“Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound”
There is minimal music in this first part, and then you hear “Let me in the sound” in the background over and over; I think this means that U2 is trying to get let into the new sound for their music. Then a noise like someone turning a radio station dial plays, and different music, though still fairly minimal, begins, and after a few more moments U2 chimes in again:
“Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound”
There is one more radio station dial turn here, and then the second part of the song begins with music full of anticipation, as preparing for a journey, and ominous expectation. It is almost like a person is listening to U2 trying to dial into their sound, and he changes the station, but U2 finds him there and is trying to break in. He changes it again, and finally they have caught him and their new sound breaks through.
Oh oh oh oh
Six o’clock
On the autoroute
Burning rubber, burning chrome
Bay of Cadiz and ferry home
Atlantic sea, cut glass
African sun at last
Oh oh oh oh
Lights flash past
Like memories
A speeding head, a speeding heart
I’m being born, a bleeding start
The engines roar, blood-curdling wail
Head first, then foot
Then heart sets sail
– FEZ-Being Born from U2′s latest album
Gerardo and I conversed about this one via email while he was on a train somewhere in Europe; yes, Gerardo is that awesome that he talks about U2 songs while on trains in Europe.
He thought the song reminded him of Zooropa (the song, which we all know is Devin’s #4 choice on his top 20 U2 songs; c’mon, if you didn’t know that, you need to take your head out of the mud). Why? Well, for one thing, Zooropa begins with unintelligble sounds of thousands of voices all talking at once, then shifts into the slow first part with company slogans before finally changing gears and speeding up the tempo greatly in the existential second part. It is almost like two songs together, but something joins them.
FEZ is like that too. The repeated “Let me in the sound” which pile on top of each other makes me think that U2 is saying they want to make music but need the sound to let them in to make it, and in Fez, Morocco, where they recorded, they were born again and found their new sound.
The lyrics are interesting and the way they are sung makes them even more interesting.
Six o’clock
On the autoroute
Burning rubber, burning chrome
Bay of Cadiz and ferry home
Atlantic sea, cut glass
African sun at last
I think the Bay of Cadiz is in Spain, so someone is traveling (quickly) from Spain across part of the Atlantic to North Africa (Morocco?). The second stanza is more general:
Lights flash past
Like memories
A speeding head, a speeding heart
I’m being born, a bleeding start
The engines roar, blood-curdling wail
Head first, then foot
Then heart sets sail
This last part seems like it could be a song of the struggle of life; the power, the battle, to live heroically.
With relatively minimal lyrics like this, I am not sure that this song can top Zooropa, but perhaps it can because there is enough here to make you think. As much as I like October (“and the trees are stripped bare…”) there just isn’t much grist there to grind in the mill. With FEZ, there is enough.
The album overall
No Line on the Horizon, after all of one week of listening to it, is good. With U2, we have high expectations every album, and for many people, if they don’t come out with another Where the Streets Have No Name, the album is deemed a failure and “U2 should retire” soon follows.
With the bar set more reasonably, the album shines for a U2 fan like me, and I think offers a newcomer an enjoyable 45 minutes of music.
The problems:
1. Get on Your Boots: This is U2′s high-energy dance song. They have one per album generally, previous ones being Vertigo, Elevation, and Discotheque. Gerardo and I both agree that this song should just be skipped over. I guess the idea behind the song is that a young woman is putting on her boots to go dancing. Blah. Let the kid bands sing about that stuff; we know that Bono and the Edge and the “other two” (sorry Adam and Larry) are like 50 years old and have families. I’m just not buying the “let’s dance the night away in a smelly club” song. Oops, but this is Lent, so I must keep things positive. End of story on Get on your Boots. Worst of their dance songs, and that’s saying something.
2. Cedars of Lebanon: Cool name for a song, but the song is spoken word almost entirely. And the words are depressing for the most part, with a cuss word (the only one on the album) thrown in for good measure. I don’t think that even U2 can get away with a song that is just spoken and not actually sung.
The good things:
1. Magnificent, Moment of Surrender, I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight, and FEZ-Being Born are all excellent and have been growing on me as well.
2. No Line on the Horizon (the song) is okay or even decent. Unknown Caller has music that I really like, but also decides to go with partial spoken word that sounds like Pink Floyd, and some of the words are computer commands–not that interesting to me.
3. Breathe, White as Snow, Stand Up Comedy: Passable.
Overall: This album’s sound is different from all their previous ones, to U2′s credit, and most are pretty good to excellent. Bono’s voice is sounding more shrill and harsh, especially when he tries to hit the upper registers. Hey, he’s like 50 years old and has been doing this forever; no wonder his voice is getting tired. At least he quit smoking way back when. They try a lot of things with the songs and some of them work; others fail miserably, but it’s good to see them try some new ideas. If you like U2, buy the album. If you don’t, cherry pick the four best songs off iTunes.
