Winter

This 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?

Thanks 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.

Incredible 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 (http://www.atu2.com/lyrics/songinfo.src?SID=878 ) 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

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.