Please

U2

So you never knew love
Until you crossed the line of grace
Then you never felt wanted
'Till you had someone slap your face
So you never felt alive
Until you almost wasted away
You had to win
You couldn't just pass
The smartest ass
At the top of the class
Your flying colors
Your family tree
And all your lessons in history

Please
Please
Please
Get up off your knees
Please
Please
Please
Please

So you never knew
How low you'd stoop to make that call
And you never knew
What was on the ground 'till they mad you crawl
So you never knew that
The heaven you keep you stole

Your catholic blues
Your convent shoes
Your stick on tattoos
Now they're making the news
Your holy war
Your northern star
Your sermon on the mount
From the booth of your car

Please
Please
Please
Get up off your knees
Please
Please
Please
Leave me out of this

So love is hard and love is tough
But love is not what you're thinking of

September
Streets capsizing
Spilling over
Down the drain
Shards of glass splinters like rain
But you could only feel
Your own pain
October
Talking getting nowhere
November
December
Remember
Are we just starting again

Please
Please
Please
Get up off your knees
Please
Please
Please
Please

So love is big, bigger than us
But love is not what your thinking of
It's what lovers deal
It's what lovers steal
You know I've found it hard to receive
'Cause you my love I could never believe


Lyrics submitted by dsfire

Please Lyrics as written by Dennis Matkosky David Mullen

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Please song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment

    Hey there PMonkey - good to see a comment on this song - it's also one of my favorites from Pop (right after Velvet Dress - my wife likes to get it on to that song.) Anyway, I like your interpretation of Please - some of the early lyrics are pretty cryptic, but I think the song is referencing the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland. They wrote the song around the time the cease-fire was falling apart - your catholic blues your convent shoes your stick-on tattoos now they're making the news your holy war (the IRA's war against the Brits) your northern star (Northern Ireland) your sermon on the mount from the boot of your car (this is a reference to car bombs - "boot" meaning "trunk" in the UK -- the "sermon" being the act of setting off the bomb itself.)

    September... streets capsizing... spilling over, down the drain ... shards of glass splinters like rain but you could only feel your own pain... october... talking getting nowhere... november... decemeber... remember... are we just starting again... ?

    Reference to the collapse of the cease fire in Sept., "glass splinters like rain" - the glass shards from the explosions; "october, talk getting nowhere" - reference to the fact that attempts to start up cease-fire talks weren't getting anywhere; "are we just starting again" - once the IRA started up their bombing campaign again, everything went back to square one.

    in any case, there's a lot of pain in this song, and you can hear it in Bono's voice. The Troubles obviously weigh heavy on his mind.

    Blackwellon June 10, 2004   Link

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