U2

Primary members: Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton
Band Biography
Albums of focus: October (1981), War (1983)
Songs for study:

 

"Gloria" - from October (1981)

I try to sing this song loud
I try to stand up
But I can't find my feet
I try, I try to speak up
But only in you I'm complete

Gloria, in te domine
Gloria, exultate
Gloria, Gloria
Oh Lord, loosen my lips


I try to sing this song loud
I try to get in
But I can't find the door
The door is open
You're standing there
You let me in

Gloria, in te domine
Gloria, exultate
Oh Lord, if I had anything
Anything at all
I'd give it to you
I'd give it to you

Gloria
In te domine
Gloria

 

"I Fall Down" - from October (1981)

 

Julie says, 'John, I'm getting nowhere
I wrote this letter
Hope to get to some place soon
I want to get up when I wake up
But when I get up
I fall down.'

Julie wake up
Julie tell the story
You wrote the letter
Said you were going to get there some day
Gonna walk in the sun
And the wind and the rain
Never walk back again

Now you fall down
You're falling down
You fall down

Julie say something
Julie say you're sorry
You're gonna get better
You better not leave me here anyway
I want to get up when you wake up
But when I get up I fall down

I'm falling down
I fall down
I broke myself

I fall down
I'm falling down
I fall down when you fall down
When I fall down is when you're falling down
When you fall down, I fall down

 

"Sunday, Bloody Sunday" - from War (1983)

I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away

How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
Tonight we can be as one, tonight

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across a dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
Trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday

How long, how long must we sing this song
How long, how long
'Cause tonight we can be as one
Tonight, tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight
Sunday bloody Sunday
Tonight tonight

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Wipe your blood shot eyes

Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday

And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and T.V. reality
Sunday bloody Sunday
And today the millions cry
Sunday bloody Sunday
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
Sunday bloody Sunday
The real battle just begun
Sunday bloody Sunday
To claim the victory Jesus won

On a Sunday bloody Sunday
Sunday bloody Sunday

 

"New Year's Day" - from War (1983)

 

All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
And I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood-red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few,
The newspapers say, say, say it's true
And we can break through,
Though torn in two, we can be one

I will begin again, I will begin again
Oh and maybe the time is right
Oh maybe tonight

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day