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U2 - Moment of Surrender
 Album:
No Line On The Horizon (2009)
  1. You repeat the same stuff over and over and over. Nothing new there.

    I think you have to live with that most of us like/ love the song and that we're not gonna change our minds.
  2. Originally posted by zooTV4all:You repeat the same stuff over and over and over. Nothing new there.

    I think you have to live with that most of us like/ love the song and that we're not gonna change our minds.


    Actually if you check back at the beginning of this thread I posted a dissection of the song, which had some different points in it.

    And I like the song, I just don't get how people are making the leap between it being a good song and an all time great, like One is.

    To me (and it seems Aussiemofo) too, it has clear flaws that stop it from being a classic.
  3. Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

    Lol, that is ironic isn't it.

    I think WAS's is almost unrecognisable as a Christmas carol (unless you go looking for it), and the ambience suits it's folk song nature.

    MOS's chorus is more ATYCLB sounding, like Peace On Earth or something, especially with Bono + Edge singing.
    It doesn't quite work for a ballad like MoS which is quite dark.
    I find the chorus jarring when it comes in.


    Originally posted by zooTV4all:You repeat the same stuff over and over and over. Nothing new there.

    I think you have to live with that most of us like/ love the song and that we're not gonna change our minds.


    lol That double post came exactly at the right moment hahahahaha

    Agree with Zootvforall tough
    I think almost everyone here loves it, just like Kite and OOTS on previous albums, and you just have to live with it


  4. OK, maybe it's because you are a little bit "down under"?



  5. Or maybe we're just harder to please.

    I'm sure there are other fans either here elsewhere that don't think MoS is all that amazingly great.
  6. Just curious, How do you feel when you hear the tune, not in the respect of analyzing it musically, but listening to what possible meanings it could have.? Can you you relate at all to the tune??

    Just curious that's all. Music is so subjective. I find it interesting that what sounds Great to one person can sound Crap to another.!!
    This album is Extreme!! I love it!!
  7. Originally posted by roxrios:Just curious, How do you feel when you hear the tune, not in the respect of analyzing it musically, but listening to what possible meanings it could have.? Can you you relate at all to the tune??

    Just curious that's all. Music is so subjective. I find it interesting that what sounds Great to one person can sound Crap to another.!!
    This album is Extreme!! I love it!!


    Good point.

    Basically I only evaluate music at night in bed through headphones in isolation from any visual / auditory stimuli (though I do play it on my stereo just to be sure). Unlike many young people I don't have U2 (or any other music) as the soundtrack to my life, ie. when I go walking/running, or on the train/bus etc (cause I can't stand all the background noise).
    This may affect my opinion of music, as it places a lot of pressure on the song to deliver.

    With regards to meaning and feel, my problem with MoS is that it feels a tad contrived, it doesn't convey the same kind of raw, living, bleeding emotion that their great ballads do. Unlike One or With or Without You which really strike a chord within you.

    For example, I rarely listen to the same song more than once a day, to prevent it from wearing out.
    But the first time I heard One, I probably played it about a dozen times that day, the same with With or Without You. They were such incredibly powerful songs.
    With MoS I only listened to it twice the first day and the second time was just to see what all the fuss was about.

    I also think the strength of a song like One, is partly due to its creation, it was written at a time when the Edge's marriage was failing and the band were close to breaking up themselves.

    Recording in Berlin also meant the band was also surrounded by the tumultuous events after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism. The tremendous energy and atmosphere that accompanied the reunification of Germany had an obvious impact on the sessions and the song. AB would not have been the album that it was, had it been recorded at another time or place.

    It's the same story with Streets which also had a famously difficult birth.

    Originally posted by roxrios:Just curious that's all. Music is so subjective. I find it interesting that what sounds Great to one person can sound Crap to another.!!
    This album is Extreme!! I love it!!


    To be clear, I do not hate the song, its decent. I am disappointed because it did not live up to the high expectations.

    I also think that in the end, some people are just simply harder to please than others. And as my friends and family will tell you, I am notoriously hard to please.


  8. In the end, it's all about taste and opinion and we can't say one's opinion is wrong or good, we can only agree and disagree. In this case about Moment of Surrender, I disagree with Vanquish.
  9. Originally posted by vanquish:[..]

    Or maybe we're just harder to please.

    I'm sure there are other fans either here elsewhere that don't think MoS is all that amazingly great.


    It seems to go on forever.

    Was this the one that was 'this album's One'? If so, that explains why I just don't connect with it - but I do like the vocal strengths here. Actually, I prefer Unknown Caller or Being Born more so than this song.


  11. Ah yes.

    The ATM thing is an interesting little bit, which brings me to: Is Moment of Surrender about death?

    Alternatively, others have come up with some interesting meanings:


    To me, this song is about accepting an addiction. "Surrender" is commonly referred to by people in 12-step programs as the "1st step". The ATM machine line is awesome, like he's taking money out for drugs and realizes what his life has become.




    It's actually about God. Tie myself to let the horses run free: When Jesus was put on the cross to forgive the sins of the world (horses run free). Also ref to stations of the cross: that's a Catholic ritual during Lent. I think its about how busy we are and we forget God at times but then we have moments where we really see him/her, the moment of surrender.




    theu2edge definitely nailed this one. Although I do not think the song is about "moments" but rather THE MOMENT... the defining realization that we're all living our lives in a catatonic stupour of ridiculousness while the true meaning of our existence is right there in front of us waiting to be grasped. Let me expand upon this interpretation with some thoughts to consider on this absolutely awe-inspiring ballad.

    "The stone was semi-precious
    We were barely conscious
    Two souls too smart to be in the realm of certainty
    Even on our wedding day"

    An introduction, demonstrating how our carefree attitude can even be found in our so-called love relationships. The semi-precious stone may refer to the importance we put on the damn diamond ring, and the nonsense surrounding wedding... two souls too "smart" to stop and realize the true meaning of what is happening. To worried about the "busy"-ness of invitations, decorations, thank-you cards... the STRESS!

    "I was speeding on the subway
    Through the stations of the cross"

    The stations of the cross are all around us. For Christians, we've been educated our entire lives to understand that Christ is all around us, manifesting in so many forms. We just fail to see this, rushing around in our daily lives without taking the time for reminiscing about faith, eternity, and the power of our consciousness. We barrel forward through our lives, streaking by the signs all around us.

    "Every eye looking every other way
    Counting down 'til the pain would stop"

    Our common way of fighting the pain in our lives is simply to complain about all the shit piled upon us and wish it would all end... count down the days until things will be better. Maybe buy a lottery ticket and wish, instead of turning back to God and giving in to the true plan and mission of our lives.

    "At the moment of surrender
    Of vision over visibility"

    Probably THE MOST powerful line in the whole song. Visibility is simply the ability of our eyes to look around. But to truly have VISION... to truly see what is meant to be seen around us, to realize what life is truly TRULY about; that is the ultimate answer and the only way we will achieve it is to surrender to eternity and quit confounding our existence with the trivialities, addictions, and "horrors" of everyday life.

    "I did not notice the passers-by
    And they did not notice me"

    A clear indication of the personal nature of this realization; the fact that everyone must experience it in their own way. When the protagonist does, there is a clear separation between him/herself and everyone else around, who are still continuing on through the deadness of life.



    I think the song is about a man who has been thrust out of naivity and innocence and into the whirlwind of a unanswerable questions about our existance in the universe amoung others. In searching for answers about himself, his life, and the universe he examines religion, he examines deep space and physical theory as mentioned by the black holes and dark stars, and he ultimately ends up as anyone else would end up deep in such thought; lost and and at the point that you wish you could go back to being blissfully ignorant because of the torment that comes along with not being able to answer such questions. That I can relate to the lines where he wishes he could get back to the various rhythms and back to his heart.

    Ultimately, as everyone who has ventured into such thoughts, the man surrenders to the unanswerable questions and it is at that moment, the moment of surrender, that one gains the most wisdom because they have accepted and have become comfortable with the fact that nothing, whether it be a relationship or the origin of the universe, is certain. That is vision over visibility. Insight over sight. Comfort in not knowing over ignorance in not caring.




    Seems to me it has something to do with suicide. Not denying references to religion and drugs.

    He's on a subway, people are waiting for their trains, not looking at him. I feel he's about to throw himself in front of a train, and people might believe this is so, but they're just "waiting for the pain to stop".

    Moment of surrender, I think is the moment at which the character surrenders his will to live, and his life by throwing himself to the train.

    Whatever it means (one of the things I love about U2 is that we'll never know), it's a brilliant song




    I think it's about suicide too. But Christian suicide. It says repeatedly in the Bible, and Bono has said repeatedly in his songs (including the song "Surrender" on War) to die to yourself (he says this in "Breathe" too). Of course, this dying to yourself is a spiritual death, not necessarily a physical one. To me, the song is about giving up control of your life to God, so its not about suicide and uncertainty and hopelessness, its about suicide and uncertainty and hopelessness as regards to yourself. You SURRENDER to God, not death and despair.




    unknown caller is the sequel to this song as the junkie character meanders through the early morning hours, calls up for more dope, and finds himself in the presence of the lord through text messages. the lyric that mentions the time, 3:33, is a reference to Jeremiah 33:3. Read it and u will understand.




    I hate to do this because the song works on so many levels but B did mention one of the characters on the album was a junkie and I think I got this one. I thought it was about how fame changed him at first but....

    I tied myself with wire--tying arm to shoot up
    To let the horses run free--horse, another name for heroin
    Playing with the fire until the fire played with me-you have to cook heroin
    The stone was semi-precious--heroin is a rock
    We were barely conscious--um, yeah
    Two souls too smart to be in the realm of certainty--people often talk about their drug as a love affair
    Even on our wedding day--first time he tried heroin

    So is the moment of surrender to the drug or to God once the character's addicted?



    That last one is interesting. Is this the 'sequel' to Bad, with drug addition etc.


  12. Originally posted by Moment
    At the moment of surrender
    I folded to my knees
    I did not notice the passers-by
    And they did not notice me

    I've been in every black hole
    At the altar of the dark star
    My body's now a begging bowl
    That's begging to get back, begging to get back
    To my heart
    To the rhythm of my soul
    To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
    To the rhythm that yearns
    To be released from control

    I was speeding on the subway
    Through the stations of the cross
    Every eye looking every other way
    Counting down 'til the pain would stop


    At the moment of surrender
    Of vision of over visibility
    I did not notice the passers-by
    And they did not notice me


    Hmmmm....yes quite possibly. It's very spiritual and contemplative at least.
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