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U2 - Babyface
 Album:
Zooropa (1993)
  1. Originally posted by robotsandmonkeys:[..]

    I always thought of it as a love song to a woman on television...possibly in a porno...where the viewer is able to control and freeze frame her via a remote control...coming from outerspace (via satellite)...but there is something semi dark and sinister about the relationship, but with a pop chime. That bright pop / dark undertone makes for a great song.


    Don't know if you guys know Every Breath You Take, by the Police?
    It's very much in the same vein:
    -a super creepy song about stalking by technology wrapped in sappy, poppy melodies.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_breath_you_take#Origins_and_songwriting

    Personally I love Babyface. Zooropa is bleak, dark and deliberately distasteful in lyrics and instrumentation at times: Brilliant! Babyface is an integral part of that atmosphere. It's one of many 5star songs on that album.

  2. I think you are right, the essence of the song is the contrast between major poppy sound (toy piano, playful vocals) and the deeper dark creepy meaning. That's why I never consider "Babyface" as a "catchy-pop-song-wanna-be" (like many U2 songs from recent albums starting from ATYCLB), to me it's a much more meaningful and serious effort than that
  3. If you look closely you will find a lot of cynical, almost negative lovesongs (for lack of a better word) in their more mature work:

    love comes tumbling
    trip through your wires
    hawkmoon 269
    love is blindness
    babyface
    do you feel loved?
    new york

    In other words "The blues", really...but musically these songs span the entire gamut of funk, goth, soul, blues, country, rock, new wave and pop.
    The contrast between content and format is most prominent in the latter form.

    Songs like New york, or LIB on the other hand are dark in both tone and content, so there's less of a disconnect.
    I've always found Beautiful Day a good example of this paradox as well, a bright rocking songs with very cynical lyrics, so ATYCLB isn't all happy, poppy fluff either.
  4. Well yeah, I agree, BD does not have happy content either and is a great song. But for me Babyface's lyrics are more subtle.
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.