You can swallow or you can spit!

Thought I’d create a thread here to discuss potentially offensive lyrics and whether they matter - has U2 ever offended you with lyrics? Does offending with lyrics add meaning? What’s the most offensive lyric they ever did?

And I’ll start myself .....

Clearly “F*#k the revolution” is a great example of offensive, but it’s one of my favorite 80s moments

You can swallow ..... I can see getting so angry with a partner that these lyrics make sense - but to they deter female fans? Parents from letting kids listen?

Yahweh - why the dark before the dawn? Might be offensive to religious people

I don't find song lyrics offensive...although if I heard some of this stuff from a stranger out on the street, I might just be offended (as I hide the giggles). I think, like with most things,
language or symbols that might be considered offensive does add to the expression of the song. It's like an exclamation point!

Never offended.  Zestiest imagery.

-Going down on me, spilling over the brim

-And the fever when I'm inside her

-Do You Feel Loved is a downright dirty brawler that just has that thumping feel



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Never offended.  Zestiest imagery.

-Going down on me, spilling over the brim

-And the fever when I'm inside her

-Do You Feel Loved is a downright dirty brawler that just has that thumping feel



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah DYFL is almost R rated isn’t it?

Also how about Mysterious Ways and UTEOTW? Any Christians offended by Bono taking the evil side in John the Baptist/Herod and Jesus/Judas melodramas?

I find it all in good fun myself - maybe those who would be offended just don’t understand the references. I suppose there’s a big difference between U2s subtlety and something like the Sex Pistols NMTB.

Quote from: Zeropartii on October 18, 2017, 04:48:16 PM

Never offended.  Zestiest imagery.

-Going down on me, spilling over the brim

-And the fever when I'm inside her

-Do You Feel Loved is a downright dirty brawler that just has that thumping feel



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah DYFL is almost R rated isn’t it?

Also how about Mysterious Ways and UTEOTW? Any Christians offended by Bono taking the evil side in John the Baptist/Herod and Jesus/Judas melodramas?

I find it all in good fun myself - maybe those who would be offended just don’t understand the references. I suppose there’s a big difference between U2s subtlety and something like the Sex Pistols NMTB.

I think Salome is just a reference. Fun and just an imagination.

Until the end of the world is a song about love, sin and eventually forgiveness (the last verse has never been 100% clear to me, not all the words can be translated to proper Dutch). That song is just great.

Taking the evil side is not a bad thing. A detective tries to think like the criminal, right? Bono has sometimes his criticism, so now and then is that a good thing.

By the way, why could 'why the dark before the dawn' be offensive?

hahaha, was waiting for this.

Maybe there is just one thing. He mentions this sometime. I think it was Bullet:
"Christian, mohammed, Jew, all true. All sons of Abraham." And the coexist thing. The last thing I have to check, nit 100% sure what it means. It means 'all religions are the same' if I remember well (correct me (with a link) if I'm wrong  ). I think that is just not true and maybe--in my eyes, as a christian--a dangerous thing.

No problem with the Islam praising in Paris during IE after the attacks. That was a nice and gentle thing.

Maybe there is just one thing. He mentions this sometime. I think it was Bullet:
"Christian, mohammed, Jew, all true. All sons of Abraham." And the coexist thing. The last thing I have to check, nit 100% sure what it means. It means 'all religions are the same' if I remember well (correct me (with a link) if I'm wrong  ). I think that is just not true and maybe--in my eyes, as a christian--a dangerous thing.

No problem with the Islam praising in Paris during IE after the attacks. That was a nice and gentle thing.

Maybe Bono was just trying to say that we should treat everyone with respect, no matter what their religion?

Quote from: JFW on October 18, 2017, 05:26:38 PM

Maybe there is just one thing. He mentions this sometime. I think it was Bullet:
"Christian, mohammed, Jew, all true. All sons of Abraham." And the coexist thing. The last thing I have to check, nit 100% sure what it means. It means 'all religions are the same' if I remember well (correct me (with a link) if I'm wrong  ). I think that is just not true and maybe--in my eyes, as a christian--a dangerous thing.

No problem with the Islam praising in Paris during IE after the attacks. That was a nice and gentle thing.

Maybe Bono was just trying to say that we should treat everyone with respect, no matter what their religion?

Might be. And that would be a good thing!  But the one religion isn't just the other one. I guess that's not a discussion/conversation we want to have here  . The thing I wanted to say is that that the moment is I take the words of Bono in doubt.

Quote from: riffraff on October 18, 2017, 05:28:48 PM

Quote from: JFW on October 18, 2017, 05:26:38 PM

Maybe there is just one thing. He mentions this sometime. I think it was Bullet:
"Christian, mohammed, Jew, all true. All sons of Abraham." And the coexist thing. The last thing I have to check, nit 100% sure what it means. It means 'all religions are the same' if I remember well (correct me (with a link) if I'm wrong  ). I think that is just not true and maybe--in my eyes, as a christian--a dangerous thing.

No problem with the Islam praising in Paris during IE after the attacks. That was a nice and gentle thing.

Maybe Bono was just trying to say that we should treat everyone with respect, no matter what their religion?

Might be. And that would be a good thing!  But the one religion isn't just the other one. I guess that's not a discussion/conversation we want to have here  . The thing I wanted to say is that that the moment is I take the words of Bono in doubt.

Yes, the religions are definitely different! And, Bono often speaks of his doubt...it's one thing that I love in his lyrics...honesty...because, don't we all have doubts at times?

Quote from: JFW on October 18, 2017, 05:33:36 PM

Quote from: riffraff on October 18, 2017, 05:28:48 PM

Quote from: JFW on October 18, 2017, 05:26:38 PM

Maybe there is just one thing. He mentions this sometime. I think it was Bullet:
"Christian, mohammed, Jew, all true. All sons of Abraham." And the coexist thing. The last thing I have to check, nit 100% sure what it means. It means 'all religions are the same' if I remember well (correct me (with a link) if I'm wrong  ). I think that is just not true and maybe--in my eyes, as a christian--a dangerous thing.

No problem with the Islam praising in Paris during IE after the attacks. That was a nice and gentle thing.

Maybe Bono was just trying to say that we should treat everyone with respect, no matter what their religion?

Might be. And that would be a good thing!  But the one religion isn't just the other one. I guess that's not a discussion/conversation we want to have here  . The thing I wanted to say is that that the moment is I take the words of Bono in doubt.

Yes, the religions are definitely different! And, Bono often speaks of his doubt...it's one thing that I love in his lyrics...honesty...because, don't we all have doubts at times?

I can't take 'dishonesty'. I do not listen often to real modern christian music because I don't find it honest. Many (!) of the times it's a competition who can write the most beautiful song. Nothing wrong with that, but I can barely relate myself with it.

We talked in the other thread about Wake Up Dead Man, also IGWSHA, The Wanderer, Tomorrow, ISHFWILF and Love Rescue Me are honest. So when he is writing a song full of joy about faith, that joyful song feels honest and great! 

Not all religions are created equal - that’s true - the one telling you to love thy neighbor and the one telling you to kill thy neighbor are not equally bad - but we tend to think “Christian” and “Islam” and since the main thing we see is Muslims blowing themselves up it’s easy to fall into traps and forget that we fought two world wars in the last century where Christian killed Christian and in the end it was really about racism and not religion. A lot of the Muslims blowing people up is exactly the same thing. It’s Sunni rage against perceived Shi’a dominance and perceived western arrogant interventionism ; religion gives them an excuse. It’s worth noting that Bono’s sons of Abraham thing is apt because both Christians and Muslims believe that their “Son of Abraham” (Isaac and Ishmael) was superior to the other - sounds like racism to me, or religion....

Thanks An Tha, you reminded me to put on side 1 of ATYCLB 😀