U2 – Winter

General CommentThis song was one of the last to be cut from No Line On The Horizon, and was still used in the Anton Corbijn film "Linear" that was released with the album. It will likely appear on the next album, "Songs of Ascent," due out late 2009 or early 2010. There aren't any official lyrics out yet and this was the best I could decipher, so when the official ones come out I'll make sure to change them.

From a lyrical standpoint, it seems like it's describing a man's crisis of faith, which would fit in with the overall pilgrimage theme of the upcoming album. It never really goes anywhere but I really love the sound of it. What do you guys think?

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  @Dr. D

General CommentThanks for these lyrics! I could decipher the lyrics at all when I watched Linear. And I agree with your interpretation.

But the song in my opinion is good in parts.

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  @young_jables

General CommentIncredible song, shame they dropped it from No Line, but I look forward to seeing it on Songs of Ascent. I don't really know what it might mean, but according to @U2 (atu2.com/lyrics/… ) these are the full lyrics:
The yellow sun
Well, it took the hand
Of a country boy
To a city in a far-off land

We made no mark
No shadow at all
On the ancient, holy streets
Where I learned to crawl

The broken and the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused
All here

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

Now I'm twenty-five
And trying to stay alive
In a corner of the world
With no clear enemies to fight

It's hot as hell
We're like butter on toast
But there's no army in this world
That can fight a ghost

The broken and the bruised
The young and the used
The sure and confused
All here

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

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

At twenty-one
I was born a son
And on that day I knew
I could kill

To protect the ones
We put bullets in guns
Or anything it takes
To take a life until it's still

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  @kurogin

General CommentThanks 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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  @ilovethekillers27
  0

  The line which speaks of 'an enemy he can't see' is a reference to the asymetrical warfare taking place in Afghanistan at the moment whereby the numerically and technologically inferior taliban and associated insurgent type enemies fight the much more powerful US by waging a guerrilla campaign of sneaky IED attacks or quick ambushes and melting away, disappearing by blending in with the local population. Same thing with the line 'there's no army in the world can fight a ghost' again it doesn't matter how powerful and advanced your army if the enemy don't wear a uniform and wont fight face to face but rather run off to disguise themselves as innocent locals.
  It's a truly marvelous song and one which I would have liked to see on the album 'No Line on the Horizon' I think it could even have been THE SINGLE from the album

  Flag Froudon August 30, 2013  

  0

  I wonder if it may be an unusual use of the word born in 'At 21 I was born a son'
  I took it to mean that whilst away at the war in Afghanistan he receives news that his wife or girlfriend has 'BORN' him a baby boy. Now he has more to live for because he is a father. He will kill to get back home and be there for his young family.

  Flag Froudon August 30, 2013  

  0

  I wonder if it may be an unusual use of the word born in 'At 21 I was born a son'
  I took it to mean that whilst away at the war in Afghanistan he receives news that his wife or girlfriend has 'BORN' him a baby boy. Now he has more to live for because he is a father. He will kill to get back home and be there for his young family.

  Flag Froudon August 30, 2013