U2
U2 is a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. Formed in 1976, U2 have consistently been one of the most popular acts in the world since the mid-1980s. The band has sold upwards of 170 million albums worldwide. The band consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar) and Larry Mullen (drums and percussion).
Quotes
edit- When Aung San Suu Kyi was released, we punched the air.
When she came to Dublin to thank Ireland and Amnesty International, we Irish could not have been more proud.
When her party the NLD won a landslide in the elections and she stood her ground to become de-facto head of the country, an impossible journey seemed to be reaching its destination. We wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but instead held our breath. She had built her reputation on her refusal to compromise her beliefs (as well as on the personal sacrifice that entailed), but forming a government requires a certain amount of pragmatism. We feared the military's brutality would be quick to show itself again if she overstepped the mark, and while hopeful for progress, we wondered if we would find ourselves once again campaigning for her release.
But what has happened this year, and in particular these past months – this, we never imagined.
Who could have predicted that if more than 600,000 people were fleeing from a brutal army for fear of their lives, the woman who many of us believed would have the clearest and loudest voice on the crisis would go quiet. For these atrocities against the Rohingya people to be happening on her watch blows our minds and breaks our hearts. … the violence and terror being visited on the Rohingya people are appalling atrocities and must stop. Aung San Suu Kyi's silence is starting to look a lot like assent. As Martin Luther King said: "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." The time has long passed for her to stand up and speak out.
We know that Aung San Suu Kyi has in front of her real complexities that the outside world cannot understand — but nor should we have to. The complexity of the situation in Myanmar she inherited from her father did not sway her to compromise her ideals back in 1998, nor should it now. At some point, a fragile balancing act becomes a Faustian pact.
We also believe we can't direct our anger solely in her direction. That plays right into the hands of those who are carrying out the violence. Min Aung Hlaing is not a widely recognised name outside Myanmar — it should be. This man is the Commander General in Chief of the Defence Services who answers to no-one when a security threat is declared. While this in no way excuses her silence, Aung San Suu Kyi has no control, constitutional or otherwise, over his actions, and it is he who has authorised and overseen the terrorization of the Rohingya people under the guise of protecting Myanmar from terrorism. Condemning her and ignoring him is a mistake. If this horror of human rights abuses is to stop, and if the long-term conditions for resettlement of the Rohingya people are to ever occur, General Min Aung Hlaing and his military must be just as much the focus of international action and pressure as Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government.
- The brave people of Ukraine are fighting for their freedom — and for ours — in the face of unspeakable violence and an unjust invasion. More than 4 million people, mostly women and children, have had to flee for their lives — a population nearly the size of Ireland. World leaders must stand up and stand by Ukranians[sic] now ... those who are fighting and those who have fled ... and stand with refugees everywhere who have been forced from their homes and their lands.
#StandUpForUkraine- Instagram post, as quoted in "U2, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and more share messages for 'Stand Up For Ukraine' campaign", NME (9 April 2022)
Song lyrics
editAll lyrics written by Bono, except as noted
I was on the outside when you said
You said you needed me.
I was looking at myself.
I was blind, I could not see.A boy tries hard to be a man
His mother takes him by the hand
If he stops to think, he starts to cry.
Oh why?
- Monday morning,
Eighteen years are dawning,
I said "how long?"- Out of Control
- Started a landslide in my ego
Looked from the outside to the world I left behind.
In the world I left behind
Wipe their eyes and then let go
In the world I left behind
Shed a tear and let love go.
- I try to sing this song
I, I try to stand up
But I can't find my feet.
I, I try to speak up
But only in you I'm complete.
- I can't change the world
But I can change the world in me
I rejoice.- Rejoice
- I watched the way it was
The way it was when he was with us
And I really don't mind
Sleeping on the floor
But I couldn't sleep after what I saw
I wrote this letter to tell you
The way I feel.- Stranger in a Strange Land
- I wish you were here
I wish you were here
To see what I could see
To hear
And I wish you were here- Stranger in a Strange Land
- I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away.
How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
'Cos tonight,
We can be as one, tonight.
Broken bottles under children's feet,
Bodies strewn across the dead end street.
But I won't heed the battle call.
It puts my back up,
Puts my back up against the wall.Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart.- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white,
Arms entwined, the chosen few.
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true it's true...
And we can break through.
Though torn in two,
We can be one.
- And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you,
Be with you night and day.
Nothing changes
On New Year's Day.- New Year's Day
- I don't know, I don't know which side I'm on.
I don't know my right from left or my right from wrong.
They say I'm a fool, they say I'm nothing
But if I'm a fool for you oh, that's something.
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
edit- And we live by the side of the road
On the side of a hill
As the valleys explode
Dislocated, suffocated
The land grows weary of its own.
- One man come in the name of love
One man come and go.
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow.
Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride.In the name of love.
Once more in the name of love.
In the name of love.
Once more in the name of love.- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
If I could, you know I would.
If I could, I would let it go.
This desperation.
Dislocation.
Separation.
Condemnation.
Revelation.
Temptation.
Isolation.
Desolation.Let it go,
And so to fade away.
- Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realised.
Wide Awake in America (1986)
edit- Love don't need to find a way
You find your own way
I forget that I can't stay
And so I say that
All roads lead to where you are.- Love Comes Tumbling
The Joshua Tree (1987)
edit
With or without you...
- I want to run.
I want to hide.
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside.
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name.
- The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust.
We're beaten and blown by the wind,
Trampled in dust.
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name.- Where the Streets Have No Name
I have climbed highest mountain;
I have run through the fields.
Only to be with you;
Only to be with you.I have run;
I have crawled.
I have scaled these city walls,
These city walls.
Only to be with you.
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains,
Carried the cross
Of my shame.
Of my shame.
You know I believed it.But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I'll wait for you.Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait – without you.With or without you,
With or without you.
- See across the field
See the sky ripped open
See the rain comin' through the gapin' wound
Howlin' the women and children
Who run into the arms
Of America.
- Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth.
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.
- Sleep comes like a drug in God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country.
- And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire-zone
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it.
Rattle and Hum (1988)
edit- She's the candle burnin' in my room
Yeah, I'm like the needle
The needle and spoon
Over the counter, with a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody's got one
I'm in a fever, when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire.
- All I got is a red guitar
Three chords and the Truth
All I got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you- All Along the Watchtower, by Bob Dylan, these lyrics were added by Bono in verse 4
- Blinded, you lost your way
In the side streets and the alleyways
Like a star exploding in the night
Filling up the city with broad daylight.
- Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me.
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal.
Love, rescue me.- Love Rescue Me, written with Bob Dylan
- I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see.
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me.
Love, rescue me.- Love Rescue Me
- I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I've seen love conquer the great divide.
- When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame.
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town.- When Love Comes to Town
- Don't believe the devil
I don't believe his book
But the truth is not the same
Without the lies he made up.
Don't believe in excess
Success is to give
Don't believe in riches
But you should see where I live.
I, I believe in love.
- You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want your story to remain untold.
All the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you.
Achtung Baby (1991)
edit
We get to carry each other, carry each other...
- Give me one more chance, and you'll be satisfied.
Give me two more chances, you won't be denied.
Well my heart is where it's always been
My head is somewhere in between
Give me one more chance, let me be your lover tonight.
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.
Well it'sToo 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.
- 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?
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.- One
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.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
- In my dream, I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows they'd learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy.
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy.
You, you said you'd wait till the end of the world.
- Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?...
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees, the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heaven's white rose
The doors you open, I just can't close...
Don't turn around
Don't turn around again...
Come on now love
Don't you look back
- It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways.
- Johnny, take a dive with your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things you can't explain
To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal
If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel.
On your knees, boy.- Mysterious Ways
- How far you gonna go before you lose your way back home?
You been tryin' to throw your arms around the world.
- And a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle
When you're tryin' to throw your arms around the world.- Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
- You bury your treasure where it can't be found
But your love is a secret that's been passed around.
There is a silence that comes to a house
Where no-one can sleep.
I guess it's the price of love; I know it's not cheap.
- It's the blind leading the blond
It's the cops collecting for the cons.
So where is the hope and
Where is the faith and the love?
What's that you say to me
Does love light up your Christmas tree?
The next minute you're blowing a fuse
And the cartoon network turns into the news.
Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score.
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door.It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs
But I guess it was something to go on.
Hey, if God will send his angels
I sure could use them here right now- If God Will Send His Angels
- She feel the ground is giving way
But she thinks we're better off that way.
The more you take, the less you feel
The less you know the more you believe
The more you have, the more it takes today.
Staring at the Sun (1997 EP)
edit- There was a badness that had its way
Love was not lost, love will have its day- "North and South of the River"
- It's a beautiful day.
Don't let it get away.
You're on the road,
But you've got no destination.
You're in the mud,
In the maze of her imagination.You love this town,
Even if it doesn't ring true.
You've been all over
And it's been all over you.- Beautiful Day
- What you don't have you don't need it now,
What you don't know you can feel it somehow.- Beautiful Day
- I'm not afraid of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find a decent melody
A song that I can sing in my own company
- You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it.
Don't say that later will be better now,
You're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it.- Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
- High, higher than the sun
You shoot me from a gun
I need you to elevate me here,
At the corner of your lips
As the orbit of your hips
Eclipse, you elevate my soul.
- And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind.
- Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on...
Stay safe tonight.- Walk On
- Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind:
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme.- Walk On
Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head
Can't rule your heart
A feeling is so much stronger than
A thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can't be bought
Your mind can wander.Hello hello
I'm at a place called Vertigo
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something I can feel, feel.
The songs are in your eyes
I see them when you smile
I've had enough I'm not giving up
On a miracle drug.Of science and the human heart
There is no limit
There is no failure here sweetheart
Just when you quit.
Tough, you think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and anyone
You're hard enough.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.
- Sometimes you can't make it on your own
Sometimes you can't make it
The best you can do is to fake it
Sometimes you can't make it on your own.- Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
The more you see the less you know
The less you find out as you go
I knew much more then than I do nowNeon heart dayglo eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us.
I like the sound of my own voice
I didn't give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train.Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I'm not broke, but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again.
- True love never can be rent
But only true love can keep beauty innocent.- A Man and a Woman
- I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman.- A Man and a Woman
- Would you deny for others
What you demand for yourself?
- You speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table.- Crumbs from Your Table
- Where you live should not decide
Whether you live or whether you die.- Crumbs from Your Table
- Well the heart that hurts
Is a heart that beats.
- Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit.
- Take these hands
Teach them what to carry.
Take these hands
Don't make a fist.
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss.- Yahweh
U218 Singles (2006)
editLove makes strange enemies
Makes love where love may please
The soul and its striptease
Hate brought to its knees
The sky over our head
We can reach it from our bed
You let me in your heart
And out of my head, head.Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
What it's done to me?
No Line on the Horizon (2009)
edit- I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to.
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise.- Magnificent, written with The Edge
- I tied myself with wire
To let the horses roam free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me.
- This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers and then it just goes- Cedars Of Lebanon
- Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you
Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friend- Cedars Of Lebanon
