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U2 – Winter Lyrics 16 years ago
Thanks for posting the lyrics. Can't wait for the new album. I actually think the song is about war. I'll try and explain why I think this. Maybe parts won't make sense, but I'll try.


The yellow sun
Well, it took the hand
Of a country boy
To a city in a far-off land
(A boy is leaving his home and going off to war.)

We made no mark
No shadow at all
On the ancient, holy streets
Where I learned to crawl
(Hmm. Maybe he's saying that all of the soldiers aren't making a difference yet, and as for the crawling part maybe it's like a metaphor, you crawl when you're young and don't know any better so maybe it's like he's helpless and they don't know what to do?)

The broken and the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused
All here
(I think it's just describing all of the men and women in war. They're so different (broken, bruised, you, used, sure, confused) yet they're all here for the same reason.

Words will then land on me
Then abandon me
Mangle, untangle me
Leave me on the floor
Rhymes, they sprang in me
Summer sang in me
But summer sings in me no more
(This one's a bit difficult. Maybe the part about words is saying how sometimes something can inspire you to make you remember why you're fighting in the war, but then sometimes those words can abandon you and you're confused as to why you're there, and you're left on the floor wondering what you're doing and how you got there. And then the summer sings in me no more, I think maybe it means that he's feeling a bit hopeless and whereas he used to have rhymes (songs?) spring into him and he used to get happy at the prospect of summer but that isn't the same anymore.)

Now I'm twenty-five
And trying to stay alive
In a corner of the world
With no clear enemies to fight
(He's fighting, trying to stay alive. But he doesn't think there should be a war, and so he can't really see a clear enemy because he doesn't believe in the cause.)

It's hot as hell
We're like butter on toast
But there's no army in this world
That can fight a ghost
(Perhaps the ghost reference is talking about his own ghost, his doubts about what he's going through, and the same for everyone else. No one can fight that out of you, doubts will always be there.)

The broken and the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused
All here
(Same as before.)

Words will then land on me
Then abandon me
Leave me stranded
In guard of the door
Rhymes began in me
Summer sang in me
But summer sings in me no more
(Basically the same as before. He no longer feels happy like he used to.)

Listening to the cries
The strangers
The silence of the foreign grave
Listening to the thunder
The sky is strange
Stretched over everyone
Listening to the tales
The child sings
That goes for days and days
Listening to the calls
Shouts, frustration
(Basically, he's describing all of the experiences of war. Cries, strangers everywhere, so many people dying, everything seems strange and different.)

At twenty-one
I was born a son
And on that day I knew
I could kill
(The I was born a son part I think means he was born again, and found his faith. And with that he realized he wanted to be a soldier and was ready for it.)

To protect the ones
We put bullets in guns
Or anything it takes
To take a life until it's still
(To protect everyone in his country, they are all fighting with guns or anything it takes to kill those they are fighting against.)

I could be totally off, you could be right saying it's about faith. But this is my interperetation. I think it's about war and the way it can damage a person, but how they will keep fighting regardless because they feel it's their duty to protect their people and their country.

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The Answering Machine – Emergency Lyrics 16 years ago
Just heard this on Xfm and thought it was great so I checked out the lyrics. I don't know if anyone has ever read His Dark Materials set, if you haven't maybe you've seen The Golden Compass which is book 1 in the series. I know it's high unlikely, but I feel like this is what this song is about. Because he mentions spectres and a compass. Totally far-fetched, I know and i'm probably just sounding like I'm talking about absolute rubbish but this is what I'm choosing to have this song mean to me.

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