@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
In New York, freedom looks like too many choices
In New York, I found a friend to drown out the other voices
Voices on a cell phone
Voices from home
Voices of the hard sell
Voices down a stairwell
In New York
Just got a place in New York
In New York, summers get hot, well into the hundreds
You can't walk around the block without a change of clothing
Hot as a hair dryer in your face
Hot as handbag and a can of mace
New York
I just got a place in New York
New York
New York
In New York, you can forget, forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in, but it's down to Alphaville
New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
New York
The Irish been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall
Dance hall, dance floor, they even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew
Happily, not like me and you
That's where I lost you
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York
In New York, I lost it all to you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid-life crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat
You better put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York
New York
New York
New York, New York
In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice whispering
Come away now to New
New York
New
New York
Oh-ooh
In New York, I found a friend to drown out the other voices
Voices on a cell phone
Voices from home
Voices of the hard sell
Voices down a stairwell
In New York
Just got a place in New York
In New York, summers get hot, well into the hundreds
You can't walk around the block without a change of clothing
Hot as a hair dryer in your face
Hot as handbag and a can of mace
New York
I just got a place in New York
New York
New York
In New York, you can forget, forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in, but it's down to Alphaville
New York
New York, New York
New York, New York
New York
The Irish been coming here for years
Feel like they own the place
They got the airport, city hall
Dance hall, dance floor, they even got the police
Irish, Italians, Jews and Hispanics
Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew
Happily, not like me and you
That's where I lost you
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York, New York
New York
New York
In New York, I lost it all to you and your vices
Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid-life crisis
I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat
You better put the women and children first
But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York
New York
New York
New York, New York
In the stillness of the evening
When the sun has had its day
I heard your voice whispering
Come away now to New
New York
New
New York
Oh-ooh
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
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I've heard this song thousands of times, yet it's still my favourite u2 song.. the way they played it in boston shows how perfectly balanced this song is. because of the calm verses, the chorus seems even louder.. like silence before a storm.. I also think this is a song you need to hear often, to find out what it's about.. There is more text than just 'New York', and Especially this part I think is great..
In New York, I lost it all to you and your vices Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid-life crisis I hit an iceberg in my life You know I'm still afloat You lose your balance, lose your wife In the queue for the lifeboat
i think walk on was a lot more suitable to sing after sept 11th as it shows positivity. This song seems to show negative sides to everything. For instance even freedom seems like "too many choices". im unsure what the song is trying to say or if it is just simply his description of new york.
Just wanted to point out the line "Tell yourself you will stay in, but it's down to Alphaville" probably refers to the Godard film ALPHAVILLE. Don't remember it that well, but it's one of those future dystopia stories. Definitely a classic.
This is a great 'ode to New York' song and gives a kind of surreal idea of what the city would mean to any given Person. I don't know why it wasn't performed at the concert that was given after Sept. 11th!, it would have been perfect!
i like the line "hot as the hairdryer in your face"
I'll preface this by admitting that I have never lived in New York City. (I'll also point out that my screen name refers to the fact that I'm an American studying in Scotland rather than being a Yankees fan from Albany...Go Mariners!) Having said that, to me the song uses the idea of New York as a metaphor for the breakneck pace of modern life, which can threaten to distract us from the people we love ("Better put the women and children first/But you've got an unquenchable thirst/For New York). I often felt like this living in Seattle, but I'd imagine New York makes the point far more effectively.
In an interview, Bono apparently said that it was the words (and experiences) of an old man living in New York.
I was listening to this song today, and for the first time I realized that this song was about more than just a description of New York. It is as albanyankee stated about being about life. The speel about the midlife crisis clues us in to that....otherwise, I doubt I ever would've dug deeper. Especially since this song so well defines what it's like in New York: the melting pot....
This song is about a man who moved to New York with his wife (perhaps from a small town, or farm), and fell in love with it. New York is an incredible city, and there is so much going on and so much to do. Being from a small town myself, I was overwhelmed with how amazing NYC was. Anyway, the man loved NYC, but his wife hated it and wanted to move out and start a family in their old hometown. However, the man enjoyed NYC so much that he couldn't leave, so he lost her.
"In New York, I lost it all to you and your vices Still I'm staying on to figure out my mid-life crisis I hit an iceberg in my life You know I'm still afloat You lose your balance, lose your wife In the queue for the lifeboat
You better put the women and children first But you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York"
Just my interpretation.
Thanks Boa for admitting it was just your interpretation...cause I don't see where you got that....but it's ACTUALLY about life...and not New York. He just used New York as a metaphor for how life is.