Lyrics to "Pride (In The Name Of Love)"

One of my favorite U2 songs ever. I never get tired of it. I covered this song on The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2 in an Electronica style that is very faithful to the original. Imagine an army of 303's as the Edge and Adam Clayton, a 909 as Larry Mullen Jr., and Christian Provensen as Bono. It's on iTunes

"Pride (In The Name Of Love)"
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4
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
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

Lyrics to "Silver and Gold"

My cover of this song was done in a trance/techno style. I matched the live version from "Rattle and Hum" because I liked the tempo, and the Edge's kick-ass guitar solo. I use an army of 303's as Adam's bass and the Edge's guitar. I also do some crazy sample-mangling on the drums...my little electronica shout out to Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums. Christian Provensen simply kicks ass on the vocals--an amazing performance. The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2 is on iTunes.

"Silver and Gold"
Lyrics by U2

In the shit house a shotgun
Praying hands hold me down
Only the hunter was hunted
In this tin can town
Tin can town

No stars in the black night
Looks like the sky fell down
No sun in the daylight
Looks like it's chained to the ground
Chained to the ground
The warden said
The exit is sold
If you want a way out
Silver and gold

Broken back to the ceiling
Broken nose to the floor
I scream at the silence, it's crawling
It crawls under the door
There's a rope around my neck
And there's a trigger in your gun
Jesus say something
I am someone
I am someone
I am someone

Captain and kings
In the ships hold
They came to collect
Silver and gold
Silver and gold

Seen the coming and going
Seen them captains and the kings
See them navy blue uniforms
See them bright and shiny things
Bright shiny things

The temperature is rising
The fever white hot
Mister, I ain't got nothing
But it's more than you got

Chains no longer bind me
Not the shackles at my feet
Outside are the prisoners
Inside the free
Set them free
Set them free

A prize fighter in a corner is told
Hit where it hurts
Silver and gold
Silver and gold

Music Video and Lyrics for "Little Girl"

This is track 3 of the d/dx album "Way Beyond, Way Above".
Lyrics and vocals by Masha d'Elphenden
Music by Marcus Satellite
Directed by MOE of Wonderland Ave. Films.





INDRA’S NET (LITTLE GIRL)

Little girl look into my eyes
You will find all the unity there
Little girl look around yourself
Beauty and surprise is everywhere

Everywhere
It’s everywhere
Everywhere
Look around yourself

Little girl you’re a part of me
I’m a part of oceans of every star.
Little girl universe is yours
Everything there is you are.



Universe is yours.
You’re a part of me.
I’m a part of stars.
Everything you are.
Look around yourself.

Alan Pollack on "You Can't Do That"

	Notes on "You Can't Do That" Notes on ... Series #46 (YCDT) by Alan W. Pollack
	Key: G Major Meter: 4/4 Form: Intro | Verse | Verse | Bridge | Verse | | Verse (guitar solo) | Bridge | | Verse | Outro (with complete ending) CD: "A Hard Day's Night", Track 12 (Parlophone CDP7 46437-2) Recorded: 25th February, 22nd May 1964, Abbey Road 2 UK-release: 20th March 1964 (B Single / "Can't Buy Me Love") US-release: 16th March 1964 (B Single / "Can't Buy Me Love")
1	General Points of Interest
	Style and Form
	Generally speaking, "You Can't Do That" foreshadows a heavier, harder-rocking sound for the group that would infiltrate an increasingly large portion of their repertoire over the next couple or three albums. Call it the dawn of the Later Early Period :-)
	It also bears a close comparison to its companion A-side, "Can't Buy Me Love". Both have the same form although the bridge of this one is closer to a "true" bridge than the refrain-like one we saw last time. Both songs also display a split stylistic personality by utilizing relatively straight blues in the verse but not at all in the bridge. The split in "You Can't Do That" runs even deeper to the extent that the verse itself is not the pure twelve-bar blues variety seen in "Can't Buy Me Love", but rather features other elements thrown into the mix.
	Harmony and Melody
	The G Major home key would seem like a clue to the new direction in this area, away from the erstwhile favorite choice of E Major on the first two albums, as evidenced by the four songs in G on the "A Hard Day's Night" album; in addition to this one you have "I Should Have Known Better", "I'll Cry Instead", and of course, the title cut.
	The melody of the song is quite jumpy throughout, both in terms of rhythmic syncopations and intervallic leaps. The bluesy verse uses the flat seventh scale degree (F-natural) with a traditional consistency that makes for some bracingly dissonant collisions with the F-sharp contained in the D-Major chord (as in "I told you before"), but both flavors of the third (scale) degree are used (B-flat and B-natural) and this lends a colorful bi-modal tang.
	The single most dissonant moments in the song come from the clash of F-naturals (the flat seventh degree) in the voice part against C-Major chords in the accompaniment; viz. two places in every verse — on the word "you" in the phrase "and leave you flat", and at the very climax, on the word "Oh!" in the phrase "Oh!, you can't do that."
	The bridge makes an harmonic break with the I, IV, and V blues diet of the verses by introducing additional chords and flirting briefly with a modulation toward the key of the relative minor, e. Unusually, both Major and minor flavors of the B chord appear in this section.
	Arrangement
	An ostinato figure characterized by vacillation between the Major/minor melodic third appears as a unifying device throughout much of the intro, outro, and verses; at least wherever the G-Major chord is sustained for long.
	The intimate direct-address of the lyrics is galvinizingly enhanced by the single-tracking of John's lead vocal, in which, if you listen for it specifically you'll note, he uses an astonishing number of varied shadings of tone.
	By the same token, the backing vocal part for Paul and George, with its subtext of "whatever John says goes double for us!", runs at cross-currents to the direct-address of the lead, even while it reflects and amplifies upon the choppy angularity of the melody and the rhythm track. This is a stylistic trademark that would reappear later in songs like "Help!" and "You're Going To Lose That Girl". At this early date, the contrast of its effect in "You Can't Do That" with the softening-smoothing-over effect in "Can't Buy Me Love" of Paul's being double-tracked with no backing vocal part is instructive.
	A ruthless syncopation on the eighth note which precedes the downbeat provides a rhythmic hook for the song. We characterized this particular choice of syncopation as "swingingly passionate" way back in the note on "I Should Have Known Better" (which by ironic coincidence turns out to have been recorded the same day as "You Can't Do That"), and this rhythmic figure turns out to appear on other tracks of the "A Hard Day's Night" album as well.
	In this song, the syncopations are all the more wrenching because of the way that the drums painstakingly mark the spot where they take place. In the last phrase of each verse, right after the phrase "because I told you before", Ringo beats out in even eighth notes the beats of "and-four-and-one". John sings the syncopated cry of "Oh!" on what I marked as "and" but Ringo's playing out the downbeat (i.e. "one" ) of the next measure helps clarify to your ear what has happened. Contrast this to the raving opening of "When I Get Home", where the downbeat that follows this same "four-and" syncopation (on the word "Woah-Ahh!") is left to the imagination.
	Lewisohn reports the debut appearance on this track of what would become George's familiar twelve-string guitar sound of the period, as well as the inclusion of the unusual choice of cowbell and bongos in the rhythm section. My ears also hear an electric piano (or perhaps organ) doubling the ostinato figure in the opening.
2	Section-by-Section Walkthrough
	Intro
	The intro is for instruments only, providing four measures of just the I chord with the ostinato figure as a constant, and the entry of the bass and percussion delayed until the third measure. Both the suspense-building use of a single chord which happens to continue well into the verse that follows, and the staggered entry of the instruments anticipate the likes of "Ticket To Ride" and "Day Tripper".
	The "four-and" syncopation is pervasive right off the bat. Not only is it inherent in the ostinato figure, but it is also picked up by the way the rest of the ensemble enters in measure 3 with a vacuum cleaner-like zooming into the G chord from the F# below.
	Verse
	Harmonically, the verse is a classic twelve-bar blues frame, but the content and phrasing belies this a tad. The melody is composed straight through with little or no obvious parallelism among the phrases. The one exception here is in the way the first four measures subdivide into a little couplet ("I got something to say that might cause you pain" / "If I catch you talking to that boy again").
	By virtue of the earlier mentioned jumpiness, there is also no overall arch or other clearly directed shape to the tune. Consequently, the climax of this section ("because I told you before ...") is ultimately motivated by rhythm and chord progression, rather than melodic contour.
	The notion of a layered arrangement is carried forward in the very typical way in which the backing vocals first start in the second verse. In an outtake of one of their very early songs, "Do You Want To Know A Secret", the Beatles would make the understandably inexperienced mistake of starting such vocals right in the first verse, but even at that stage, they were smart enough (or else had someone of greater wisdom who could advise them) to alter their strategy for the official release.
	A small change in harmonic floor-plan differentiates the verses which lead to other verses from those which lead to a bridge. The former move to the V chord (D) in their last measure, while the latter sustain the old I chord.
	Bridge
	Just as we saw in "Can't Buy Me Love", the bridge here again breaks the strict mold of the blues. At the very least, the melody in this section eschews all "blue" notes in favor of a strict diet of the Major third (B-natural) and the Major seventh (F-sharp).
	More substantively, we have here an eight-measure section that subdivides into two roughly parallel phrases equal in length, the first of which is harmonically closed off while the second one ends wide open in order to set up the following verse. Additionally, we have an intriguing fake modulation to the key of e minor:
	|B |e |a b |G | e: V i iv flat-III G: ii iii I |B |e |a |b D | e: V i iv G: ii iii V [Figure 46.1]
	Though tentative and short-lived, the move toward e minor is immediate and impetuous. Not only does the section start right off with the B-Major chord, but that syncopated D# in the tune there is just about the longest sustained note in the entire song. Despite this, the music turns tail just as quickly back to the home key by the somewhat awkward, or at best anti-textbook, root progression of ii -» iii -» I; the "book" would prescribe the V (D) in place of the iii.
	This scrambling back to the home key so quickly after such a brief excursion connotes for me the image of someone who in full rant, rambles off onto a tangent ("And while I'm at it, another thing, ...!"), only to catch himself and get back forthwith to the immediate obsession of the moment.
	In the spirit of bridge-ly contrast, the backing voices are also handled different in this section, now used for italic-like emphasis instead of the antiphonal counterpoint heard in the verses. In some spots, it's difficult to tell whether we're hearing John double-tracked here or just him and George or Paul singing together in unison.
	Guitar Solo
	The mood of general agitation, as well as the interjections of the backing vocalists, are continued straight into the solo, where choppy chords and tremolo bent notes prevail over any attempt at an outspun melody. For just an instant, around measure 9 of this section just as the chords change to V (D), it almost sounds as though the fragmentary riffs might be ready to coalesce into some kind of longer line, but alas, it's not meant to be, and the solo closes in the same disjointed mode in which it began.
	A certain amount of screaming at the beginning of a solo section is a Beatles' tradition going all the way back to "I Saw Her Standing There", but John's growling gesture at the beginning of this one goes beyond mere convention, and can likely be felt in the pit of your stomach long after you might expect to have become used to it from repeated listenings.
	Outro
	The outro is both abrupt and brief. It is entered immediately following the end of the last verse with none of the more standard setup via a triple repeat of the last phrase. It consists of only two measures of the familiar ostinato figure scored, in complete symmetry with the song's opening, without drums, although here at the end the bass guitar is included. The lingering on the penultimate F# right at the end is a teasing surprise.
3	Some Final Thoughts
	You'd half expect the less-than-upbeat theme and side-B status of this one to leave it stranded in the backwaters of popularity, but it actually is both a great and favorite song of its period.
	It's tough, tense, and jumping out of its skin with an off-beat attitude and a matching list of colloquial phrases rarely heard if ever, in a pop song of the time; e.g. "cause you pain" [?], "leave you flat" (??), "it's a sin" (???). Our hero, after all, seems rather immaturely preoccupied with what some nameless others ("everybody") must think of his relative prowess in the lovemaking department. Either they're "gree--en" with envy at his success, or else they "laugh in (his) face" when he fails.
	There's no talk admission here of his feeling hurt by the actual loss of the girl's love, no mention of any pre-existing feelings; for all we know, the other guy may truly be just a platonic friend and the whole thing just some over-reaction borne of terrific insecurity. Erich ("The Art of Loving") Fromm would not have been impressed :-)
	But even while it may not be pretty or noble, I think that for anyone who has ever experienced the feelings described here, even if only during a small young lapse into pimply hyperbole, this song rings unnervingly true, and there-in likely lies its popularity. What a shame they cut it from the film!
	Regards,
	Alan (011392#46)
	Copyright © 1992 by Alan W. Pollack. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place.

Lennon and McCartney on "You Can't Do That"

Not sure which interviews these snips came from...

YOU CAN'T DO THAT(Lennon/McCartney)

JOHN 1964: "I'd find it a drag to play rhythm all the time, so I always work myself out something interesting to play. The best example I can think of is like I did on 'You Can't Do That'. There really isn't a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist on that, because I feel the rhythm guitarist role sounds too thin for records. Anyway it drove me potty to play chunk-chunk rhythm all the time. I never play anything as lead guitarist that George couldn't do better. But I like playing lead sometimes, so I do it."

JOHN 1980: "That's me doing Wilson Pickett. You know, a cowbell going four-in-the bar, and the chord going 'chatoong!'"

Alan Pollack's view of "Tomorrow Never Knows"

When I was researching covering The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" I found these most interesting notes by Alan W. Pollack . Many thanks to Mr. Pollack for allowing the reprinting of his review.


Notes on "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Notes on ... Series #103 (TNK)
by Alan W. Pollack

Key: C Mixolydian / C Dorian / C Major
Meter: 4/4
Form: Intro | Verse | Verse | Verse | Instrumental | Verse | Verse | Verse | Verse | Outro (fade-out)
CD: "Revolver", Track 14 (Parlophone CDP7 46441-2)
Recorded: 6th, 7th April 1966, Abbey Road 3;
22nd April 1966, Abbey Road 2
UK-release: 5th August 1966 (LP "Revolver")
US-release: 8th August 1966 (LP "Revolver")

1
General Points of Interest

Style and Form
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a veritable kitchen-sink mix of just about every trick in the Beatles' book to-date, including: an Indian drone, modal tune, bluesy instrumental, tape loops, ADT, vocals played through revolving speakers, distortedly close-up miking of instruments, and a psychedelically mystical "outlook." One of the amazing aspects of this song is the extent to which this collage not merely hangs together, but pulls into such a powerfully focused, unified effect.
There are some uncanny parallels to be drawn between aspects of this track and gestures or techniques used elsewhere in the avant garde world of so-called "Modern" twentieth century music. I bring this up not to suggest the Beatles were consciously borrowing from, or being influenced by the specific works or composers in question (Heck, I'd be very surprised if they were even aware of them, even if Paul did know how to drop the name of Stockhausen in an interview :-)) Rather, any such parallels for me are all the more uncanny and ironic in the absence of direct knowledge.
The intro here is not so much a fade-in as it is a small variation of the typical staggered/layered intro. Similarly, the ending is not so much a fade-out as it is a musical disintegration. You might find it interesting to compare the ending of "Tomorrow Never Knows" with almost anything written during the sixties by one contemporary American composer, Elliott Carter, who explicitly cultivated an aesthetic in his endings of a universe winding down and flying apart; complete with excerpts from classical poetry in his liner notes to support his point of view.

Arrangement, Melody and Harmony
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is one of those unusual cases where the musical material per-se is rather inseparable from a consideration of its arrangement. In spite of the thickly overdubbed texture, the fabric consists of discrete musical elements, each with a distinct timbre as well as some unique configuration of melodic pitches or rhythm:


* The rhythmic backing of drums, bass, and tambourine remains steady and consistent throughout, with a hard syncopation on "three-and".
* John's vocal is equal parts triadic bugle call and Mixolydian/bluesy lick with an emphasis on the flat seventh.
* The harmony is virtually a single C Major pedal point throughout, suggesting an extremely novel application of the Indianesque drone. The only harmonic movement at all in the song is the implied vacillation toward flat-VII in the second half of virtually every verse, colored in each case by what sounds like synthesized brass instruments; either French horns or trombones.
* Two of the tape loops provide jagged ostinati figures based on on diatonic C Major scale material; one motif recurs over and over again: C -» (down a seventh) D -» E -» F -» E -» (up a sixth) C. In some instances, this figure appears rapid, clear and high pitched. On other cases, it appears slower, in mid-range, and as though polyphonically overdubbed with itself.
* Both halves of the instrumental feature bluesy emphasis on the melodic, flat seventh. The first includes Mixolydian-like emphasis on the melodic Major third, while the lead-guitar-sounding second halve includes the really bluesy/Dorian emphasis on the bent/minor melodic third.
* And, of course, the "seagull" tape loop has no determinate pitch content to speak of, though its contour is predominated by saw-tooth descent, after reaching high.

Lewisohn's description of the sessions for this song emphasizes the free-wheeling creativity and real-time mixing of it. Yet, if you bother to map it out, you discover how carefully orchestrated it is after all in terms of which discrete elements appear in which sections, and in which sequence.
2
Section-by-Section Walkthrough

Intro
The intro is six measures long, built out of two measures each of:


* a fading-in, pulsating tamboura drone on the pitch, C;
* the hard-rock rhythm track;
* and the first appearance of the "seagull" tape loop.

On one level, it's nothing more than yet another layered Beatles' intro, but the pace at which the elements are introduced, and the unexpected nature of two out of the three of them makes it extraordinarily disorienting.

Verse
The verse is a straightforward eight measures long and is repeated, mantra-like, over and over and over, a total of seven times, exclusive of the intro, outro, and solo sections:


|C |- |- |- |
C: I

|B-flat |- |C |- |
flat-VII I

[Figure 103.1]

The melody is a rather a simplistic bugle call through its first half; providing yet another archetypal demonstration of the principle of keeping at least one compositional factor simple when you decide to complicate other factors to the extreme. Also, notice the Lennon-cum-Holly-esque slow triplets in the opening phrase ("turn off your mind ..").

Instrumental
The instrumental break fills sixteen measures, though its two halves are of unequal lengths; i.e. 6 + 10 measures, instead of the 8 + 8 you'd expect.
The first eight-bar frame of the break does not have the flat-VII horns in measure 5 and 6, but the second eight-bar frame does. You have to work hard at noticing this though because the 6 + 10 form of the solo parts throws off entirely your sense of where the eight-bar dividing lines fall.

The Second Half
The principle of saving a little something in the way of a surprise for the second half is demonstrated here by:


* The "beep" tone in the midst of the first line of the verse which follows the break; reminiscent of the phone company or radio station's hourly time check. I'm fairly well convinced that this is placed here exactly at the mid-point of the track (1:28), in a Dada-esque gesture similar to Schönberg's "Mondfleck" number from "Pierrot Lunaire", in which he writes an atonal fugue whose second half is the exact mirror image of it's first half; keep in mind, Schönberg did this in 1913!!
* On a more subtle level, the lead vocal is processed through revolving "Leslie speakers" starting in the second verse following the break. Like the splice in "Strawberry Fields Forever" you could listen to this track for many years and never notice this detail; yet read it once in Lewisohn, and you can never hear it any other way again.


Outro
The outro is an extension of the final verse with five iterations of last phrase.
The trailing seconds of the track paint an image of the world winding down and pulling apart, as it were, by centrifugal force; or, if you will, like pinwheel slowing down sufficiently so that you can see beyond its blurred spinning image to the individual frames of which that image is made.
As the smoke clears, a number of musical elements emerge that you'd never guess had been there all along; most notably, a furiously flailing tack piano. I wonder, though — were these newly emerging elements really there all along, or is it a matter of a deftly handled aural illusion? And, by the way — to the extent that the illusion works so well, you might say it doesn't really matter if the piano was really there all along or not!
3
Some Final Thoughts
This track bears the ironic fate of being the first one recorded back in April 1966 for the new-album-in-progress, while in more ways than one, it was destined from early on to be last track of the album.
On a rather immediate level, I've always enjoyed the way that the preceding song, "Got To Get You Into My Life" being in G with an extended outro vamping on that chord, sets up "Tomorrow Never Knows"'s being in C as though the two songs together create a decisive V -» I ending for the album. But there are issues that run much deeper.
For one thing, having this one already in the can before the stylistic breadth and running order of "Revolver" had much yet crystallized gave them the strategically compositional advantage of knowing in advance the exact placement of the vanishing perspective point for the entire album. Consider how the sequencing of the entire album works toward this song.
For another thing, there is so much inherent in this track which forces it to be in the final position. I'm reminded, in this connection, of a wonderful essay embedded by Thomas Mann within his novel, "Dr. Faustus," in which he explains why Beethoven intentionally cast his final piano sonata, Op. 111, in the unusual form of only two movements, the second of which is a slow movement in theme and variations. Commenting on the relationship of Op. 111 to the entirety of the piano sonata as a genre, Mann says that, "as a species, as traditional art-form; it itself was here at an end, brought to its end, it had fulfilled its destiny, reached its goal, beyond which there was no going, it canceled and resolved itself, it took leave ..." [**] While it is an exaggeration to say that the Rock Song genre was in any sense "finished off" by a single song like our "Tomorrow Never Knows", it is worth pondering the extent to which a single track can be said to have raised the stakes, and taken the genre to some kind of crossroads from which it would be a challenge to all, the Beatles themselves not excepted, to figure out where to proceed next.
[** the quote is on page 55, but I recommend to anyone interested in the intersection between literature and music criticism read from the beginning of Chapter 8, on page 49.]
Granted, I doubt that I can muster any objective proof that the Beatles entertained any kind of conscious, pre-meditated thoughts along these lines, but do also grant me the poetic justice of our reacting to it thusly. And if that doesn't work for you, imagine the absurdity of hearing of "Tomorrow Never Knows" anywhere else in the track order; try, especially listening to it as either the first or last track on side A and then listening to any other track afterwards. Or better yet, relax and enjoy it in place, just the way it is.

Regards,
Alan

Copyright © 1995 by Alan W. Pollack. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place.

Lyrics To "White Bat"

From the album "From On High"
Lyrics by K Blu.
Music by Marcus Satellite


This is one of my favorite pieces of music from this album. K Blu's lyrics and vocals are deep and lovely. I use a scale known as a "Lambdoma" and do a wicked tamboura solo with it.

"White Bat"
I know you
Even if you choose
Not to see
It's in your eyes
Familiarity
It's no surprise
You're running from me

I know you
Your life is confused with
Polarity
Your spirit is calling
Set me free
The White Bat is following you

I know you
The love that we share is
Unworldly
The visions you're having
Are not fantasy
And so my love
You're running from me

Lyrics for "With Or Without You"

The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2 is on iTunes.

My cover of this song has the guitar parts played by some 303's and some beautiful Absynth pads. Jacqueline van Bierk's vocals are simply beautiful (check out the "breakdown" near the end of the song) and you can feel how much this song means to her. I use two different 909 drumkits for this song...one that's mellow, and one that's rowdy for when the song climaxes.

With or Without You
Lyrics by U2.


See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I 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.

Through the storm, we reach the shore
You gave it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.

My hands are tied, my body bruised
She´s got me with nothing to win
And nothing left to lose.

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you.

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you.

Song "Facts" for "With Or Without You"

I love hearing people's points of view about "With Or Without You". It reminds me how different we all are. It also reminds me just how vague and ambiguous human languages are! But then, when people tell me what they feel when they hear my music I realized that music reaches people so very differently than words.

This was U2's first #1 hit in the US. It was the first U2 single to do better in America than in England.

The lyrics are about relationships, but can be interpreted many ways. They were written by Bono, who wanted to write a love song that dealt with real issues in relationships.

In 1987 Bono explained that everybody in the group knows what the line "And you give yourself away" means: "It's about how I feel in U2 at times - exposed. I'm not going to do many interviews this year. Because there's a cost to my personal life, and a cost to the group as well." (thanks, Kristine - Davenport, IA)

The Edge used a distortion device called an "Infinite Guitar" to create the wail. It was invented by Michael Brook, who The Edge worked with on the soundtrack for The Captive. Brook created the Infinite Guitar by replacing the pickup on a guitar with a magnetic device that vibrates the strings.

This was voted best single of 1987 in a Rolling Stone magazine readers poll.

This won an MTV Viewer's Choice award in 1987.

Bono intended this as part of a trilogy with 2 other songs that did not make the album. At the time, he felt this did not make any sense without the other 2 songs.

This was played on 2 episodes of the show Friends. First towards the middle of the second season, then in the middle of the third season. It became the anthem of the characters Ross and Rachel after it was used in an episode where he dedicated it to her on the radio. (thanks, Britney - Calabasas, CA)

On the Rattle and Hum tour, Bono added the lyrics at the end... "Yeah, we'll shine like stars in the summer night, We'll shine like stars in the winter night, One heart, One hope, One love." (thanks, Bill - Johnstown, PA)

This was the first single that U2 released on CD. The single also appeared in CD Video format and is a rare collectible. About 50 copies were made to demo the Philips CDV system.

U2 played this for the first time in Tempe, Arizona on April 4, 1987, the second night of The Joshua Tree tour. Bono mixed in parts of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

This was used in the 1994 movie Blown Away. (thanks, bertrand - Paris, France, for above 3)

This song is very emotional. When I was 15. I was in a theatre production of the play the Hobbit. I was befriended by a very kind young woman named jennifer. I haven't seen her since the play has ended.{5 years ago}. I think about her alot when I hear this song.
- danleichty, rochester, MN

hey jeanette in MD...you read my mind, girl...this song represents the best that 4 fantastic musicians have to offer, and it really is the perfect song...i also dig how the drum sounds like a heartbeat (or is that just me?)
- monica, bluefield, WV

why write more than, absolutely fantastic song!!!! ty U2
- marco, luleå, Sweden

For everyone at one point in their life, they can relate to this amazing song. Wether its about god, or you and another person, this song touches the hearts of many people, and always will. This world is so damn hard sometimes. For me personally this song is about god. Even as a christian i can say that many times in my life i have doubted gods existence, or thought that he did not love me anymore, even when i felt that no one else did. I think that the worst feeling in the world, is to feel alone, and forgotten. I know that every person in the world has felt that. This song for me broke the ice, that we have to live no matter what, even if it is without the one person you love the most, even when you cannot possibly love youself, but you just have to live, with or without, that is amazing.
- Samantha, Chico, CA

What a fantastic song. I think this was, without a doubt, the greatest song of the 80s. I especially love the wailing guitar intro.
- Patrick, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

this is the first song at my wedding - it's so passionate, the best love song ever writteb
- sue, London, Canada

this is the greatest song ever
- michael, palm desert, CA

"With Or Without You" has been my favorite song since 1987. I always assumed it was about a love relationship but a statement by Adam Clayton had me examine a spiritual interpretation. I cannot quote it exactly or name the source but I read on a U2 website a few years ago that Adam said "They (the band)could not believe that their first #1 song was about God". So after thinking about this for a year or two I think I may be close to figuring it out. I believe it is a song between God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ). "See the stone set in your eye" (A stone was placed the opening of the tomb where Jesus was placed after being crucified) "See the thorn twist in your side, I wait for you" (The crown of thorns piercing Jesus' head, or thorn could be used to describe the sword used to slash the side of Jesus. God is watching this all take place and waiting for Jesus to take his place at His right hand.) "Sleight of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait and I wait without you" (Twist of fate, on a bed of nails she (being fate) makes me wait. God is watching his son being tortured and killed.) "Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I want more and I'm waiting for you" (The story of Jesus on the boat with the disciples, when a storm hit and they panicked and did not fully trust Jesus....Jesus devoted his life to doing His Father's Will but God needed more than that, he needed him to literally sacrifice His life). "And you give yourself away" (Jesus did not want to die, but he gave himself away to die in the place of all of us for our sins) "My hands are tied, my body bruised, she's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose" (Now this is from Jesus' point of view...his hands are tied, his body is bruised, fate's got him with nothing to win (for himself) and since dying is the ultimate sacrifice he obviously had nothing left to lose.) Now what does "With Or Without You" mean? This is where I am confused but I will give my best interpretation. God could not live with Jesus because he came to earth to live among us and to eventually die on the cross for us. Since God loves all of us He provided a way for us to be forgiven of our trepasses through the sacrifice of Christ. This obviously could not happen if Jesus stayed in heaven. God cannot live without Jesus because they are both the same God. Jesus was fully God and fully man. This is deep theology for those of you who are not familiar with the Christian faith and can be very confusing. (I saw Bono on the Charlie Rose talkshow on New Years Eve 2001 and Bono claimed to be a believer and a bit of a theologian. He said he studies theology quite often. Whether this song is about an earthly love relationship or about the ultimate love relationship between God and man, it is beautiful and very deep. I am a pastor so maybe I see U2's songs from a spiritual angle but I do know that faith is a huge part of Bono's life along with the other band members. If I could ever meet Bono and have a conversation with him, I think the first thing I would ask if for the meaning of this song. The music and the lyrics are just fantastic and it has had me thinking a great deal. As mentioned before, Bono is hesistant to give the meanings of most songs because he wants us to have our interpretation of the songs so they are special to us.
- Jamison, Pittsburgh, PA

Did'nt Bono write this song as memory of the death of his close friend Michael Hutchence? Only if he had a prmonition he died 10 years later after Bono wrote the song.
- Luis Talete, Lisbon, Portugal

"The greatest love song ever"? Jack needs to listen to more music. And why do people write novels like Carlos? (2 sentences, get in get out). Try telling your girlfriend/spouse you can't live with them and see how far you get.
- Jay, Atlanta, GA

Roger, I don't agree that it is "certainly not" a love song. While it isn't the love song that people often percieve at first listen, there's no shock that it can be percieved as being about with love and relationships. It's one of those songs that can mean many things to many people, with none of those meanings really being wrong.
- John, Boston, MA

This gives me goosepimples, only other song to do this is Sunday Bloody Sunday.
- Lanto, Swansea, Wales

I get chills every time he goes for the big note
- James, Vancouver, Canada

What makes this song so great is that you can interpret it any way you want to. It can mean different things to different people and they're all right. However you take a song, if it means something to you, than thats all that matters. Thats the beauty of art. It doesn't always have to have one meaning.
- Kayla, London, -

This song is heartbreaking but beautiful at the same time. I think it's about a failing relationship, and I wouldn't try to look for hidden meanings.
- Grace, Fairfax Station, VA

The bassline on this song is one of the simplest around, played by many begginers, but nearly impossible to get to sound correct. Its amazing how such a simple line can propel a complex song.
- Tomas, Chicago, IL

I've really underestimated this song. I hated it because it was being played far too much on the radio. But if I listen to "The Joshua Tree" as a whole, it's much more enjoyable. That way, I can see what a wonderful song it is lying underneath.
- Miles, Vancouver, Canada

Hamish Cowan sang a version of With or Without You which appeared in the Australian movie 'Looking For Alibrandi.' In the movie, based on the book by Melina Marchetta, Pia Miranda plays Josephine Alibrandi, a 17 year old Italian-Australian who is sitting the HSC. When one of her closest friends kills himself, this song is played at the funeral. Hamish Cowan's version has a more sombre sound to it, and was a fitting song for such a tragic scene.
- Sharyn, Bathurst, Australia

I laugh that some people think this is a love song. It certainly is not.
- Roger, Los Angeles, CA

This song is U2 at their very best. Every part of this song (ie: every instrument) is incredible. The way everything is written, the melody, guitar, drum line, bass line, lyrics etc. I can't get enough of this song especially the version on Rattle and Hum. I would really like to get the audio version of that so can listen to it anywhere and also the version of Bad too.
- Jeanette, Elkridge, MD

Infinite guitar, eh? Whatever...it sounds really good.
- Aylin, Montreal, Canada

I just think that this song talks about being unable to live without an answer from your lover, i mean, you just don't mind if it's a no or a yes, you just want her to talk to you. I personnaly felt it like this because it helped me tell my woman how much i loved her, although i knew she did´nt feel the same. I did'nt get her all the same, but it helped me move on. Thanks U2
- Peter, Buenos Aires, Argentina

At the time this song was written Bono was struggling with the decision whether or not to stay in U2. There was a bit of disagreement about the band's religious devotion and how it would affect their music and careers. Bono didn't want to forsake his religion to gain a career in music. "I can't live, with or without you" has two meanings..."I can't live with or without God" and "I can't live with or without this band." If I stay in the band, what about my religion, if I leave the band, what about my friends and career. It was a paradox, one which Bono has triumphed in, being able to maintain both....U2 and devotion
- josh, Tampa, FL

Paul took the name Bono from a hearing aid company in Dublin called "Bonovox". It was the Edge's idea, and Paul thought it sounded cool.
- Joe, Houston, TX

I once heard that this song was written about Bono's relationship with his bono. I mean think about it, "I can't live with or without you"...sounds like a rosy palm to me.
- Phillip, San Fransico, TN

the guitar in this song has the best sound i have ever heard
- Rob, Castaic, CA

This will always be the song to remind me of my first love. It fits us perfectly. It's still my favorite song and I listen to it all the time, just because it is haungtinly beautiful and it can't be overplayed. If he ever reads this he'll know I'm talking about him, cuz no one else seems to see me quite the way he does. We try so hard to get away from each other and we always end up around each other, cuz we cant live with or without each other. He can stop me with just a look, and there's alot of other refrences as well, like dangerously combustible passion and waiting and oh yes, neither of us have won or lost anything, and somehow my feelings always escape me.
- Saralysette, ashland, OR

This song like "running to stand still" is very personal to bono. In an interview with Larry King back in 87, Larry asked him what the song really meant. Bono replied that he didnt want to conceptualize the song, he wanted to let people draw their own conclusions, but he said to him it wasnt about a relationship with another person, but an ongoing struggle he had with heroin at the time he wrote it. But he added that he thought it was an odd song and would not get the popularity and air play it had. So once it became popular, the first conclusion people drew from this song is that it was about a personal relationship. He even later changed his story later and said this about the song. Bono: In "With Or Without You" when it says "and you give yourself away and you give yourself away" -- everybody else in the group knows what that means. It's about how I feel in U2 at times -- exposed. I know the group think I'm exposed and the group feel that I give myself away. And funny enough, Lou Reed said to me, 'what you've got is a real gift: don't give it away because people might not place upon it the right value.' And I think that if l do any damage to the group, it's that I'm too open. For instance, in an interview, I don't hold the cards there and play the right one because I either have to do it or not do it. That's why I'm not going to do many interviews this year. Because there's a cost to my personal life and a cost to the group as well. (from "The World About Us" by Niall Stokes, Hot Press, March 26, 1988) TW: Another thing that we certainly need to do in music is discover new ways to write love songs. "With Or Without You" seems like a new kind of love song to me. Bono: Thank you. That's kinda the way I feel about it. I've said it before, but to me there's nothing more radical, there's nothing more revolutionary than two people loving each other. One, 'cause it's so uncommon these days, and two, 'cause it's so difficult to do. (from "Timothy White's Rock Stars", radio interview, June 01, 1987) Bono: On the "With Or Without You" EP there are three songs that all deal with obsession [Walk To The Water, Luminous Times], with that kind of sexuality. I'd like to have done a whole side, a whole record, blue. That EP is something close. (from "Luminous Times" by John Hutchinson, Musician, October 01, 1987) [...] Bono will argue that "the album is almost incomplete. "With Or Without You" doesn't really make sense without 'Walk To The Water' or 'Luminous Times.' [...] (from "Band On The Run" by Bill Graham, Hot Press, December 17, 1987) "With Or Without You" attacked the subject of personal relationships head on. It portrayed the singer as being torn between life without love on the one hand and life in an unworkable relationship on the other. "With or Without You" was the first evidence of Bono, in his role as singer, being on the receiving end of a one-sided partnership and taking an almost masochistic delight in it. Musical history has seen rock 'n' roll strap on its traditional macho trappings and look for a convenient site for conquest in a series of testosterone-fuelled one-night stands. U2 were more interested in the spiritual conflict that preceded them and the mental conflict that followed. They wanted fever. "With Or Without You" furthered that direction and investigated the violence of love. Love is the closest emotion to hate, power the closest to submission and sadism the closest to masochism. Bono revealed that "it was interesting to me because I see it in myself and in other people around me. Love is a two-edged sword and I didn't want to write about romance because that doesn't interest me as much as the other side." [...] (from "U2 - A Conspiracy of Hope" by Dave Bowler & Bryan Dray, 1993) Bono: There's a lot of stuff that goes through your head, and the songs can completely change their meanings. Something like "With Or Without You" becomes about your audience. It's wild how a song can change. [...]
- Carlos, Coral Springs, FL

This is an incredible song. U2 is at their best in this song! I think that this song speaks to everyone. I believe that the overall message is religious. However, the wonderful thing is that nothing is said clearly enough so the lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways.
- Tom, St. Louis, MO

Bono wrote this song about his relationship with his mother.
- B, Pittsburgh, PA

I always thought that this song was about this guy who's in love with a prostitute, and she just "gives herself away" and there's nothing he can do to save her and make her his.
- Natasha, Chico, CA

I've always had a special bond with this song,it was #1 on the charts the week i was born, and i loved it even before i knew that i was born when it was #1. Kinda eerie, no? I guess not, since the song is so incredibly awesome. The echos and acoustics are so great. Whenever i hear this song, I see a guy standing out in the pouring rain @ night, waiting for this girl who never comes.
- Natasha, Chico, CA

During the October 10, 2001 concert which was webcast from Notre Dame, Bono says "If you were born 10 months after this came out, this is for you", at the start of "With or Without You". "With or Without You" was released in March of 1987, and 10 months later would be January 1988. The song did hit the top five in the charts a month after it was released. Nine months after that, children conceived while it was holding strong in the charts would have been born. Many have suggested the dedication was a dedication to any of those children who were in the crowd that night. source: u2faqs.com
- Jakob, Barcelona, Spain

so whats the video clip about?? i thought the midget died ,but he was at the funeral???? so who died????
- pete, nowra, Australia

I've seen Bono in an interview say that thise song is about the fans, and how they can only be what they are now with them, coz without them they're nothing, and that people have always misinterperated this song as being a love song, but thats ok coz all art is open to interpretation, and how each person percieves it
- vikingwizard, melbourne, Australia

Damn, Bono is such a genius! I never get tired of listening to U2 for some reason. It seems like those Irish people just have a natural inclination to make great music.
- Chris, Lake Mary, FL

brilliant melody. the song that made me aware of who U2 really are.
- rhett, Melbourne, Australia

I love this song, one of my altime faves, my dad used to be bonos best friend :)
- Gilliann, Dublin, Ireland

This song came out in 1987; Michael Hutchence didn't die until 1997.
- Shirley, Ocean, NJ

This song was also played in the very last episode of Friends for a Ross and Rachel moment.
- Adele, Victoria, Canada

This song is about a guy who is into a girl way more than she is into him. He is the patient nice guy on the side, tortured by her interest in men other than himself. Despite the pain she causes him, he cannot let go and remains a victim to her insensitivities. In the end, he has "Nothing to win, and nothing left to lose."
- Justin, Ojai, CA

Did'nt Bono write this song as memory of the death of his close friend Michael Hutchensine???
- honeybunny, kkkkkk, United States

this is one of the only u2 songs that doesn't suck.
- alatriel, lothlorien, Other

I always thought it was about Ireland
- Marco, Los Angeles, CA

This is really one of the best songs ever!! I used to hate U2, but then I heard this song on Friends. The lyrics and music in this song fit perfect together. I can always relate to this song in so many ways! Awesome song!
- shawn, loganville, GA

this song is so powerful... and it can reach out to so many people. there are countless people who can relate to a scenerio like this one. The sound projected is one that almost haunts the soul... unbelievably touching.
- Terri Lynn, Heart's Desire, Canada

This is the only song in the whole world that can make me cry in an instant. To me, it's about two people, who are destined to be with each other, but can't. She gives him all the love that she has, but it's not enough for him. He waits and waits and it gets to the point that he can't go any further with their relationship, but he can't get out of it either - he doesn't want to. They both love each other so much, but but they know that they shouldn't be together. I feel this way about my best friend/ex-boyfriend...I can't be with him, but I can't be without him.
- Dawn, Toronto, Canada

Another religious one here, a theme which ran through the Joshua and Achtung albums. 'She' is believed to be a methaphor for God and the song is apparently about the disciples undying belief in Jesus returning after death. Song starts with crucifixion, mentions walking on water and ends with Jesus 'giving himself away' by knowing he would be crucified if arrested.
- Ian, Weymouth, England

Bono has never said what this song was truly about.
- Erik, Davis, CA

The greatest love song ever written, Second is Bon Jovi - Always
- Jack Lee, Nottingham, England

To The Moon

"To The Moon"

Music and Artwork by Marcus Satellite
"To The Moon" is on iTunes

Just about every musician has written a song inspired by the Earth's moon, Luna. This is my song to the moon. If I was going to dance all full-moon-crazy, it would be to this song.

An ironic twist (that maybe only I would know or care about) is that the artwork I created is a fractal twist of a picture of my son, Lucas. I used "Artmatic" to create this image.

The crazy feeling you get when you hear this song is a result of my using a strange little scale--a Moment Of Symmetry-- designed by my friend Erv Wilson. Not one of these notes lie on the keys of a piano or a guitar!

Lyrics to "No Single Mind"

"Way Beyond, Way Above" is on iTunes
Masha and I liked to write songs by jamming. Now, for many musicians jamming has led to many an hour being spent with nothing to show for others, despite the pleasure of the moment for the musicians. However, in Masha's case: She is a poet, so there are always words for what she is feeling, and in my case I am a composer, so I always have music on hand for what I am feeling. I showed up to her apartment and set up my electronic instruments; we put on our headphones, I pressed "record" and I began to play, and I saw her go into a trance. Not a silly dribbling drooling trance, but the trance of someone who knows exactly what they are searching for in the vast cosmic creative continuum. This song is very fast--170 beats per minute, and it definitely changes the equation for the meter of the poetry. But she knew! She found this song so quickly--the melody, the harmonies, the amazing lyrics. I watched in awe. There was very little for us to do after this session. Later, I arranged the song and recorded her in the studio a few weeks later. This is one of our miracles.

From the album "Way Beyond, Way Above"
by d/dx:
Lyrics and vocals by Masha d'Elphenden
Music by Marcus Satellite


No single mind can know it all
Can connect it all
And if you will prevail
Life as you know it will be
Forever gone

You you say you know
All of my thoughts
All of my dreams
You you say you see
All that I see
Feel what I feel

You you say you touch
All that I’ve touched
Love what I love
You making a leap
Way beyond
Way above

No single mind can know it all
Can connect it all
And if you will prevail
Life as you know it will be
Forever gone

You trying to say
You see the way
Out of here
You trying to say
You know it all
You found the key

You trying to be
Everything for
Everyone
You making a leap
Way beyond
Way above

No single mind can know it all
Can connect it all
And if you will prevail
Life as you know it will be
Forever gone
Gone

The Way

"From On High"
Lyrics and vocals by K Blu
Music by Marcus Satellite


"The Way"
The way you look upon me
The way you kiss my cheek
The way your smiles are for me
The way my knees go weak

The way your eyes get brighter
When I walk into the room
The way you tell me stories
Oh boy you make me swoon

The way you want me near you
The place I long to be
The way I almost fear you
But know that you're good for me

Why should it be that you can't see that
You could be with me?

The way you sing me songs and
The way you hold a tune
The way your passion pulls me
Like oceans to the moon
These overwhelming feelings
Emotions running wild
You see me like a woman
But I feel like a child

Do You Care To Fly?

At last, the album "Way Beyond, Way Above" is now available for your listening pleasure on
iTunes. Masha and I worked so hard on this album, and I am so proud and pleased that the world can now enjoy it.

Masha's poetry and singing inspires me to search further, more deeply. I hope you feel the same way.

Do You Care To Fly?
From "Way Beyond, Way Above"
by d/dx:
Lyrics and Vocals by Masha d'Elphenden
Music by Marcus Satellite

Disintegrate with me
Tap into eternity
Desert wind Impenetrable silence
Morning dew
It’s you

Rain, joy, pain
All just passing moments
Tired pictures scattered through my brain
Shame Success and promises of heaven
But what’s next?

Do you care to know? Do you care to feel?
Is it all a dream? Do you care to fly?

What’s beyond those stars?
Beyond spilled-over milk?
What’s beyond routines?
Beyond this narrow tunnel
You call Life?

Do you care to know? Do you care to feel?
Is it all a dream? Do you care to fly?

Disintegrate with me
Tap into eternity
Desert wind Impenetrable silence
Morning dew
It’s you

Feel Good

If I had to pick one song off the album "From On High" this would be the one. It's around 110 beats-per-minute, which leads to much booty-shaking on the dance floor. It's like earthy space disco. But most of all, K Blu's lyrics and vocal performance are simply amazing and people connect with this song right away. Check it out, and feel free to leave a comment about it.

"Feel Good"

I am fertile
Open to ideas and ways
That the void has to offer me
Seeds can be planted now
Change is something I always
Welcome with open arms
However, it's so hard watching those
You love leave.

Open in my soul
One million winged butterflies
Circling, dancing,
Spiraling in passion
Kissing in teases the dawning of my spirit
The awakening of my soul

I wanna feel good
I wanna feel good

"Facts" about "Where The Streets Have No Name"

I love reading what other people think about "Where The Streets Have No Name". As an artist it amazes and humbles me how many viewpoints--whoops--I mean "Facts" people can have about an idea, especially a song.



Where The Streets Have No Name by U2
Album: The Joshua Tree
Date: 1987
U.S. Chart: 13
U.K. Chart: 4

In 1985, Bono visited Ethiopia after performing at Live Aid. Many people assumed this song was about that trip, since the streets there really don't have names, just numbers. The song is actually about Ireland. In Ireland, the many cities are divided: rich/poor, Catholic/Protestant, etc. By knowing which street a person lives on you can tell their religion, wealth and beliefs - it's where the streets have no name.
Brian Eno produced this and played the organ intro. The Edge did a D-chord delay arpeggio thing on his 4 track at home for the rest. (thanks, Flanagan - Canada, for above 2)

Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2's first 3 albums, was brought in to do the final mix.

This is the first track on The Joshua Tree, which became the fastest selling album in both the US and UK.

This was extremely difficult to produce. The arrangement was written on a blackboard because it was so complex.

Producer Brian Eno became so frustrated trying to mix this that he almost destroyed the tape and started over.

The video showed U2 putting on an impromptu concert on the roof of The Million Dollar Hotel in Los Angeles. Some onlookers were delighted, while others were upset because they were stopping traffic. It won the Grammy for Best Performance Music Video in 1989.

This song has a very long instrumental intro. Bono's vocals come in at 1:46.
The single also included "Sweetest Thing," which became a hit when it was re-released in 1998.

When asked about the similarity between U2's rooftop video and The Beatles rooftop concert, Bono said, "We've ripped off The Beatles many times before."

U2 performed this at halftime of the 2002 Super Bowl between the Patriots and Rams. As they played, names of victims in the September 11 attacks were scrolled on a giant screen. At the end of the performance Bono opened his jacket to reveal an American flag in the lining.

Bono (from Propaganda 5, 1987): "Where The Streets Have No Name is more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP, because it's a sketch - I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location. I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don't hold you down. An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they're making - literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name." (thanks, bertrand - Paris, France)

The Lyrics To "Where The Streets Have No Name"

The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2 is on iTunes

My cover of this song is faithful to the original. That means that it totally kicks bootay, just like the original. It's one of those get-the-show-started kind of songs. I use lots of 303's and 909's to keep things moving, but don't let the instruments fool you--this is a genuine cover song, not a simple remix. Christian Provensen's vocals are dynamite.

I'm always inspired by Bono's lyrics. Every time I read the lyrics to "Where The Streets Have No Name" I appreciate them more and more.


"Where The Streets Have No Name"
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

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

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
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The verbatim Wikipedia Entry

You gotta love Wikipedia. They have an entry for EVERYTHING [almost], including "Where the Streets Have No Name"! I copied it verbatim for your convenience.

Where the Streets Have No Name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Single by U2
from the album The Joshua Tree
B-side(s) "Silver and Gold"
"The Sweetest Thing"
"Race Against Time"
Released August 1987
Format 7", 12", CD, cassette
Recorded Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland, 1986
Genre Rock
Length 4:46 (single version)
5:37 (album version)
Label Island
Producer(s) Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois
Peak chart positions

* #4 (UK Singles Chart)
* #13 (US Billboard Hot 100)
* #11 (US Mainstream Rock Tracks)

U2 singles chronology
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
(1987) "Where the Streets Have No Name"
(1987) "In God's Country"
(1987)
The Joshua Tree track listing
N/A "Where the Streets Have No Name"
(1) "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
(2)


The Best of 1980-1990 track listing
"Bad"
(6) "Where the Streets Have No Name"
(7) "I Will Follow"
(8)


U218 Singles track listing
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
(8) "Where the Streets Have No Name"
(9) "Sweetest Thing"
(10)

"Where the Streets Have No Name" is the opening track and third single from U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. It has become one of the band's most popular songs. It charted at number 4 on the UK singles chart.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 The song
o 1.1 Recording "Streets"
o 1.2 Structure
o 1.3 Interpretation
* 2 Live performances
o 2.1 Rooftop performance
o 2.2 Concerts
* 3 Track listings
* 4 Chart positions
* 5 Covers
o 5.1 "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"
o 5.2 Others
* 6 Notes
* 7 External links

The song

Recording "Streets"

"Where the Streets Have No Name" had a particularly difficult birth: it was almost rejected by the band, and nearly did not survive until the album's release.[1]

Prior to the recording of The Joshua Tree, The Edge came up with the famous guitar and organ introduction. On presenting the idea to the band, bassist Adam Clayton admits that he "perhaps did not fully appreciate the hours of work that had gone into this idea," feeling in particular that the 6/8 time signature of the introduction seemed less like an inspired idea, and really "just seemed like a good way to mess the band up."[citation needed] Clayton now says the song is a pleasure to perform. The process of joining the intro with the song proper became protracted and difficult. After weeks of working on the song,[citation needed] co-producer Brian Eno reportedly ordered his assistant to destroy the master tape of the song while the band was out of the room, although Eno maintains that he simply wanted to start afresh on the track.

Structure

The album version of "Streets" opens with an instrumental section, starting with chorale-like organ notes; the guitar, bass, and drums fade in near the one-minute mark. This part, following a I-IV-I-IV-vi-V-I chord progression, creates a "wall of sound", as described by Mark Butler, against which the vocals finally emerge after nearly two whole minutes.[1] The instrumentation continues in regular eighth and sixteenth notes, while Bono's vocal performance, in contrast, varies greatly in its timbre, ("he sighs; he moans; he grunts; he exhales audibly; he allows his voice to crack")[1] as well as timing by his usage of rubato to slightly offset the notes he sings from the beat.[1]

This development reaches a climax during the first chorus at the line "burning down love" (A-G-F#-D); the melody progresses through a series of scale degrees that lead to the highest note in the song, the A4 at "burning". In later choruses, Bono sings "blown by the wind" with the same melody, stretching the same note even longer.

Interpretation

Bono himself also reported that the song was inspired by the social situation in Belfast; in a 1987 interview to Propaganda, the official U2 magazine, Bono stated:

"'Where the Streets Have No Name' is more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP, because it’s a sketch — I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location. I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don’t hold you down. An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they're making — literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side of that street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name..."

U2 performs "Where the Streets Have No Name" at Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show, February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome

It has been stated that the song was inspired by U2's visit to Nicaragua's capital, Managua, whose streets are unnamed.[2]

Live performances

Rooftop performance

The song was first played on the rooftop of the Republic Liquor Store at East 7th Street and South Main Street in Los Angeles on March 27, 1987 in an ad hoc concert. The music video was filmed with footage from this event, including the police shutting the surprise concert down due to traffic concerns. The stunt was viewed as an homage to The Beatles when they played their own rooftop show on the roof of Apple Records.

Concerts

Since its concert introduction, "Where the Streets Have No Name" has been played no less than 20 times per U2 tour, making it one of the most frequently played U2 songs. There are slight variations in the live presentation to the recorded version; the final verse is played differently, and Clayton plays a particularly striking melodic bassline in the chorus, reminiscent of the style of Peter Hook, along the outline of a guitar part on the record. The Edge has always used a Fender Stratocaster of some sort for this song. On the Joshua Tree Tour and Vertigo Tour, he used his black with black pickguard 70s-era Strat. On the Lovetown Tour, he used a Lace Sensor pickup-equipped yellow Strat with a black pickguard. On the Zoo TV, Popmart Tour and Elevation Tours, he has used a 60s-era Strat that is black with a white pickguard.

Although the song was released over 20 years ago, it is still played at every U2 concert, and was even performed during the Super Bowl in early 2002. As the band performed this song, the names of the people killed in the attacks rolled up a screen in the background. The song ended with Bono opening up his jacket, which was lined with the American Flag.

One of the most heralded moments of a U2 concert is when a red background appears - this signifies the appearance of "Streets". This background has appeared on both the TV screens (Joshua Tree Tour to Elevation Tour) and in the form of flashing lights (Vertigo Tour). The red background has not appeared on only a few occasions - notably at the Super Bowl performance where the names of those who perished in the events of September 11th scrolled behind the band (see above picture), and on the first few concerts of the Vertigo Tour, where scrolling African flags took its place. It is worth noting that the red background was reinstated in the form of flashing red lights after the first few concerts.

Track listings

1. "Where the Streets Have No Name" (Single Version) (4:46)
2. "Silver and Gold" (4:40)
3. "The Sweetest Thing" (3:03)
4. "Race Against Time" (4:03)

This was the most common 12" release. The 7" version omitted "Race Against Time".

"The Sweetest Thing" made its first appearance on this single, as an outtake from The Joshua Tree. The song would later be rerecorded and released as a single from the band's 1998, The Best of 1980-1990.

The version of "Where the Streets Have No Name" featured on the single is a different mix from the album. The single version contains additional backing vocals.

Chart positions
Year Single Chart Position
1987 "Where the Streets Have No Name" UK Singles Chart #4
1987 "Where the Streets Have No Name" US Billboard Hot 100 #13
1987 "Where the Streets Have No Name" US Mainstream Rock Tracks #11
1987 "Where the Streets Have No Name" Canada #14

Covers

"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"

In 1991, UK synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys covered "Streets" to accompany "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", the third single from their 1990 album, Behaviour, as a double A-side in the UK (both singles were released separately in the U.S.). The band have said that they thought the guitars in the original sounded similar to a sequencer.[2] In this version, "Streets" is turned into a medley with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", the 1960s single by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1981 disco version of the song by Boystown Gang rather than the original.

This version has been called, in its intent, a subversion of the original, denoted in a number of ways by its musical arrangement. In contrast to the U2 version's instrumental build-up, the Pet Shop Boys version opens abruptly with synthesized and sampled noises and a drum machine. The musical climax of the song is also shadowed by other elements: a background vocal sample of "burning down love" is played right at the start, and synthesized horns erupt with even higher notes immediately following each chorus. Singer Neil Tennant performs the lyrics with no vocal exertion or stresses, in contrast to Bono. In addition, at the transition between "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Tennant sings the two lines one after the other, with no change in pitch — pointing out the similarities in the two songs.[1]

The pairing of this version with "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", a song criticizing the insincere humanitarian messages of a number of pop stars during the 1980s and the institutionalization of rock and roll,[3] also adds to the subversive message.[1]

The Pet Shop Boys have performed the medley live as recently as during their 2006 Fundamental tour, as well as at the Moscow Live 8 concert of 2005.

Others

Vanessa Carlton recorded a cover version of the song for her second album, Harmonium (2004). The song was not included on the original release of the album in the United States, but it was made available on the Japanese version of the album and as an MP3 download on websites such as iTunes.

Chris Tomlin covered the song for the album In the Name of Love, on which 13 Christian artists drew attention to Africa by covering popular U2 songs.

MercyMe has covered this song in some live shows. It is included on their Mercy Me Live CD/DVD which was released couple years ago.

Flea (Bass), Brad Wilk (Drums), Tom Morello (Acoustic Guitar), Pete Yorn (Guitar/Vocals), Tim Walker (Electric Guitar), Serj Tankian (Vocals), Maynard James Keenan (Vocals), Jonny Polonsky (Keyboard) performed Where the Streets Have No Name at a performance in Avalon in Los Angeles. The concert was a benefit to raise money for the Axis of Justice.

Kane covered the song on their live CD/DVD album With or Without You.

Marcus Satellite covered the song on his album The Marcus Satellite Tribute To U2, the vocals being performed by Christian Provensen. The cover is in both form and intent faithful to the original, albeit done in an Electronica style consisting purely of software synthesizers.



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