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Rating: The child from "BOY" is pissed off, it's 1983, and Ireland is going through a very difficult period. What better opportunity for a breakthrough?
No more garages, no more talking about teenagers and autumn: WAR represents the turning point album for U2, having left the underground behind, the four begin their journey to the rock Olympus.
The feeling you get listening to "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY" is indescribable: the desperate march and MULLEN's hits go straight to the heart, THE EDGE's riff triggers a chain reaction on the skin, and an incredible shiver runs through the entire body…
"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."
"NEW YEAR'S DAY" is spectacular, the piano combined with the electric guitar creates something indescribable, the desperate lyrics are summed up by the album's title, and the blood-red sky mentioned in the song recalls the glowing title on the cover: "WAR".
"LIKE A SONG" is an explosion of hard and pure rock, "SURRENDER" is a less challenging and more relaxing song, as is "RED LIGHT," which with a bit more bass would have been at ease in "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". "SECONDS" is wonderful, and in "DROWNING MAN", BONO's voice overpowers all the instruments in a somewhat strange, but very passionate ballad without a chorus.
No superficial nonsense, the days of "ONE" and "BEAUTIFUL DAY" are far away… these are the U2 friends, four angry guys with enormous punk rafts on their heads, not exceptionally good, but very, very, very sincere (at least at the beginning of their career)!
In the eighties, a new page in the history of rock was written by those four, the drum roll of "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY" is right there, next to "We Will Rock You", next to "Good Times Bad Times".
Back then they were indeed sincere, they had so many ideas, back then they really wanted to change the world…
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
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 Alevox
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is an unforgettable protest anthem with powerful and angry vocals that hit like arrows straight to the heart.
"40" is a calm, prayer-like closing that has endured as a staple in U2's concerts for over 25 years.
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.
