April, You’re So Cruel
April is National Poetry Month here in the U.S. Yeah, it’s still April for about 48 more hours. T. S. Eliot’s opening lines from “The Wasteland” are
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
That’s one main reason for why the fourth month of the year got picked. Shakespeare was born and died in April too, with both of those calender dates being within a week of each other.
I was enjoying some poetry the other day from Achtung Baby. Lately, I’ve been thinking this album showcases some of Bono’s finer poetic moments:
She wears my love like a see-through dress
Her lips say one thing
Her movements something else
Oh love like a screaming flower
Love dying every hour love
Or,
I dreamed that I saw Dali
With a supermarket trolley
He was tryin’ to throw his arms around a girl
He took an open-top beetle
Through the eye of a needle
He was tryin’ to throw his arms around the world
So, speaking of Shakespeare . . . what do you think are some of the better lines of poetry to have left Bono’s pen? Maybe a couplet comes to mind; or more? Maybe it rhymes, or it doesn’t?
And happy last hours of National Poetry Month!
Erika said,
April 29, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
My favorite is also from Achtung Baby:
Every artist is a cannibal,
Every poet is a thief,
All who kill their inspiration,
And sing about their grief.
(”The Fly”)
I just love those four lines because they are so true about everything related to art and writing. Every movement in literature (get ready for the English major spiel here) builds on or reacts against the previous movement, so it follows naturally that every new work produced is inspired by an older work.
Erika
Tassoula said,
April 29, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
What a great idea, Scott!
I would rank these as my top two:
She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging, she is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She is running to stand still
(Running to Stand Still)
and
See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost-ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on
(Heartland)
They’re not necessarily my favorite U2 lyrics, but they are my favorite U2 poetry. I chose them because they would sound just as good read aloud “spoken word” style as they would sung.
Sammybunny said,
April 30, 2008 @ 4:36 am
I like these from “Where the streets have no name”. (There are so many from all of their songs but I really love these lines here):
I want to run, I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside.
Brian said,
April 30, 2008 @ 6:38 am
Like Scott, I’m a fan of “So Cruel”, in particular the rich imagery in this one line:
“Between the horses of love and lust we are trampled underfoot.”
It gets me every time.
u2gek said,
April 30, 2008 @ 7:12 am
Some of my favorite lyrics are from So Cruel as well…
Caught adrift, but still floating
I’m only hanging on, to watch you go down…my love
This is very biting. It’s a soft song, but the words really can sting and illustrate the strength we can find when we’re hurt and we want the one who hurt us to hurt just as much.
Not that this applies to me or anything, I’m just saying I’ve always really liked the lyrics….:)
shkee23 said,
April 30, 2008 @ 8:51 am
I agree with Tassoula’s pick for Running to Stand Still. However, I noticed from reading the book from the 20th Anniversary Joshua Tree Edition in which the original lyrics are reprinted that in Running to Stand Still, Bono writes differently:
She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
**Sea is raging, she is raging**
And a storm blows up in her eyes…
For some reason I really like how he compared her to the raging sea…it seems to fit really well and is more poetic than just repeating “she is raging, she is raging.”
niterpi said,
May 2, 2008 @ 11:08 am
we all seem to think alike - the above listings have always haunted me and are some of my favorites lyrics of all time!
bemis said,
May 4, 2008 @ 9:23 am
I have to agree, my two favorites are from So Cruel
The men who love you you hate the most
They pass right through you like a ghost
They look for you but your spirit is in the air
Baby, you’re nowhere
And of course —
You don’t know if it’s fear or desire
Danger the drug that takes you higher
Head in heaven, fingers in the mire
Her heart is racing, you can’t keep up
The night is bleeding like a cut
Between the horses of love and lust
We are trampled underfoot
This verse is the focus of the entire album in my opinion. They sum up concisely the motivation and headspace of one who cheats.
More kudos to Tassoula, this time for choosing Heartland…One of my all time favs, and very underappreciated!
Michael G. said,
May 5, 2008 @ 7:06 am
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you’d wait
‘Til the end of the world
A perfect synthesis of fractured romantic love and religious salvation/redemption.