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Rating: War. The first great work of a band called U2 and the third album by the band.
An album characterized by a dramatic power essentially given by 4 fundamental elements: Bono’s voice at truly extraordinary levels, Edge’s explosive and sharp guitar, and a bass and drums that are fundamental and in perfect sync.
Reflections, thoughts, and denunciations of all that a terrible evil like war can bring, intense feelings that don’t enter through the back door but hit like arrows straight to the heart. Starting with the beautiful and cursed cover of a child: his tense expression, his eyes fixed and afraid, and lips stained with blood.
War begins in a great way and immediately opens without any holdback with a song destined to make the band's history and to become one of the most celebrated protest anthems in rock history of all time, "Sunday Bloody Sunday". That cursed Irish Sunday (31/1/1972) where 13 demonstrators were brutally killed by the English army that was ordered to shoot into the crowd, is told in an extraordinary piece in both music and words characterized by Bono’s voice powerful and angry as ever, by that unforgettable guitar melody and by the drums that introduce the piece like a flash that explodes in the sky. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" talks of opposing factions, different camps, continuous and useless struggles, but in the end, the thesis remains just one: who won? Who lost more men in the field? None of this matters, with violence and war we all lose, inevitably. The real battle is yet to begin, and to fight it, there will come a day when we must all finally be united.
After the big start, "Seconds" follows. This time the theme is the Cold War, it talks about how in a second one can decide the lives of millions of people simply by pressing a button ("It takes a second to say goodbye"). This song is also aggressive where a fitting and determined bass riff predominates.
Not even time to have been left from Bloody Sunday when U2 place another immense masterpiece, "New Year's Day". The song talks about how nothing changes, not even on New Year’s Day, of how everything remains unchanged and covered by a blood-red sky. The piece is musically characterized by an extraordinary bass riff that repeats throughout the song, while the guitar, initially in the shadow and more occasional, explodes halfway through the song with a brilliant solo and one of the best ever played by Edge. Out-of-breath sensations for Bono, whose voice seems like a train at full speed, from which one cannot help but be overwhelmed. Immense.
The fourth track of the album, "Like a Song", is perhaps the most powerful and aggressive. Once again, U2 place a piece worth 90 that presents a very pounding drum, an exceptional and leading guitar that abandons itself to another fantastic solo, echoed by practically shouted notes and more angry than ever by a Bono possibly never in such form. Like a Song talks about this "unnamed generation" with few hopes, tells how we like to wear uniforms and badges, how we enjoy waving flags, while in reality, we continue to divide ourselves needlessly and abandon others.
At this point, the album starts to lose a bit of the character acquired with the first songs, the level is no longer on par, and respectable songs remain but unfortunately not comparable with the previous ones. There’s the calm of "Drowning Man", "Two Hearts Beat as One", "Red Light" and "Surrender" that still reveal at times a certain immaturity and at times result a bit too tiring and continuous.
No big deal, the album concludes with a pearl that condenses all anger into an atmosphere of great calm. "40" presents itself as a sort of simple prayer to God for the world’s salvation, but above all of oneself, and it is still played punctually at the end of every U2 concert. A sign of its greatness and durability after 25 years of life, just like the album on which it was recorded, perhaps not the band’s best, perhaps a bit incomplete, but let’s remember, even though it was only written at the age of 23, it is certainly a repository of songs (New Year’s Day and Sunday ) that remain among the best ever made by the band and perhaps (in my opinion) in the entire history of rock 'n roll.
Hello everyone.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Sunday Bloody Sunday (04:40)
Yeah...
Hmm... hmm....
I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight... we can be as one
Tonight...
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
(Oh, let's go)
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long...
'cause tonight... we can be as one
Tonight... tonight...
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
(Yeah, let's go)
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
(Sunday, bloody Sunday)
I wipe your blood shot eyes
(Sunday, bloody Sunday)
Sunday, bloody Sunday (Sunday, bloody Sunday)
Sunday, bloody Sunday (Sunday, bloody Sunday)
(Yeah, let's go)
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
(Sunday, bloody Sunday)
The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On...
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday...
02 Seconds (03:10)
It takes a second to say goodbye, say goodbye
Oh, oh, oh
It takes a second to say goodbye, say goodbye
Oh, oh, oh
Say bye-bye
Where are you going to now?
Lightning flashes across the sky
East to West
Do and die
Like a thief in the night
See the world by candlelight
Fall, rise and...
Fall, rise and...
In an apartment on Times Square
You can assemble them anywhere
Held to ransom, hell to pay
A revolution every day
U.S.S.R., G.D.R., London, New York, Peking
It's the puppets, it's the puppets pull the strings, yeah
Fall, rise and...
Fall, rise and...
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Say goodbye
It takes a second to say goodbye
Say goodbye, oh, oh, oh
Push the button and pull the plug
Say goodbye, oh, oh, oh
Fall, rise and...
Fall, rise and...
And they're doing the atomic bomb
Do they know where the dance comes from?
Yes they're doing the atomic bomb
They want you to sing along
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Say goodbye, say goodbye
Say goodbye.
03 New Year's Day (05:35)
All is quiet on New Year's day
A world in white gets underway
And I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's day
I... will be with you again
I... will be with you again
Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined
The chosen few
The newspaper says, says
Says it's true, says it's true and
We can break through
Torn in two
We can be one
I... I will begin again
I... I will begin again
Yeah
Oh...
Oh and maybe the time is right
Oh... maybe tonight
I... will be with you again
I... will be with you again
And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
To be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's Day...
On New Year's Day...
06 The Refugee (03:40)
Wa, war... she's the refugee
I see your face
I see you staring back at me
Wa, war... she is the refugee
Her mama say one day she's gonna live in America
In the morning
She is waiting
Waiting for the ship to sail
Sail away...
Wa, war... her papa go to war
He gonna fight but he don't know what for
Wa, war... her papa go to war
Her mama say one day he's gonna come back from far away
Oh help me
How can you help me?
In the evening
She is waiting
Waiting for her man to come
And take her by her hand
And take her to this promised land
Wa, war... she's a pretty face
But at the wrong time in the wrong place
Wa, war... she's a pretty face
Her mama say one day she's gonna live in America
Yeah, America
Wa, war... she is a refugee
She coming back, she come and keep you company
Wa, war... she is a refugee
Her mama say one day she's gonna live in America
08 Red Light (03:46)
Oh I talk to you
You walk away
You're still on the down beat
You say you don't want my help
But you can't escape
If you're running from yourself
I give you my love
I give you my love
Give you my love
Still you walk away
Well...
It's your own late show
As you jump to the street below
But where can you go
To leave yourself behind?
Alone in the spotlight
Of this, your own tragedy
I give you my love, love, love...
09 Surrender (05:34)
Oh, the city's alight
With lovers and lies
And bright blue eyes
Oh, the city is bright
It's brighter than day tonight
(Surrender, surrender)
(Surrender, surrender)
Sadie said she couldn't work out what it was all about
And so she let go
Now Sadie's on the street and the people she meets you know
She tried to be a good girl and a good wife
Raise a good family
Lead a good life
It's not good enough
She got herself up on the 48th floor
Gotta find out
Find out what she's living for
(Surrender, surrender)
(Surrender, surrender)
Oh, the city's a fire
A passionate flame that knows me by name
Oh, the city's desire to take me for more and more
It's in the street gettin' under my feet
It's in the air, it's everywhere I look for you
It's in the things that I do and say
And it I wanna live I gotta die to myself someday
Oh, oh, oh, oh...
Papa sing my sing my song
Papa sing my sing my song
Papa sing my sing my song
10 "40" (02:35)
I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song?
You set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see, many will see and hear
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
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Other reviews
By rickyfrusciante
The feeling you get listening to "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY" is indescribable: the desperate march and MULLEN's hits go straight to the heart.
Back then they were indeed sincere, they had so many ideas, back then they really wanted to change the world…
By Rax
U2, at the same age, released 'War' - for many, their most authentic masterpiece.
'Sunday Bloody Sunday' is mainly about this: 'And it’s true we are immune. When fact is fiction and TV reality.'
By Ocean
"War speaks (primarily) about this and can thus be defined as an excellent period document."
Bono’s lyrics about the Bloody Sunday massacre are "simple but effective" and evoke a deep sadness and anger.
