Bono Poetry Appreciation Thread

Seamus Heaney - Nobel literature laureate - once suggested Bonos lyrics should be taught as poetry in Irish schools.

So this thread is to appreciate the best of the B-Man. What's your favorite?

I'll kick off with:

Innocent, and in a sense I am
Guilty of the crime that's now in hand
It's Such a nice day to throw your life away
Such a nice day to let it go

Freeway, like a river, cuts through this land into the side of Love like a burning spear.

I went out walking, through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones, saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking, under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn, and the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye.


Up there with Dillon et al

There are SO many...but I have chosen this simple ditty...because I have lived it:

I stepped outside like I had never seen the night before
Looking at the stars that never looked so bright before
This crooked heart it never felt so light before
A brand new man, I’m a brand new man

"Every day I die again and again I'm reborn.  Every day I have to find the courage to walk out into the street..."

I went out walking, through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones, saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking, under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn, and the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye.


Up there with Dillon et al

These may be my favorite bit of lyricism from a U2 song. Very illustrative.

Exile, it’s a small price to pay for bliss
Alone rather the river than your stepping stone
Leave the graveyard before you turn to stone
I’m tragic, your comedy


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A mole living in a hole
Digging up my soul
Going down, excavation

------
I kid... I kid...

Always loved:

Who broke the window
Who broke down the door?
Who tore the curtain
And who was it for?
Who heals the wounds
Who heals the scars?
Open the door, open the door.

But my favorite is probably "So Cruel." The strength of the filler songs, to me, is what really helps to elevate Achtung Baby from the rest of the pack of their other albums.

--

We crossed the line, who pushed who over?
It doesn't matter to you, it matters to me.
We're cut adrift, but still floating.
I'm only hanging on to watch you go down, my love.

I disappeared in you
You disappeared from me.
I gave you everything you ever wanted
It wasn't what you wanted.
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.

Oh, love, you say in love there are no rules.
Oh, love, sweet-heart, you're so cruel.

Desperation is a tender trap
It gets you every time.
You put your lips to her lips
To stop the lie.
Her skin is pale like God's only dove
Screams like an angel for your love
Then she makes you watch her from above
And you need her like a drug.

Oh, love, you say in love there are no rules.
Oh, love, sweet-heart, you're so cruel.

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.
Ah, you don't know if it's fear or desire,
Danger the drug that takes you higher?
Head of 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.

Oh, love, to stay with you I'd be a fool.
Oh, sweetheart, you're so cruel.

So Cruel is always the song that excites me to revisit Achtung Baby. Some of Bono's greatest lyricism is one that track.

Was just listening to this one:

And you hunger for the time,
Time to heal, desire time,
And your earth moves beneath your own dream landscape



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I've been in every black hole
 At the altar of the dark star
 My body's now a begging bowl
 That's begging to get back
 Begging to get back to my heart
 To the rhythm of my soul
 To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
 To the rhythm that yearns
 To be released from control

I've been in every black hole
 At the altar of the dark star
 My body's now a begging bowl
 That's begging to get back
 Begging to get back to my heart
 To the rhythm of my soul
 To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
 To the rhythm that yearns
 To be released from control

Yeah that’s a beaut!!!

I've been in every black hole
 At the altar of the dark star
 My body's now a begging bowl
 That's begging to get back
 Begging to get back to my heart
 To the rhythm of my soul
 To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
 To the rhythm that yearns
 To be released from control

Shows that Bono is still capable of producing some terrific lyricism.

I've been in every black hole
 At the altar of the dark star
 My body's now a begging bowl
 That's begging to get back
 Begging to get back to my heart
 To the rhythm of my soul
 To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
 To the rhythm that yearns
 To be released from control

I have been listening to this one on repeat for two days. I just can't stop,it's my #1 U2 song at the moment

So Cruel is always the song that excites me to revisit Achtung Baby. Some of Bono's greatest lyricism is one that track.

I completely agree.
Fun fact:
Actung Baby is fun to listen to not only front to back but also back to front. Try it