WOW! I'm not surprised to see the high intellect of U2 followers...I mean fans.
Good conversations about whether it's about God or the devil or Russia or Consumerism or heroin or spoiled brats. Makes me agree with some other posts that it is eternally layered in meaning (as most art)--it is all present.
I love the song because it invokes the memory of seeing Bono as McPhisto in all his glamorous glory onstage at the ZooTV concert I went to so very long ago. When I bought my new car, it was the first song I played in it because the irony took me to a whole new level of elation.
This is one of those songs that for me the meaning changes as my experiences change me. Each time I reapproach it, it means something different to me based on the place I am in. When I was a teenager, I saw the devil as Daddy and his empty, attractive promises. When I was in college, I saw more of the "heroin interpretation" for instance,
"You got a head full of traffic/
You're a siren's song/
You cry for momma, but daddy's right along."
You can't always get what you want and what you want is most likely as deadly as the siren's song. Now that I'm in the family thing, I see it on a multi-layered level, and really groove to the sound. Who can resist the "Uh-huh/Sha-La/Uh-huh/Sha-La" ?!
WOW! I'm not surprised to see the high intellect of U2 followers...I mean fans.
Good conversations about whether it's about God or the devil or Russia or Consumerism or heroin or spoiled brats. Makes me agree with some other posts that it is eternally layered in meaning (as most art)--it is all present.
I love the song because it invokes the memory of seeing Bono as McPhisto in all his glamorous glory onstage at the ZooTV concert I went to so very long ago. When I bought my new car, it was the first song I played in it because the irony took me to a whole new level of elation.
This is one of those songs that for me the meaning changes as my experiences change me. Each time I reapproach it, it means something different to me based on the place I am in. When I was a teenager, I saw the devil as Daddy and his empty, attractive promises. When I was in college, I saw more of the "heroin interpretation" for instance, "You got a head full of traffic/ You're a siren's song/ You cry for momma, but daddy's right along." You can't always get what you want and what you want is most likely as deadly as the siren's song. Now that I'm in the family thing, I see it on a multi-layered level, and really groove to the sound. Who can resist the "Uh-huh/Sha-La/Uh-huh/Sha-La" ?!