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U2 - Community rankings - FIN - #4 Sunday Bloody Sunday, #3 - One, #2 - Bad, #1 - Where the Streets Have No Name -Spotify links, thanks to Krista4 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter John Maddens Lunchbox
- Start date
bigbottom
Footballguy
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
228....is a lofty ambition. Pitting every song against every other song. My maths is a bit off, would that be 228 x 227? Would be quicker to do it manually.I am tempted to do my 228 list. Does somebody know of an (online?) tool where you can drop in 228 names and it then offers you song pairs where you pick your favorite? After a couple of thousand iterations you should be done with the ranking…
(there is a specific term for that kind of analysis but university was a while ago and i forgot…)
If anyone can find a website that does this I can throw 228 songs in, but it seems awful time consuming.
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
#9 - New Year’s Day (1983)
Highest Rank - 15
Lowest Rank - 19
Where to Find it - War LP
Vulture.com ranking and comment -31/218 - War is so full of the kind of robust atmospheric production that Steve Lillywhite excelled at, and “New Year’s Day” is probably at the top of the list on this record. Even before the band went out prancing through a frozen snow-covered steppe in the video, Bono was deliberately trying to invoke snow as “an image of surrender”: the sound of emptiness, of new beginnings, of hope. “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” is followed by, “I will be with you again.” There’s also a subconscious nod to Lech Walesa, at the time still imprisoned. But it’s the bass line that dominates (along with those achingly sparse piano notes), resulting from a sound check where Adam Clayton was trying to play “Fade to Grey” by Visage: “It’s kind of a bass part still searching for a melody,” Clayton said in 2006.
Comment - This was their first mainstream song, maybe anarchy99 disagrees but its the song that launched War and it’s durability was due to New Years day having an extended middle of the Uk Charts run as more and more people discovered the band. Great name check of Fade to Grey by Visage, one of the greatest New Romantic songs. The Rankings? Really weird. We have a 15, 18, 18 and 19. Everyone really likes the song, but no one hates it or puts it close to the top 10. All the songs from 5-8 have one ranker who has it below 20. It’s not until the top 4 until we have all 4 of us ranking them high again.
Next up, Another album says goodbye. Will it be All I want is You from Rattle and Hum, One from Achtung Baby, Sunday Bloody Sunday from War or I Will Follow from Boy.
Highest Rank - 15
Lowest Rank - 19
Where to Find it - War LP
Vulture.com ranking and comment -31/218 - War is so full of the kind of robust atmospheric production that Steve Lillywhite excelled at, and “New Year’s Day” is probably at the top of the list on this record. Even before the band went out prancing through a frozen snow-covered steppe in the video, Bono was deliberately trying to invoke snow as “an image of surrender”: the sound of emptiness, of new beginnings, of hope. “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” is followed by, “I will be with you again.” There’s also a subconscious nod to Lech Walesa, at the time still imprisoned. But it’s the bass line that dominates (along with those achingly sparse piano notes), resulting from a sound check where Adam Clayton was trying to play “Fade to Grey” by Visage: “It’s kind of a bass part still searching for a melody,” Clayton said in 2006.
Comment - This was their first mainstream song, maybe anarchy99 disagrees but its the song that launched War and it’s durability was due to New Years day having an extended middle of the Uk Charts run as more and more people discovered the band. Great name check of Fade to Grey by Visage, one of the greatest New Romantic songs. The Rankings? Really weird. We have a 15, 18, 18 and 19. Everyone really likes the song, but no one hates it or puts it close to the top 10. All the songs from 5-8 have one ranker who has it below 20. It’s not until the top 4 until we have all 4 of us ranking them high again.
Next up, Another album says goodbye. Will it be All I want is You from Rattle and Hum, One from Achtung Baby, Sunday Bloody Sunday from War or I Will Follow from Boy.
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Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
John Maddens Lunchbox said:
The video for this song is odd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3-5YC_oHjE
It was filmed in Las Vegas, the band just strolling along the streets, with no one seeming to know exactly who they were. As Bono emotes, the people in the background just stare at him quizzically.
On a sidenote, what is the deal with the masking tape on Edge's guitar?
bigbottom
Footballguy
I promised myself that I wouldn’t be miffed or surprised by any of my favorites’ placement in the Top 25, because we’re talking about the Top 25 of a pretty amazing catalog. That said, I’m floored that no one had this song In their Top 10. It’s number one for me (with two others at 2 &3 which are pretty interchangeable). For me, I think it is quintessential U2 and pretty much a perfect song. One of the most iconic bass lines in all of music (not just U2, but all of music). And that piano part is simply sublime. It’s haunting and beautiful and oh so memorable. Bono’s vocals are soaring and emotive (his trademark) building to a passionate crescendo before the second chorus (a non-standard choice for musical arrangement). The Edge’s guitar parts aren’t in your face in the mix, but if you listen closely, he is weaving a complex tapestry that is borderline genius in my opinion. And then there is the piano lead in to one of the great guitar solos of all time. Not because it’s blazing fast or complicated, but because it is simple and evocative. In my opinion, this is U2 at its absolute best, blending passion and musicianship in a way that is completely their own.
bigbottom
Footballguy
I haven’t done the math either, but I was thinking about using it for top 100. Probably still too many iterations, but less taxing on my mind in theory.
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
I love this kind of write up for songs people love or dont. Its fantastic this song does that for you. Place yourself at the moment in time when the song make you go “Wow”.
I was impressed when i heard the song. I liked it a lot. It did surprise me when no one had it in their top 10. This song is the closest all 4 rankers got on any song. Our #1 song has a #1 and a #10 for instance. I think the next smallest difference is the #1 song.
I looked over the 17 songs I had ahead of it. Maybe 5 on any given day would slip in behind it. #13 is as high as I could go. The 12 permanently ahead of NYD are songs that either mean more to me or are better imho. Vulture has it at #31.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
I am higher than everyone, it may be in my top 3. WTF is the 31 from Vulture?
Gloria was my first exposure to U2, but this song is what made me a confirmed fan. (I may or may not have heard I Will Follow in between, I don’t remember.) The piano and bass intro, the insistent scratching guitar, the soaring vocal, the insistent beat, I loved it from the getgo. And the video was really cool. And that was just the single version. The longer album version has some glorious vamping.
ETA: I also agree with everything bigbottom said other than it being my clear #1 — I don’t have a clear #1.
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Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Not sure if New Year's Day will make my top 10 or not (it will be close and depend on my mood that day), but it is a great song. First U2 song I loved. I couldn't wait for January 1st every year in the mid 80s as I knew that was when MTV would play the video at some point for sure. A stone cold classic.
bigbottom
Footballguy
Hear hear! But to be clear (I wrote it ambiguously), what I meant is that I have a top 3 that are all pretty much interchangeable, but at the moment, New Year’s Day is on top.
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
NYD is a song I’ve really really liked from the beginning. Much like the rankings here all being high up…..who doesn’t really really like this song? Maybe I’ve heard it too much. Maybe it came into my life at the wrong time. Maybe I’m just a few years too young — because I really heard TJT before War……(I was 8 when War came out)…..sort of like folks who saw Pulp Fiction before Reservoir Dogs…..which movie is better depends on which you see first.
Mrs APK had it at 26, I have it at 20. We both enjoy belting out this one when it pops up on the playlist. But neither of us really have a deep emotional connection to it. Not sure why.
No, it would be a lot worse than 228 x 227.
But only if you want to compare every possibility. An analytical setup would be, that, if A > B and B > C then A > C without having to offer that option. But yes, a very big task.
Nemesis
Footballguy
I’m also surprised none of the 4 had it in their Top10. I had NYD at #7…….and above SBS.
Love NYD …..so much so that I’ve taken a 10 sec audio clip of the intro & it’s assigned as my IPhone alarm. Great to be awakened by 1 of U2’s greatest songs & puts me in a better mood.
Edit to add: I’m out town this wkend so I’ll try to catch up the Songfacts upon my return. But I’ll leave you this 1 tidbit: In the NYD video , it’s not the band on horseback……the band went out drinking in Sweden and ended up hiring 4 local girls to do the horseback in the snow shots as standins. They used scarves to cover up their faces.
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bigbottom
Footballguy
Never knew that. Looking closely, it should have been obvious, but just never clicked.
bigbottom
Footballguy
zoonation
Footballguy
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
I think you would find that if you do this Happiness is a Warm Gun is better than Landlady, but Landlady is better than Big Girls are Best which is better than Happiness is a Warm Gun.
Comparing every song against every other song is a recipe for head explosion. I am sure the others were the same, but just simply ranking 228 songs was difficult enough and you never felt like you got it right. Like anarchy says it depends on how you feel on any given day. If you start your list on a sunday, look at it again on monday....it could go on forever.
If someone else goes to 228, I will too, but I am hoping it tops out at about 100 or just the songs i really like etc
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
The rankings are all over the place for every song...except this one. I would have thought there would be some kind of uniformity in the top few, but the difference between #1 and#10 for the #1 overall song is massive. NYD was just a crazy ranking anomaly.
I have a feeling that NYD ranks higher with more lists, but we have several say its not even in their top 20 so maybe not.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
To touch on some of the last few entries, I did that ranking engines thing and Running to Stand Still ended up as my 4th favorite U2 song. New Year's Day was 10th. That sounds about right for both. 
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
Do you have a link for that? Im searching all over the googles and i didnt find anything.To touch on some of the last few entries, I did that ranking engines thing and Running to Stand Still ended up as my 4th favorite U2 song. New Year's Day was 10th. That sounds about right for both.
bigbottom
Footballguy
Yes!!! Thank you so much. I’m going to come up with my Top 50 U2 songs (maybe Top 100) and then use this tool to rank them. Assuming I can keep the ranking engine open, I can just open it an answer whenever I need to kill time.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
It's a fun little tool. I can eyeball a top whatever list, but that site allows you to list as many songs as you want, you then pick your favorite of every single 1 vs 1 matchup, and then it spits out your list based on what song you picked in each matchup.
bigbottom
Footballguy
How many songs did you rank when you used it? And how long did it take you to get through all the 1 v 1s? Even if it were to take me severaL hours, I think that would still be less brain damage than trying to rank them all at once.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
I put around 35. Pretty much any song I thought could be a top 25 U2 song for me, I put in there to rank.
Nemesis
Footballguy
The Dreaded Marco
Footballguy
Some great songs in the top 8 
7 of them made my top 14. One missed my top 25.
I would’ve like to have participated but the 228 was too daunting. Overall great rankings by you guys and even better discussion/reviews.
Thanks for this thread.
7 of them made my top 14. One missed my top 25.
I would’ve like to have participated but the 228 was too daunting. Overall great rankings by you guys and even better discussion/reviews.
Thanks for this thread.
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John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
#8 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983)
Highest Rank - 5
Lowest Rank - 44
Where to Find it - War and Under a Blood Red Sky LP
Vulture.com ranking and comment -5/218 - Folk song. Peace song. Protest song. The Edge started writing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” while Bono was off on his honeymoon, with lyrics that were much more direct (“It was a full-on anti-terrorism song,” Edge said in 2006) than the final result. It was the result of the news, of current events, of those trying to co-opt U2 into their movement — of being a visible symbol of “the Irish in America,” which Bono would reference onstage in 1987. That said, Bono would note, “It’s provocative but I don’t think we really pulled it off” from a lyrical perspective; the band hadn’t yet matured enough as lyricists to get that done. The song’s strength is anchored in Larry Mullen Jr.’s crisp, robust, martial drumbeats, and the counterpoint brought by the great Steve Wickham’s (The Waterboys, among others) violin underneath it all.
Live, of course, this song took on a life of its own throughout the years. On the War tour, it was prefaced with the now-legendary “This is not a rebel song” from the tour’s first date in Belfast, where Bono also told the audience that if they didn’t like the song, the band would never play it again. Later that year, the track was captured on video and later beamed to the masses when U2 released the live album and video Under a Blood Red Sky, and was on MTV roughly every 30 minutes back in the day.
The definitive performance remains the one in the Rattle and Hum movie, filmed in Denver the night of the Enniskillen bombings, when a visibly emotional band took to the stage and performed the song with a mix of fury and sadness felt in every single note played. Bono would later say he didn’t think the band should perform the song anymore after that night; they would give it a brief rest, before bringing it back where it would act as an anchor in an emotional arc around their more overtly political songs, where it would act as a prayer for peace, or sometimes, just there as one of the band’s best songs.
Comment - Flat on War, it comes to life on Under a blood red sky. At this stage I hadn’t been to a live gig, so hearing the difference between studio and live was massive for my musical learning. There are so many directions Bono can take this song live, but i guess its seen its day. Im curious if theres been any significant airings of this song matching with a major event. Paris after the shootings?
Next up, is it a surprise to see the next one here earlier than possibly expected? It has a #38 ranking attached which stops it being higher. It is iconic, but I guess they all are at this stage.
Highest Rank - 5
Lowest Rank - 44
Where to Find it - War and Under a Blood Red Sky LP
Vulture.com ranking and comment -5/218 - Folk song. Peace song. Protest song. The Edge started writing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” while Bono was off on his honeymoon, with lyrics that were much more direct (“It was a full-on anti-terrorism song,” Edge said in 2006) than the final result. It was the result of the news, of current events, of those trying to co-opt U2 into their movement — of being a visible symbol of “the Irish in America,” which Bono would reference onstage in 1987. That said, Bono would note, “It’s provocative but I don’t think we really pulled it off” from a lyrical perspective; the band hadn’t yet matured enough as lyricists to get that done. The song’s strength is anchored in Larry Mullen Jr.’s crisp, robust, martial drumbeats, and the counterpoint brought by the great Steve Wickham’s (The Waterboys, among others) violin underneath it all.
Live, of course, this song took on a life of its own throughout the years. On the War tour, it was prefaced with the now-legendary “This is not a rebel song” from the tour’s first date in Belfast, where Bono also told the audience that if they didn’t like the song, the band would never play it again. Later that year, the track was captured on video and later beamed to the masses when U2 released the live album and video Under a Blood Red Sky, and was on MTV roughly every 30 minutes back in the day.
The definitive performance remains the one in the Rattle and Hum movie, filmed in Denver the night of the Enniskillen bombings, when a visibly emotional band took to the stage and performed the song with a mix of fury and sadness felt in every single note played. Bono would later say he didn’t think the band should perform the song anymore after that night; they would give it a brief rest, before bringing it back where it would act as an anchor in an emotional arc around their more overtly political songs, where it would act as a prayer for peace, or sometimes, just there as one of the band’s best songs.
Comment - Flat on War, it comes to life on Under a blood red sky. At this stage I hadn’t been to a live gig, so hearing the difference between studio and live was massive for my musical learning. There are so many directions Bono can take this song live, but i guess its seen its day. Im curious if theres been any significant airings of this song matching with a major event. Paris after the shootings?
Next up, is it a surprise to see the next one here earlier than possibly expected? It has a #38 ranking attached which stops it being higher. It is iconic, but I guess they all are at this stage.
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
This is incredibly easy to use.
I put all 228 songs in in one copy and paste effort. It said it would take 988 comparisons to spit out a list. I am 34% of the way through and saved where i am at.
Will see what the results are.
Her are the songs I entered in
40
11 O'Clock Tick Tock
13 (There Is a Light)
4th of July
A Celebration
A Day Without Me
A Man and a Woman
A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel
A Sort of Homecoming
Acrobat
Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1
All Along the Watchtower
All Because of You
All I Want Is You
Always
American Soul
An Cat Dubh
Angel of Harlem
Another Day
Another Time, Another Place
Are You Gonna Wait Forever
Ave Maria
Babyface
Bad
Bass Trap
Beautiful Day
Big Girls are Best
Boomerang I
Boomerang II
Boy/Girl
Breathe
Bullet the Blue Sky
California (There Is No End to Love)
Can't Help Falling in Love
Cedars of Lebanon
Cedarwood Road
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
City of Blinding Lights
Crumbs from Your Table
Crystal Ballroom
Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car
Dancing Barefoot
Deep in the Heart
Desire
Dirty Day
Discothèque
Do You Feel Loved
Dont Take Your Guns to Town
Drowning Man
Electrical Storm
Elevation
Elvis Presley and America
Endless Deep
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Everlasting Love
Every Breaking Wave
Exit
Fast Cars
Fez – Being Born
Fire
Fortunate Son
Get On Your Boots
Get Out of Your Own Way
Gloria
God Part II
Gone
Grace
Hallelujah Here She Comes
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Hawkmoon 269
Heartland
Helter Skelter
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Holy Joe
I Fall Down
I Remember You
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I Threw a Brick Through a Window
I Will Follow
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
I'm Not Your Baby
I've Got You Under My Skin
If God Will Send His Angels
If You Wear That Velvet Dress
In a Little While
In God's Country
Indian Summer Sky
Into the Heart
Invisible
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Is That All?
J. Swallow
Jesus Christ
Kite
Lady with the Spinning Head
Landlady
Last Night on Earth
Lemon
Lights of Home
Like a Song…
Love and Peace or Else
Love Comes Tumbling
Love Is All We Have Left
Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way
Love Is Blindness
Love Rescue Me
Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)
Magnificent
Miami
Miracle Drug
Miss Sarajevo
MLK
Mofo
Moment of Surrender
Mothers of the Disappeared
Mysterious Ways
Neon Lights
New Year's Day
New York
Night and Day
No Line on the Horizon
No Line on the Horizon 2
North and South of the River
North Star
Numb
October
One
One Step Closer
One Tree Hill
Ordinary Love
Original of the Species
Out of Control
Paint it Black
Party Girl
Peace on Earth
Please
Pop Muzik
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Promenade
Race Against Time
Raised by Wolves
Red Flag Day
Red Hill Mining Town
Red Light
Rejoice
Running to Stand Still
Salomé
Satellite Of Love
Scarlet
Seconds
Shadows and Tall Trees
She's a Mystery to Me
Silver and Gold
Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Comes
Sleep Like a Baby Tonight
Slow Dancing
So Cruel
Some Days Are Better Than Others
Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
Song for Someone
Spanish Eyes
Stand Up Comedy
Staring at the Sun
Stateless
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Stories for Boys
Stranger in a Strange Land
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Summer of Love
Summer Rain
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Surrender
Sweetest Thing
The Blackout
The Electric Co.
The First Time
The Fly
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
The Hands That Built America
The Little Things That Give You Away
The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)
The Ocean
The Playboy Mansion
The Refugee
The Saints Are Coming
The Showman (Little More Better)
The Three Sunrises
The Troubles
The Unforgettable Fire
The Wanderer
Things to Make and Do
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now
Tomorrow
Touch
Tower of Song
Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)
Trip Through Your Wires
Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
Twilight
Two Hearts Beat as One
Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
Unchained Melody
Unknown Caller
Until the End of the World
Van Diemen's Land
Vertigo
Volcano
Wake Up Dead Man
Walk On
Walk to the Water
When I Look at the World
When Love Comes to Town
Where Did It All Go Wrong
Where the Streets Have No Name
White as Snow
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Wild Honey
Window in the Skies
Winter
Wire
With a Shout (Jerusalem)
With or Without You
Yahweh
You're the Best Thing About Me
Your Blue Room
Zoo Station
Zooropa
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Ah yes, Sunday Bloody Sunday, another major classic. It is number 12 on my list.
I agree that the "f the revolution!" version from the Rattle & Hum film is killer, but my go-to is the version from Under a Blood Red Sky. This is another U2 song where I literally never listen to the studio version.
I agree that the "f the revolution!" version from the Rattle & Hum film is killer, but my go-to is the version from Under a Blood Red Sky. This is another U2 song where I literally never listen to the studio version.
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
This song was #1 on my original list. That will change for the next ranking but just barely. This and one song yet to show up are the iconic U2 songs to me, showcasing all that makes U2 who they are as a band. “How long, how long must we sing this song?” Sadly it still is relevant to the world almost 4 decades later. Love multiple live versions, particularly R&H movie (as JML called out above).
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
This is also in my top 3. As with a lot of American teens, my first exposure to it was the video from Red Rock that was played on MTV, after the release of which the FM stations put the Under the Blood Red Sky version in heavy rotation. I loved it so much that I became all-in on them and went out and bought their releases up to that point. I prefer my music emotional and direct, and this song has that in spades.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
For the new lists that people should already be working on . . .
Are their still requirements to pick from the original 228 options on the main song menu that were used in this ranking exercise? Or can people go off script and maybe pick some other songs? Do they have to be officially released songs? Do all songs that get votes end up getting in the next set of rankings . . . or is it more a Top 100 listing even if 130 songs get votes?
Asking for a friend.
Are their still requirements to pick from the original 228 options on the main song menu that were used in this ranking exercise? Or can people go off script and maybe pick some other songs? Do they have to be officially released songs? Do all songs that get votes end up getting in the next set of rankings . . . or is it more a Top 100 listing even if 130 songs get votes?
Asking for a friend.
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
Yes. I only pasted the original 228 as it was on hand.Anarchy99 said:
You can Include anything and everything in your list. As long as its minimum 25, it can be 37, 86, 132, 228 or whatever, but id already suggest not including NLOH 2, Ave Maria and Pop muzik from the original list, but if you want to, go for it.
All songs ranked will get mentioned in a countdown, but I wont be doing elaborate write ups and Id assume nemesis has done his bit too. Probably just list them 10 at a time, compare them to the original ranking, note differences, have a link and be done with it.
Brony
Footballguy
It's a great song. Enjoy it! A few people considered it good enough to be in their top 20 but not top 3. Who the #### cares. If it's your number one, crank it up with the windows down.
Nemesis
Footballguy
Songfact:
This is about heroin addiction. Bono was inspired by a story he read about a couple where the man smuggled heroin into Dublin to feed their habit despite the possibility of life imprisonment if he was caught. Bono was interested in how he got in that position. "Because for a lot of people, there are no physical doors open anymore. And so if you can't change the world you're living in, seeing through different eyes is the only alternative. And heroin gives you heroin eyes to see the world with; & the thing about heroin is that you think that's the way it really is. That the old you, who worries about paying the rent, the old you who just worries, is not the real you."
The line "I see seven towers,......But I only see one way out" refers to housing projects in Dublin where many drug users lived. It was a direct reference to the Ballymun flats, a group of seven local authority, high-rise residential tower blocks built in the Ballymun neighborhood of Dublin during the 1960s. Bono had grown up on Cedarwood Road in an adjacent neighborhood, in a house across fields behind the towers, near his friends & future artists Gavin Friday & Guggi. Bono had played in the towers' foundations as they were being built, then traveled in their elevators for the novel experience. Over time, poor maintenance, lack of facilities for children, transient tenancies, & other factors caused social conditions & communal ties to break down in the flats. The place began to stink of urine & vomit, & glue sniffers & used needles were common sights. The towers had the highest suicide rate in Ireland. Guggi later lived in the towers during yrs that he was struggling personally w drugs. It was through his exposure to people without hope in the flats that Bono began to develop his social consciousness. (NOTE: In the mid-2000s, the Ballymun towers were torn down, & the area was part of a €1.8 billion redevelopment project intended to create a self-sustaining community of 30,000 people.)
The song's title was inspired by Bono's brother, who was frustrated w his job in the computer business. He said to Bono, "I can't take this anymore - I feel like I'm running to stand still." He was referring to running a business just to pay the bills."
Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" was a big influence on this song. To honor the late Lou Reed in 2013, Bono cited “RTSS” as “redhanded proof” of U2’s debt to the hugely influential musician. Lyrically, it’s 1 of several U2 songs that take on the subject of addiction. Opening w a Delta-steeped slide guitar, the song turns into a fragile benediction w a melody similar to Reed’s Velvet Underground classic “Heroin.” “RTSS” was improvised almost whole-cloth live in the studio; producer Daniel Lanois later recalled “a really wonderful communication happening in the room at that time.” Edge: it’s “amazing in 1 go to get that much of a song.”
Bono: "A lot of TJT songs were 1's that were recorded in Larry's spare bedroom or Adam's living room. When the red light's on we often don't respond to it. When we're just left to be, left to make music our own way, well some of the tracks are almost like demos. We had to fight to make them work & there were a lot of songs left over. It could have gone off in a # of different directions. We wanted the idea of a 1-piece record, not a side-1, side-2 thing."
Lanois played "scrape guitar" on the track. "It's 1 of those sounds you hide in the background & it offers a color, it doesn't draw attention to itself as a guitar," he explained. "It's 1 of those songs where people were gathered around in a huddle. Bono had the words written; this was a nice opportunity to get something live. I remember that tender moment, me playing that scrape guitar, Larry on the tom-tom. There was just a wonderful communication happening in the room at that time. I think it's what people feel on that record, there was really a presence of performance."
Bassist Adam Clayton has referred to the song as "Bad Part II"
RTSS was a b-side when "In God's Country" was released to North America.
Recording: The making of Running to Stand Still - TJT Documentary
Although the lyrics of "Running to Stand Still" were worked on a great deal, the musical composition was essentially improvised by the band during the recording process. Guitarist Edge began playing some piano chords during a session for another song. Producer Daniel Lanois joined in on guitar, & the rest of the group followed. This initial improvised version incorporated all the elements of the final song structure, & the sound & feel of the group playing in a room together without overdubs contributed to the track's effectiveness.
Edge overdubbed the song's slide acoustic guitar, which was "amplified through a blaster", while working on guitar compositions in a lounge next to the main studio of Windmill Lane Studios. Lanois walked into the room &, impressed by the sound of the Edge's playing, wanted to record it on the spot rather than in the studio. Lanois brought Edge headphones & plugged his guitar directly into the microphone input of the mixing console to record it. "The blaster was amplifying his slide guitar in a lovely way. We honed in on this sound & sort of altered the EQs & controls".
Charts-peaked at: n/a, not released
Lyrics: original written lyrics
Singing…ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day
Live Versions / Remixes:
RTSS - live Paris July 4, 1987
RTSS - live Tempe, AZ - R&H version
THE EDGE SINGS Running To Stand Still - Acoustic <--Interesting to hear Edge on this song
Darius Rucker plays "RTSS" on the Dan Patrick Show 12/3/14
RTSS - Live on the 2017 JT Anniv Tour
RTSS - Lullabye version
When Rolling Stone ranked their Top50 U2 songs: 19
Been played live 414 times……heavy rotation on the 1987 JT tour & Lovetown
in the 90's, heavy rotation on ZooTV tour
most Elevation tour stops…..& every night of 2017/2019 JT tours
bigbottom
Footballguy
Umm, I never suggested that it should be in everyone’s (or anyone’s) top 3. I said I was surprised that it was in none of the rankers’ top 10. And then I went on to explain why it’s my number one.
By the way, if I didn’t care how people ranked the songs, why on earth would I be following a thread where people rank songs? It’s kind of the whole point.
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Nemesis
Footballguy
Songfact:
“New Year’s Day” was U2’s breakthrough, complete w a video where they ride horses through the snow. (The Edge later admitted it was actually 4 women w scarves over their faces riding those horses.) “NYD” was a salute to Polish union leader Lech Walesa, jailed in Dec 1981, when the government outlawed his Solidarity movement. After this was recorded, Poland announced they would abolish martial law,.......coincidentally on New Year's Day, 1983. In 1990, Walesa became Poland’s 1st democratically elected president.
Released in January, 1983, NYD was U2’s 1st single from the War album, which would hit shops the following month. On most versions of the single, the sleeve featured a photo of Peter Rowan (the same boy pictured on the Boy & War sleeves). While the full image depicts Rowan holding a flag, on most versions of the sleeve the flag is cropped out.
The single was U2’s 1st to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached #53. It received significant airplay on MTV & around the world & charted in many regions. In the UK, it was their first Top 10 hit, reaching #10. In Ireland, it was kept out of the #1 position by the song “Down Under” by Men at Work & peaked at #2 at home.
Edge played piano on this as well as guitar. In concert, he’d have to play sustained 12th- & 7th-fret harmonics through delay, then switch deftly back & forth between the piano & guitar within a single beat of a bar, while seated. It’s a tricky switch of mindset to segue from plangent piano melody to playing the song’s searing guitar solo, beginning on the 19th fret of the high E string, & while it may be an ergonomic challenge of his own making, it’s still an impressive stunt to pull off.
NYD almost didn't make the album because Bono was having fits writing the lyrics.
For U2's Under a Blood Red Sky album, the audio for "NYD" & 4 other songs were recorded at a festival U2 played in Germany that August.
Bono wrote NYD shortly after he married his childhood sweetheart, Ali.
Recording: This song was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, which is where U2 recorded their 1st 3 albums. The studio had a stone stairway where Larry Mullen played his drums for this track.
Producer Steve Lillywhite remembers mixing this song in 10 minutes while Bono cranked out "40" at the last minute while another band was waiting outside of the studio for their turn.
Charts-peaked at: UK # 10 US: #53 Canada: #41
Video: It was directed by Meiert Avis, who worked on U2's previous videos, including "Gloria" & "I Will Follow." They planned to shoot the video in Stockholm, but had to re-locate to the town of Sälen to get the mountains & snow they hoped for. The video depicts the band performing on a snowy landscape, interspersed w clips of 4 riders on horseback in the same setting. Although dressed w their faces covered to appear as if they are the members of U2, these “horsemen” are actually 4 teenage girls. The band was still frozen as a result of shooting the performance clips in the snow the day before, & weren't experienced riders, so they enlisted the 4 teens to stand in for them on the horses. The clip also incorporates archival footage of Soviet troops in winter. 2 versions of the video were produced. The longer clip includes extra footage of the band performing around a camp fire at night. The shorter version cuts from the guitar solo directly to the fade-out w the riders on horses, eliminating the footage of U2 playing at night. The video was one of U2’s earliest to get extensive play on US & Canadian television. The shorter clip is the version w which most viewers are familiar, as it was frequently played on MTV.
NYD - promo video in the studio I’ve never seen this 1 but notice the bleach blonde Bono…..& Adam smoking a cigarette
Live Versions / Remixes:
NYD - Dortmond 1984 powerful vocals from Bono on this live version. ….at the height of his vocal prowess
NYD - Sydney 1993
NYD - live from the 2017 JT Anniv Tour
When Rolling Stone ranked their Top50 U2 songs: 11
Been played live 805 times….....every tour since release (however, was missing from 1/2 of the sets during the 360 tour)
The song is the 3rd most played song of U2's live performing career.
bigbottom
Footballguy
That sounds like a good approach. I’m going to try to submit a Top 100. Top 75 for sure.
Nemesis
Footballguy
Songfact:
“There’s been a lot of talk about this next song,” Bono famously tells the crowd in the version of “SBS” that appeared in UABRS. “Maybe too much talk.”
The opening track from 1983’s War album was written by Edge during a period of self-doubt: “I remember feeling, well, can I write? Am I a writer? Or am I just a guitarist?” The piece of music he “scrambled to put down” became SBS, an audacious, nonpartisan political statement, partly inspired by the 1972 incident in the Northern Irish town of Derry where British troops shot & killed 14 unarmed civil rights protestors. (NOTE: There are 2 Bloody Sundays in Irish history. The first was in 1920 when British troops fired into the crowd at a football match in Dublin in retaliation for the killing of British undercover agents. U2 has played several times at Croke Park, the site of the 1920 Bloody Sunday in Dublin.)
It was a new level of ambition for Bono & U2: “We realize the potential for division in a song like that.....So all we can say is that we’re trying to confront the subject rather than sweep it under the carpet.” It wasn’t the 1st song about Bloody Sunday – John Lennon & Paul McCartney both had protest records in stores before 1972 was over. Lennon's lyrics were full of vitriol (mostly aimed at the British government) & hugely antagonistic. But U2 made it a grand statement of militant Christian pacifism, w Larry Mullen Jr.’s martial drumbeat (recorded in an echoing stairwell in a Dublin studio), violin from Steve Wickham (a stranger Edge met at a Dublin bus stop) & Bono waving a white flag onstage. Bono: “I’m not interested in politics like people fighting back w sticks & stones, but in the politics of love.
While not a 'rebel song' it is a call for a rejection of violence. This song became very popular & helped draw attention to the issues. As the band's popularity grew, they used it to campaign against the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) efforts to raise money to fuel continued armed conflict. This lead to the IRA sending a threat to U2 that if they continued their campaign, they would be kidnapped. U2 continued anyway and continued to bring attention to the Troubles.
What's very interesting about the IRA getting upset about a single pop song was the fact that the original lyrics contained the line '"Don't talk to me about the rights of the IRA, UDA'. Written by the Edge, the band as a whole felt such lyrics might be too inflammatory & were changed to point out the atrocities of war without taking sides.. This bit of self-editing actually made the song better. Even so, the band were particularly nervous about playing the song in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (NOTE: U2 played SBS in Belfast in 1983 during the War tour, but elected to leave it out of their TUF setlist when they returned to Belfast. In 1987, the song returned to TJT tour setlist.........but it wasn't performed in N. Ireland again until the 2015 I+E Tour.)
Following "New Year's Day" & "Two Hearts Beat As One," this was the 3rd single from War.
Lyrics: The direct impetus for the lyrics was an encounter w Provisional IRA supporters in NYC. As a promotional gimmick, U2 manager Paul McGuinness had made arrangements for the band to appear in the 1982 St. Patrick's Day parade. However, he later found that there was a possibility that Bobby Sands, an IRA hunger striker who had starved to death the previous year, would be the parade's honorary marshal. As they felt that the IRA's tactics were prolonging the fighting in Northern Ireland, McGuinness & the band members mutually decided they should withdraw from the parade. McGuinness met w 1 of the parade's organizers in a NY bar to arrange the cancellation, & ended up in a heated debate about the IRA. McGuinness: "He kept telling me to keep my voice down. The place was full of NY policemen – Irish cops – & he thought I was going to get us killed."
In successive stanzas, the song's lyrics paraphrase religious texts from:
Matthew 10:35 ("mother's children; brothers, sisters torn apart"),
Revelation 21:4 ("wipe your tears away"),
and bring a twist to 1 Corinthians 15:32 ("we eat & drink while tomorrow they die", instead of "let us eat & drink; for tomorrow we die").
The audio version on the live album UABRS was recorded at the Rockpalast festival in Germany on August 20, 1983.
For their R&H movie, U2 recorded this in Denver on November 8, 1987. This was the same day as the Enniskillen massacre, where 13 people in Northern Ireland were killed by a bomb detonated by the IRA. Angered by these events, U2 gave a very emotional performance....including Bono's profanity laced monologue. Link
During some of the Pop Mart tour, Edge took lead vocal duties live on stage for this song singing alone & without accompaniment from the rest of the U2 band, save for his own guitar. Here is an example from Sarajevo 1997
A live version of this song plays during the end credits of the 2002 movie Bloody Sunday, which is a documentary-style drama recreating the events of January 30,1972 in Derry, Ireland. It stars James Nesbitt as a local Member of Parliament who is involved with the Civil Rights Movement.
During the 2006 Australian shows, in Brisbane, Bono asked for Australian Terrorism suspect David Hicks to be brought home & tried under Australian laws. In subsequent Australian concerts he dedicated the song to the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings – where 88 of the fatalities were Australians – saying 'This is your song now!'.
Bono discusses U2's "SBS" and his upbringing
Recording: "SBS" grew from a guitar riff & lyric written by the Edge in 1982. While newlyweds Bono & Ali Hewson honeymooned in Jamaica, Edge worked in Ireland on music for the band's upcoming album. Following an argument w his girlfriend, & a period of doubt in his own song-writing abilities, Edge—"feeling depressed... channelled [his] fear & frustration & self-loathing into a piece of music." This early draft did not yet have a title or chorus melody, but did contain a structural outline & theme. After Bono had reworked the lyrics, the band recorded the song at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. During the sessions, producer Steve Lillywhite encouraged drummer Larry Mullen Jr. to use a click track, but Mullen was firmly against the idea. A chance meeting w Andy Newmark of Sly & the Family Stone – a drummer who used a click track religiously – changed Mullen's mind. The opening drum pattern soon developed into the song's hook.
Charts-peaked at: UK # n/a US: # n/a Canada: # n/a #3 in NLD
Live Versions / Remixes:
Live 1983 US Festival
SBS (Live Aid July 13, 1985 - Wembley Stadium)
SBS - live on the 2017 JT Anniv Tour
When Rolling Stone ranked their Top50 U2 songs: 4
Been played live 1048 times…........every tour
===========================================
For me, I had this at #11..............but it's Mrs. Nemesis #1 U2 song.
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John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
At some stage in your list you will go from I like this song to meh. Stop there....unless you are a masochist who wants to rank everything. Thats why i am allowing flexibility in the number of songs ranked. If you love 122. Great. 33, no worries.
Deciding between Big Girls are Best, Boomerang II and Landlady for your 212th ranked song....hell sounds nicer.
John Maddens Lunchbox
Socialism for Dummies
#7 - With or Without You (1987)
Highest Rank - 4
Lowest Rank - 38
Where to Find it - The Joshua Tree
Vulture.com ranking and comment -12/218 - This is the slick side of U2, their ability to write a massive worldwide hit and make it sound like nothing they’d ever done before, yet still sound only like U2. They fool you with that opening: It kind of creeps in on little fog feet, quietly, the Edge playing what Bono called “a beautiful haunting ghost of a guitar sound,” like if you could hear a shimmer. The thing that saves it from being insufferably polished is the back half of the song, where Bono just rips his heart open — ‘round about 3:04 in — and then it all draws together and slinks out, like a black cat at midnight. In concert, it tends to suffer just a bit from being drawn out too long, from Bono wanting to hear the audience sing back to him, but it is also glorious to hear it happen.
Comment - After clogging up most of the top 50, after this one we are down to one track left from both Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree and 4 others, two from one album which isn’t either Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby. This song is the song that launched them into the stratosphere. It is Just such a beautiful song. ANYONE can get this track, which is why it was so successful. I am curious if the #38 ranking is the result of over exposure.
Next up, i bring the crash down on a song with a ranking of #29. As it turns out, it wouldn’t have mattered if i ranked it #8 or #29 such is the gap between the top 5 and the 6th song. It is goodbye to another album, but all but one track will have that distinction from now on.
Highest Rank - 4
Lowest Rank - 38
Where to Find it - The Joshua Tree
Vulture.com ranking and comment -12/218 - This is the slick side of U2, their ability to write a massive worldwide hit and make it sound like nothing they’d ever done before, yet still sound only like U2. They fool you with that opening: It kind of creeps in on little fog feet, quietly, the Edge playing what Bono called “a beautiful haunting ghost of a guitar sound,” like if you could hear a shimmer. The thing that saves it from being insufferably polished is the back half of the song, where Bono just rips his heart open — ‘round about 3:04 in — and then it all draws together and slinks out, like a black cat at midnight. In concert, it tends to suffer just a bit from being drawn out too long, from Bono wanting to hear the audience sing back to him, but it is also glorious to hear it happen.
Comment - After clogging up most of the top 50, after this one we are down to one track left from both Achtung Baby and The Joshua Tree and 4 others, two from one album which isn’t either Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby. This song is the song that launched them into the stratosphere. It is Just such a beautiful song. ANYONE can get this track, which is why it was so successful. I am curious if the #38 ranking is the result of over exposure.
Next up, i bring the crash down on a song with a ranking of #29. As it turns out, it wouldn’t have mattered if i ranked it #8 or #29 such is the gap between the top 5 and the 6th song. It is goodbye to another album, but all but one track will have that distinction from now on.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
I thought With or Without You was a boring ballad the first time I heard it, and it didn't help that MTV was playing it every 39 minutes, but once I liked the other TJT hits and heard the whole album, I grew to like it. I just think the 13-year old me wasn't ready for something like With or Without You to be an instant grabber. It is definitely a great song, though. I have it at 24 on my list.
Pip's Invitation
Footballguy
Definitely slicker than what came before, but it was so good that it didn’t matter. It was surreal to see a band I’d loved for 4 years that wasn’t a Top 40 favorite all of the sudden top the charts. Things changed forever once that happened. Magazine covers of all stripes followed. Each member of the band became a celebrity in America (confirmed by teenage girls shrieking whenever Larry appeared onscreen when I saw Rattle and Hum in the theater.) And that got rolling with a song that had mass appeal but was still quintessentially U2. It’s absolutely haunting.
Mr. Mojo
Footballguy
This is probably my least favorite of the popular U2 songs. For me it's dull, monotonous and was not helped by being vastly overplayed when it came out.
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
Lovely ballad. Big fan. It’s never been my favorite song on TJT - maybe even never top 3 for me - but it would be top-2 on any other U2 album for me (I think…..maybe…..hmmm).
I had it ranked 12. Mrs APK…..only ranked 30 songs….and thus she didn’t rank this one.
Mrs APK: “I’ve never loved this song. How did you not know this? It’s probably my 8th favorite song on the album. Just a boring love song.”
Ok. So the woman who loves Rocky Raccoon doesn’t like one of the most famous songs, by her favorite band, from one of her favorite albums. @krista4: can you see my confusion on Rocky Raccoon now?!!?
zoonation
Footballguy
This song, and the remaining one from Achtung Baby, suffered from over exposure. And it is hard to separate that fact when you think about ranking them. I love this song. Always will. It is nostalgic for me about love and loss, but in a macro rather than micro way, if that makes sense.
TripItUp
Footballguy
The most overrated of the U2 hits and arguably the most overrated song of the decade.
Putting this heaping pile of feces over Sunday Bloody Sunday is a crime against humanity. Messageboard banishment should be considered.
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