•
Rating: Cowboy hats, boots, jeans, and "three chords and the truth." That was U2 in the '80s: a mix of pretentiousness, idealism (who knows...), and a seriousness that, on the one hand, could lead to poetic and dreamy albums like "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree" (in addition to "Boy," all melancholy and youthful ardor) but on the other could make them seem like a group of preachers capable only of delivering sermons and shouting appeals for peace. In the '90s, U2 simply tried to have fun, to be ironic, defiant, decadent: "Achtung Baby," with its distortions and atmospheres full of paranoia and loneliness, erased that rigid and uncomfortable image.
The change was radical, and it can be perfectly admired in this explosive and colorful DVD: a stage that looks frightening just by looking at it, giant screens spewing slogans ("Rebellion is packaged," for example), images, and colors in full throttle, Adam looking like a street thug and Bono wreaking havoc with his costumes, between leather pants, golden lamé outfits, and Cuban cigars. Three chords and the truth, they said.
Instead, no: after an absolutely crazy intro (clips of Nazi propaganda films, fragments of trashy B-grade horror films, soccer matches, and more) Bono appears on stage all dressed in black plastic with huge "fly-eye" goggles: "Zoo Station" is the first song, and you realize how strange things have become: Bono's poses are exaggerated, lascivious, defiant: in short, it seems he has killed the old bard of peace and religion, or at least hidden him well inside himself, and it seems he has learned something from old pranksters like Mick Jagger and David Bowie. The crowd is delirious: the band is electrified with riffs and melodies and Bono, as just mentioned, is now a showman. No less than seven songs from "Achtung Baby" follow before "New Year's Day," among the best a noisy and jubilant "Mysterious Ways" (featuring the appearance of The Edge's future wife Morleigh Steinberg as a dancer) and "Until The End Of The World" (with an obsessive and very noisy finale) while "One" is as beautiful as ever even though it's strange to hear it so early in the setlist. Before "Even Better Than The Real Thing" Bono indulges in some acting: he asks questions to the audience, enjoys changing channels on the large screens behind Larry's drum set (who, with that beard, looks very hirsute) and asks: "you didn't come all the way here to watch TV, or am I wrong?". In short, everything is over-the-top, fun, and total madness. Bono and company have elaborated on the supposed satirical motivations for such a display of means (it would all be an attack on a society manipulated by the media, where the Gulf War is confused with action films and pornography is fine even at noon) but as far as I'm concerned, things are just fine as they appear: colors, noise, and "attitude" was just what the band needed.
The group even indulges in some covers, the sweet "Unchained Melody," guitar and voice, and Reed's "Satellite Of Love" (better than the original in my opinion, with even an appearance by old Lou on the giant screens, which reminded me of Dixie from "Neuromancer") while the screen displays slogans, numbers (some "666" in defiance of faith along with absolutely absurd dates and figures) and surreal aphorisms like "Mock the devil and he will flee from thee" (a Miltonian quote, if I remember correctly). Among revivals of their dusty past ("Angel Of Harlem" all confidence and fun but without the brass, the desperate "Running To Stand Still" complete with a finale of smoke and colored lights, the evergreen "With or without you" with Bono dressed as Macphisto) plunges into their latest material (the duo "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" / "Lemon", with the band dressed as soldiers from planet Zooropa except for Bono, who flaunts an ostentatious and almost ridiculous golden lamé outfit, white makeup and devil horns) the band delivers a couple of winning moves: the one-two between "Dirty Day" (very dark and fierce, terribly underrated) and "Bullet The Blue Sky" (malevolent as usual, with The Edge even more Page-like than usual) and the final cover of "Can't Help Falling In Love", right after that sort of requiem that is "Love Is Blindness": the band leaves the stage while the credits start to appear on the screen and the audience seems to have fallen into a state of stupor and anticipation. But the band has already left, and the lights have gone out. Curtain.
In short, it is a concert that leaves you amazed and not a little: U2 has left behind their old image and replaced it with something that isn't even related to their old style. The band, then, seems perfectly at ease with such an endeavor: Bono's voice is at its peak (rarely have I heard him so unwavering in live videos) and the band demonstrates knowing how to handle the new sounds perfectly, with an approach full of confidence and assurance. Brave, certainly, but also shrewd: a bit of one and a bit of the other, opportunism and enterprise go hand in hand. Anyway, fun is guaranteed. The entire concert is filmed in a "realistic" style (i.e., devoid of overly slick and clean sequences) in 4:3, while for audio you have the options of PCM stereo, Dolby Surround 5.1, and DTS Surround 5.1 (what are they? I admit: I don't know). A real highlight is the inclusion of the second DVD available in the package: three documentaries about the making of the tour, with interviews with the band and Paul McGuinness, the hilarious "confessional" segments (where a guy candidly admits to having a friend who, although having AIDS, continues to casually sleep around) a karaoke version of "Numb" (which I just can't keep up with) and some bonus tracks like "Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World" and "The Fly" from the concert at Yankee Stadium during the same tour.
In short, a real whirl of colors, madness, and poses: while waiting for the new DVD version of the Live in Mexico City from the PopMart Tour (whose release has been postponed just in these days to an unspecified date in July) I invite you to enjoy this noisy and fascinating cauldron. And who knows, you might even set aside, every now and then, those three chords and the truth.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Zoo Station (00:00)
I'm ready
I'm ready for laughing gas
I'm ready
Ready for what's next
Ready to duck
Ready to dive
Ready to say
I'm glad to be alive
I'm ready
I'm ready for the push
In the cool of the night
In the warmth of the breeze
I'll be crawling around
On my hands and knees
She's just down the line ... Zoo Station
Got to make it on time ... Zoo Station.
I'm ready
Ready for the gridlock
I'm ready
To take it to the street
Ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go
Of the steering wheel
I'm ready
Ready for the crush
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
It's alright ... it's alright ... it's alright ... it's alright
Hey baby ... hey baby ... hey baby ... hey baby ...
It's alright
It's alright
Time is a train
Makes the future the past
Leaves you standing in the station
Your face pressed up against the glass
I'm just down the line from your love ... Zoo Station
I'm under the sign of your love ... Zoo Station
I'm gonna be there ... Zoo Station
Tracing the line ... Zoo Station
I'm gonna make it on time ... make it on time ... Zoo Station
Just two stops down the line ... Zoo Station
Just a stop down the line ... Zoo Station
02 Angel Of Harlem (00:00)
It was a cold and wet December day
When we touched the ground at JFK
Snow was melting on the ground
On BLS I heard the sound
Of an angel
New York, like a Christmas tree
Tonight this city belongs to me
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...angel of Harlem
Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got John Coltrane and a love supreme
Miles, and she's got to be an angel
Lady Day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Angel
Soul love...this love won't let me go
So long...angel of Harlem
Angel of Harlem
She says it's heart...heart and soul...
Yeah yeah...(yeah)
Yeah yeah...(right now)
Blue light on the avenue
God knows they got to you
An empty glass, the lady sings
Eyes swollen like a bee sting
Blinded you lost your way
Through the side streets and the alleyway
Like a star exploding in the night
Falling to the city in broad daylight
An angel in Devil's shoes
Salvation in the blues
You never looked like an angel
Yeah yeah...angel of Harlem
Angel...angel of Harlem...
03 Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (00:00)
Green light, 7-Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change
Dressed up like a car crash
The wheels are turning but you're upside down
You say when he hits you you don't mind
Because when he hurts you you feel alive
Oh now, is that what it is
Red light, grey morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depends on who's around
You used to stay up to watch the adverts
You could lip-synch to the talk shows
And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk it's not to me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing
If I could stay, then the night would give you up
Stay, and the day would keep its trust
Stay, and the night would be enough
Faraway, so close up with the static and the radio
With satellite television you can go anywhere
Miami, New Orleans, London, Belfast and Berlin
And if you listen I can't call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout, I'll only hear you
If I could stay then the night would give you up
Stay then the day would keep its trust
Stay with the demons you drowned
Stay with the spirit I found
Stay and the night would be enough
Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter as an angel runs to ground
Just the bang and the clatter as an angel hits the ground
06 Bullet The Blue Sky (00:00)
In the howlin' wind
Comes a stingin' rain
See it drivin' nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain.
From the firefly
A red orange glow
See the face of fear
Runnin' scared in the valley below.
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue.
In the locust wind
Comes a rattle and hum.
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome.
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire.
We see them burnin' crosses
See the flames, higher and higher.
Woh, woh, bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue.
Suit and tie comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colours of a royal flush
And he's peelin' off those dollar bills
(Slappin' 'em down)
One hundred, two hundred.
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the tin huts as children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street.
Up the staircase to the first floor
We turn the key and slowly unlock the door
As a man breathes into his saxophone
And through the walls you hear the city groan.
Outside, is America
Outside, is America
America.
See across the field
See the sky ripped open
See the rain comin' through the gapin' wound
Howlin' the women and children
Who run into the arms
Of America.
07 Running To Stand Still (00:00)
And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lyin' still.
Said I gotta do something
About where we're goin'.
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night.
Singing ah, ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day.
Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth.
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.
You know I took the poison, from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here, singing
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day.
She walks through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain.
In through a doorway
She brings me white golden pearls
Stolen from the sea.
She is ragin'
She is ragin'
And the storm blows up in her eyes.
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still.
09 Pride (In The Name Of Love) (00:00)
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 up 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.
Early morning, April four
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.
In the name of love
What more in the name of love.
11 Lemon (00:00)
Lemon, see-through in the sunlight.
She wore lemon, see-through in the daylight.
She's gonna make you cry, she's gonna make you whisper and moan.
When you're dry she draws water from a stone.
I feel like I'm slowly, slowly, slowly slippin' under.
I feel like I'm holding on to nothing.
She wore lemon to colour in the cold grey night.
She had heaven and she held on so tight.
A man makes a picture, a moving picture
through the light projected, he can see himself up close.
A man captures colour, a man likes to stare.
He turns his money into light to look for her.
And I feel like I'm drifting, drifting, drifting from the shore.
And I feel like I'm swimming out to her.
Midnight is where the day begins.
Midnight is where the day begins.
Lemon, see-through in the sunlight.
A man builds a city, with banks and cathedrals.
A man melts the sand so he can see the world outside.
A man makes a car, and builds a road to run (them) on.
A man dreams of leaving, but he always stays behind.
You’re gonna meet her there
She’s your destination
You gotta get to her
She’s imagination
And these are the days when our work has come asunder.
And these are the days when we look for something other.
Midnight is where the day begins.
Midnight is where the day begins.
Midnight is where the day begins.
Midnight is where the day begins.
A man makes a picture, a moving picture;
Through light projected, he can see himself up close.
A man captures colour, a man likes to stare.
He turns his money into light to look for her.
Gotta meet her there
She’s your destination
There’s no sleeping there
She’s imagination
She is the dreamer, she's imagination.
Through the light projected, he can see himself up close.
12 The Fly (00:00)
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's no secret that our world is in darkness tonight
They say the sun is sometimes
Eclipsed by a moon
You know I don't see you
When she walks in the room
It's no secret that a friend is someone who lets you help
It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else
They say a secret is something
You tell one other person
So I'm telling you
Child
That, love, we shine like a burning star
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
We're falling from the sky tonight
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
A man will beg
A man will crawl
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
It's no secret at all
No secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest
No secret ambition bites the nails of success
Every artist is a cannibal
Every poet is a thief
All kill their inspiration
And sing about their grief
Oh love
Love, we shine like a burning star
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
We're falling from the sky tonight
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
A man will beg
A man will crawl
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
It's no secret at all
Love, we shine like a burning star
We’re falling from the sky tonight
A man will beg
A man will crawl
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
It's no secret at all
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie
Check, I gotta go
Yeah, I'm running outta change
There's a lot of things
If I could, I'd rearrange
13 With Or Without You (00:00)
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 got me with nothing to win
And nothing else 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.
16 Even Better Than The Real Thing (00:00)
Give me one more chance, and you'll be satisfied.
Give me two more chances, you won't be denied.
Well my heart is where it's always been
My head is somewhere in between
Give me one more chance, let me be your lover tonight.
(Check it out)
You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
Give me one last chance, and I'm gonna make you sing
Give me half a chance to ride on the waves that you bring
You're honey child to a swarm of bees
Gonna blow right through ya like a breeze
Give me one last dance, we'll slide down the surface of things
You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
We're free to fly the crimson sky
The sun won't melt our wings tonight.
Oh now, oh yeah, here she comes
Take me higher, take me higher
You take me higher, you take me higher.
You're the real thing
Yeah, you're the real thing.
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
17 Mysterious Ways (00:00)
Johnny, take a walk with your sister the moon
Let her pale light in, to fill up your room.
You've been living underground, eating from a can
You've been running away from what you don't understand.
She's slippy, you're sliding down.
She'll be there when you hit the ground.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways, oh.
Johnny, take a dive with your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things you can't explain.
To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal.
If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel
On your knees, boy!
She's the wave, she turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways, yeah, oh, ah.
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh.
One day you'll look back, and you'll see
Where you were held now by this love.
While you could stand there,
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
Move you, spirits move you
Move, spirits 'its move you, oh yeah.
Does it move you?
She moves with it.
Lift my days, and light up my nights, oh.
18 One (00:00)
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now
You got someone to blame
You say one love, one life
When it's one need, in the night
One love, we get to share it
It leaves you, baby, if you don't care for it
Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well, it's too late, tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One...
Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much, more than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got
We're one, but we're not the same
Well, we hurt each other
Then we do it again.
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on, to what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life with each other: sisters, brothers
One life, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One (lone)
One...
Make in it, make in it, higher...
19 Unchained Melody (00:00)
Oh, my love
My darlin
I hunger for your touch
A long, lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lovely mountains sigh, wait for me, wait for me
I'll be coming home, wait for me
20 Until The End Of The World (00:00)
Haven't seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world
I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You...you were acting like it was
The end of the world
(Love...love...)
In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You...you said you'd wait
'til the end of the world
21 New Year's Day (00:00)
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...
22 Numb (00:00)
Don't move
Don't talk out of time
Don't think
Don't worry
Everything's just fine
Just fine
Don't grab
Don't clutch
Don't hope for too much
Don't breathe
Don't achieve
Or grieve without leave
Don't check
Just balance on the fence
Don't answer
Don't ask
Don't try and make sense
Don't whisper
Don't talk
Don't run if you can walk
Don't cheat, compete
Don't miss the one beat
Don't travel by train
Don't eat
Don't spill
Don't piss in the drain
Don't make a will
Don't fill out any forms
Don't compensate
Don't cower
Don't crawl
Don't come around late
Don't hover at the gate
Don't take it on board
Don't fall on your sword
Just play another chord
If you feel you're getting bored
I feel numb
I feel numb
Too much is not enough
I feel numb
Don't change your brand Gimme what you got
Don't listen to the band
Don't gape Gimme what I don't get
Don't ape
Don't change your shape Gimme some more
Have another grape
Too much is not enough
I feel numb
I feel numb
Gimme some more
A piece of me, baby
I feel numb
Don't plead
Don't bridle
Don't shackle
Don't grind Gimme some more
Don't curve
Don't swerve I feel numb
Lie, die, serve Gimme some more
Don't theorize, realise, polarise I feel numb
Chance, dance,dismiss, apologise Gimme what you got
Gimme what I don't get
Gimme what you got
Too much is not enough
Don't spy I feel numb
Don't lie
Don't try
Imply
Detain
Explain
Start again I feel numb
I feel numb
Don't triumph
Don't coax
Don't cling
Don't hoax
Don't freak
Peak
Don't leak
Don't speak I feel numb
I feel numb
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest
I feel numb
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest
I feel numb
Don't struggle
Don't jerk
Don't collar
Don't work
Don't wish
Don't fish
Don't teach
Don't reach
I feel numb
Don't borrow Too much is not enough
Don't break I feel numb
Don't fence
Don't steal
Don't pass
Don't press
try
Don't feel
Gimme some more
Don't touch I feel numb
Don't dive
Don't suffer
Don't rhyme
Don't fantasize
Don't rise
Don't lie
I feel numb
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect I feel numb
Don't expect
Suggest
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect I feel numb
Don't expect
Suggest
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