Live Performances (Over)Analysis - Sunday Bloody Sunday (Rattle And Hum DVD Version) by U2

The performance that U2 gave in the DVD is my personal all-time favourite live performance I have seen. To explain why I see things that way, I’ll go through what the song Sunday Bloody Sunday represents to me personally first.

To me the song is essentially a militaristic rallying call. Although instead of call for arms, it’s a call to drop their weapons. If we see in a military action movie where the hero makes a rousing inspirational speech to their soldiers that inspires them before they march out to battle. Sunday Bloody Sunday is a music representation of that phenomenon but with an opposite message.

Songs that call for peace are fairly common in rock music but what I feel is unique about Sunday Bloody Sunday is that it is taking the anger, feelings of injustice that could have potentially inspired people to take up arms and used that same emotions tho fuel peace. Essentially the same emotions that could cause people to pick up weapons could also cause people to drop it.  

The way the song achieves this was done with my personal favourite drumming moment in rock music, which is the military band drum intro. Sure there’s nothing technically difficult and there’s nothing particularly special about it in isolation but to me it’s the most emotionally resonant drum beat in context of the song due to what it represents and how integral it is to the message of the song. The idea of pacifist marching in the same discipline unity as any soldier marching to battle is quite a powerful message. It’s much as part of the DNA of the song as Edge guitar riff or a Bono vocal melody.

Due to the unique nature and message of the song, I don’t believe a studio version can possibly be the definitive version of the song. What is a rallying call without a crowd? Sure perhaps an individual could be emotionally move listening to the song on headphones but the only way the message of the song can be maximised if there is a large audience responding to it because that is consistent with the artistic direction of the song.

Now the popular definitive live version of the song is generally the Under The Blood Red Sky Red Rocks performance. It was considered by Rolling Stones magazine as one of the “Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll” particularly due to the iconic imagery of Bono marching with the white flag . However as brilliant as that live version, I believe that the Rattle and Hum version tops that.

What makes the Rattle and Hum version special and elevates this above every other version of the song in my opinion is that there is a character arc in this song due to it’s rearrangement. Using the “heroes inspirational speech to the soldiers before marching to battle” analogy that I mention before, instead of heading straight to the speech and then the march. The songs starts with a preceding trigger that made the march necessary and shows the steps that led to the marching to battle. It begin with Bono talking about the Enniskillen massacre and when the song begins, it’s not with a marching band but it’s a stripped down arrangement with just Edge on a guitar and Bono singing on top of that. The meaning behind  “I can’t believe the news today, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away” with a marching band on top and one with a strip down arrangement is completely different as the former is a display of righteous indignation but the latter is someone with utter shock and sorrow which is the natural reaction that everyone has to a tragedy like that. Of course the band eventually did kick in and the righteous indignation came in but having the sorrow preceding the indignation follows the reaction to a terrorist attack in a more realistic manner. People mourn the dead first before focusing on the perpetrator. Then what happens after the guitar solo is where the song combines the symbolic rallying call of the music with a literal rallying call. Bono goes on a passionate speech denouncing the terrorist attack. What happens in the movie when a leader makes an inspiration speech to their soldiers, well the soldier cheers. Well in this song when Bono shouted out “Fuck the Revolution” the crowd cheers along with him. When Bono screams out “No More” the crowd responds and shouts along with him buying into Bono rallying call for peace. At the end the iconic drum intro that was absent at the beginning returns symbolising that the crowd that Bono won over during the speech is now marching along with him to the battle lines with discipline unity in calling for peace. There’s now an arc to the song with the shock and sorrow at the beginning that turned to righteous indignation that inspired the protagonist of the song to make a rousing speech denouncing the attack that inspired the crowd to march with him for peace. It’s a story with the beginning, middle and end while the studio version really only focus on the last part of the story.

Now there are two common complaints to this live version. The first is the absence of the marching band drum intro at the beginning who some people claim that the absence of the iconic drum lines at the beginning defeat the purpose of the song and remove a lot of the power. However I will argue that by delaying that intro and turning it into an outro, it makes the drum line even more powerful. As in this arrangement it is the culmination of every preceding event of the song. The second complaint is that people hate it when Bono goes on a speech in the middle of the song which I can somewhat sympathise with. However I will argue that in contrast to every other time Bono goes on a speech, this time it compositionally fits. As I already explained, the events naturally led up to that speech, the speech naturally led to the conclusion and the speech is simply an extension of the call to arm atmosphere of the music.

So this arrangement is my all—time favourite live performance because I believe it’s the most emotionally resonant live performance I have heard. It’s a live performance where the fact that the song is played live is critical to the message of the song as in my opinion the song is composed specifically. It’s the performance where the audience interaction is perfectly well placed and critical to the message of the song that it sounds like the song was composed with the interaction was meticulously scored out in the arrangement. Other great live performance that improve over the original  song occurs because the band is inspired by the crowd that elevate their performance or a change in arrangement. However in those circumstances, I feel that if the identical performance or arrangement was captured in studio the song would be just as good but with Sunday Bloody Sunday if the same arrangement was played with the same spectacular performance it wouldn’t be the same as the spirit of the song in my opinion is intrinsically linked to being played live. 

Lyrics (Over)Analysis – One by U2

This song by U2 is one of the most popular songs ever written. It’s also the type of song that you will hear in weddings that you dedicate to your love ones as well as the type of songs where people hold candlelight while large numbers of crowd sing along to.

The reason is because of the lyrics of “one love, one life, one need, sisters, brothers, we got to carry each other”. Those lines there seems to paint a picture of a united humanity where everyone is holding hands, singing together about how different races and different culture are all “One” and how they are all human and we should be living together in world peace etc. Well that is part of the message of the song but not the only message.

It kind of show the phenomenon in music that when people focus on lyrics, they concentrate on the punch line, the chorus and what they perceive that line to mean instead of looking at the entire lyrics. I’m quite sure if people really knew what this song was about, whether people would actually play these songs at wedding. It’s similar to how people do love song dedication for The One I Love by REM even though that song is also quite nasty (about seeing the person you love as an object and a commodity).

This song has two meanings. The first meaning is that this song is about a relationship breakdown. However the second interpretation which I’ll be focusing on is that this song is a gay rights song which U2 has encouraged that interpretation. It is probably one of the angriest and spiteful songs I have ever heard and it’s strange when people really romanticised the optimism in this song. Bono has said in the past that when people told him that they played this song at their wedding, Bono responded “Have you even look at what the lyrics is”.

This song is about a person who has AIDs being discriminated and disowned by their parents because of their sexuality. Bono was quoted as saying that he knew many family who did unchristian like behaviour to their children when they find out they were gay and this song was about that. If you want a clue, just look at one of their video clips above where you see the band cross dressing and it also contains artworks from a gay rights activist. Some of the money made from this single release went to an AIDs group.

Considering that Bono has a large Christian following covering a wide political spectrum (U2 unlike most alternative/rock bands are not predominantly left wing liberals. I remember hearing about the uncomfortable reaction from the audience when Bono made a speech about how David Hicks should have been released. This shows that the demographic of a U2 fan is quite diverse with different political/religious views), I’m not too sure whether people would actually still sing along to this song so readily if they knew what this song was about. It doesn’t help that U2 push on the myth that this song is solely about some pro-peace, promoting unity and harmony between different cultures.

Now I’ll analyse the lyrics. Although the previous commentary is reflective of U2’s opinion on what the song is. The following analysis is my interpretation and mine only. If it is different to what Bono thinks, well my belief is that with lyrics, your own interpretation is just as important as the song writer’s interpretation.

Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same
The lyrics start off with the Bono’s character talking to his father about whether he is more accepting of his sexuality. Bono’s character is asking whether his father is more accepting about his homosexuality or whether he still holds resentment about his lifestyle choices.

Will it make it easier on you now
You got someone to blame

I interpret this as because the character has AIDs. His father can finally “win” the argument against his lifestyle choices. That he has AIDs make it easier for his father to blame him on his choices in life.

You say...
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

I interpret the first chorus as his father telling the son, there’s only one type of love, one type of life you must follow (heterosexual lifestyle), there’s only one need. These are the values we must share and that he abandon his son because his son didn’t share those values.

Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
These lyrics document the bad blood between father and son. That he disappointed his father, that his homosexuality left his father a bad taste in his mouth. He’s saying that his father to not want him to be a homosexual is asking him to live life without love.

Well it's...
Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...
At this point of the song, his saying it’s too late to drag out past decisions that he has already made. He has already has AIDs, there’s no point debating about the mistakes his done in the past (and whether his choices were mistakes). No point to keep on arguing about it.

This also features one of the best lyrical line of all time “We’re one but we’re not the same”. It’s brilliant as it says we are all human but we are all different. Therefore we all have to accept people different and help (or carry) each other despite the differences.

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head

I interpret this as the father although is now forgiving of his son. However, the resentment from Bono’s character voice is that he hasn’t done anything wrong for his father to forgive him and accusing him of playing Jesus and trying to cure him (and perhaps his father own guilt).

Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
The character is asking whether he was asking too much from his father. Whether him being accepted for being gay was “too much and more than a lot” which made him receive no love from his father. That because he is not the same as his father in terms of sexuality, they end up hurting each other.

You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

This is where the character is now accusing his father of being a hypocrite. That he believes in the bible and he believes in love but he is treating people subhuman due to their sexuality. That he believes in love but can’t accept the kind of love his son is having. That he has to enter the temple and accept his version of religion on his knees and not on his feet. To me that’s the most powerful part of the song. The characters is pretty much saying “You believe that love is a temple and love is a higher law, but then why do you make me crawl, why do you make me feel insignificant.”

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...life
One
This is the final chorus and although the first chorus and the last chorus both had “one love, one life” etc, the message here is opposite to the first chorus (which was brilliant lyric writing by Bono). Instead of his father lecturing about “One Love”, here the characters starts saying a message promoting diversity. This is where the song sound likes the type of celebration of humanity that people normally associated with the song. That every human of different backgrounds are “One”. Bono has said that one of the things he hates was how religious groups and other groups talk about how humanity are one and are all the same. He hated that idea and that’s why he also added “One life but we’re not the same”. That it’s true that every human being is “One” but the only way human can become one and be unified is for people to accept people are different and to treat every people who are different as “one” and as a human being. That we must carry each other and treat people equally despite any disagreements or differences you may have.

Bono summarise it perfectly here “It is a song about coming together, but it’s not the old hippie idea of ‘Let’s all live together.’ It is, in fact, the opposite. It’s saying, ‘We are one, but we’re not the same.’ It’s not saying we even want to get along, but that we have to get along together in this world if it is to survive. It’s a reminder that we have no choice.”

So that’s my analysis of the lyrics of this song. Although I’m a big fan of U2, I have never been a huge fan of Bono as a lyricist especially during the 80s (with the exception of Sunday Bloody Sunday). I always thought that Bono’s lyrics were always way too general and too much imagery and was focus in creating an atmosphere rather than talking about an issue directly. In the end, most U2 songs could have been about anything because they lack any logical progression. A lot of times people just know that any particular U2 song is about one particular issue that they support but when you actually read the lyrics you ended up asking how on earth the song is about that. Even Bono himself admitted his lyrics in the 80’s were substandard but partly justified it as saying that the message was more important in how he got the message across. That even if his lyrics didn’t express his views in a clever way, it was ok because the message he got out was positive.

However with “One”, Bono has hit the mark delivering both in spades. He wrote a great story with a clear message that felt more focus but with room for interpretation (considering that majority of people probably didn’t connect this song as a gay rights song). It was brilliant song writing and I believe this song was a landmark song in Bono’s lyrical development. Although I think recent U2 is not as good as old U2 in terms of music, I do think that Bono is a better lyricist then he was in the 80’s and this song was his first progression there. The contrast between the final chorus and the first chorus was brilliant writing.

However despite all the praise, I’m still a bit bemused by the overwhelming popularity of the song and how people seem to think this is a romantic song. To me, this is a very dark and angry song with a light at the end of the tunnel but people seems to view this song as a celebration of humanity. In a way they are right with the final chorus but I don’t think you can just take a particular section of a song and look at it in isolation. I just think people just look at the line “One Love” and automatically go holding hands with the nearest human being and then ignore everything else that was said in this song. Even if you don't accept my gay rights interpretation (there are others such as relationship breakdown). Just a casual look at the lyrics shows that it has a pretty dark and angry tone to it that people tend to overlook