding (again very Unforgettable Fire) downtempo
tune. Bono states, "You look so beautiful tonight
in the city of blinding lights."
Key lyric:
"Can you see the beauty inside of me?"
ALL BECAUSE
OF YOU
Another future
single, this is a surprisingly simple U2 rock song --
punchy riffs with a spiky chorus and a live feel. A love
song with a raucous finale, in which Bono sings, "I'm
not broke but you can see the cracks -- you can make me
perfect again."
Key lyric:
"I like the sound of my own voice, I didn't give
anyone else a choice."
End
of the article