U2start.com | U2 Meaning Of Lyrics Round Table

I've heard that interpretation before. Well put

It mirrors how I have always viewed this song.

Great reviews and thoughts...I don't have the time and will to dig myself in a song unfortunately. But it's great to read. I might post a review at songs I already have a certain thought about....

germcevoy

17 years

I like that interpretation Yeah. Very believable to. I once saw an interview with Bono where he was asked about the bands drug habits (if any) and he replied cunningly with 'I may have had a slice of the pizza' so who knows. Bad, Wire and RTSS are all drug related so its not a new subject choice for Bono. Cheers for linking this with Discotheque

ladygodiva

17 years

Wow. You learn something new every day. Your interpretation makes so much sense.the truth is that I know very little about these expressions and other than 'Bad', which I know to be a song about drug abuse I know very little. It seems very clear. I still think that my explanation could run side by side with this one because many U2 songs can be looked at in more than one way. But yours is amazing.

Cheers Lady G

yeah

17 years

Originally posted by ladygodiva. I still think that my explanation could run side by side with this one because many U2 songs can be looked at in more than one way.

Of course. There is no real right or wrong in this. I sometimes wonder if Bono himself knows what his lyrics are about...

ladygodiva

17 years

Hey Bonosraincome. I thought you wanted to play ????

djrlewis

17 years

Originally posted by yeah[..]

Of course. There is no real right or wrong in this. I sometimes wonder if Bono himself knows what his lyrics are about...

Ha ha. Very true.

ladygodiva

17 years

I'm sure that Bono has said many times that he does not fully understand where his lyrics come from and describes what he writes as 'painting a picture' so therefore us trying to completely understand the words is not really possible. I suppose it's like a person attempting to see what is behind the picture, that's all.

_BrownEyedGirl_

17 years

Wow! My interpretation of Discotheque is completely different!!!
that drug relation was totally new and unespected for me, btw. It's very interesting thought. Congrats!
I have a funny history with Pop, hope you don't mind me sharing it.And i think that relates to my view of Discotheque. It was the first U2 album i ever got, but it was the last one that i heard. My father has a big cd collection, and its a rock and roll fan. When I started to really like U2, he gave me Pop. He said he had bought it because of one song, the first one(that he still loves, but dosn't know the name till today), but since he wasn't a U2 fan, he gave it to me. When I looked at the cover, I was like "this is U2???" But since I didn't have anything else of them, i give it a try. When Discotheque started, I didn't like it at all, what was all that dance thing? I actually hated. Hoe my father could possibly like that song to buy a Cd because of it, i didn't understood. Then i saw that Staring at the Sun and If God will send his angels were in this album(wich for some reason i already known), and kept listening just these 2 songs. Later, when I was really into U2, entering online communities about them, I kept seeing everybody talking so bad about Pop, all the things you all heard a lot, I'm sure. I decided to give a second listening to it. I didn't hate it like the first time, but didn't quite like it either. And always skiped the 1st song. I got into a period where everything that i listen to, i would also be reading the lyrics.(If i didn't love U2 then, after this it was impossible not to!) Then I got to Pop. And I made a big discovery!! Such beautiful and underated lyrics were in there! With songs that had lyrics that didnt had anything to do with the music, but at the same time they complemented each other. And then I found out that Discotheque was about love. Yes, love!! I thought it was pretty crazy to think that, so i've kept it to myself. For some obscure reason, i found myself lovind discotheque and listening to it a lot. Then I heard Bono singing "this is a love song" right at the end of the song, don't really remember when. When he said that, i was so happy that i wasnt crazy to think that Discotheque was about love!!!
You feel love, but you can't have love. It isn't yours to have, you can't own love. You get hurt because you love, but you still think that isn't anything better than love.
he talks about the loved one (Looking for the one/But you know you're somewhere else instead/ I want to be the song/ Be the song that you hear in your head), and how that is hard to find, and the other love, the one more religious, I think, specially the idea that there's something more beyond what you see. (Love, love, love/ You want heaven in your heart/ Heaven in your heart/ The sun, the moon and the stars/But you take what you can get /'Cause it's all that you can find/And you know there's something more)
And the Discotheque? well, you can't find your loved one, the religious love is hard, because you have to really believe it exists, despite all the things that tell you otherwise. So tonight you let go of all this questions, and have fun. But at the same time, you know that they will all be there when you comeback.
But despite all that, what really got me into Discotheque was the "boom-cha"s.

Just kidding, but I really miss them...

Ali709

17 years

Great interpretations so far guys! Almost all new to me!!

Here's mine...

To me it was (again!) a semi-religious song. The opinions that I'm gonna give here are based on the Islamic faith, you might not agree with them all...
It talks about the pleasures in this world, and how we like to give in to them completely and forget about God's rules, forget that there are higher pleasures not reachable in this world. The two first verses:

You can reach
But you can't grab it
You can hold it, control it
No, you can't bag it

You can push
But you can't direct it
Circulate, regulate, oh no
You cannot connect it

Describe a life limited to this world. If you fully give in to the world and forget about what you have to be as a human, things can get out of control.

The next bit:

You know you're chewing bubblegum
You know what that is
But you still want some
'Cause you just can't get enough
Of that lovie dovie stuff

We say, that the pleasures of this world, pass easily. They don't last long (And that's the difference between the pleasures in this world and the next). It's like chewing a gum, it loses the taste and even becomes annoying after a while.
The bit above says, you DO KNOW this effect, you know what it is you're doing (I've experienced this, I KNOW that what I'm doing is a sin, I know how bad it is, yet, I still want some).

You get confused
But you know it
Yeah, you hurt for it, work for it, love
You don't always show it

Blah blah...the efforts we make to get more pleasure in this world.
The "Let's go...discotheque" and the next part "Let go...discotheque" (without the " 's "), could be this feeling that keeps telling you :"let go of everything...forget the rules...do what you want...LET'S GO!". The Discotheque could be a metaphor for this world, could be place where you "give in".

You're looking for the one
But you know you're somewhere else instead
You want to be the song
Be the song that you hear in your head

You're looking for the ONE, the one God maybe, the One true faith, etc. But as you're limiting yourself to this world, you know you're somewhere else instead.
And...In Islam, there is this belief that all humans have the correct concept of right and wrong, have the right ideals, they just don't always listen to it, or they choose not to see it and forget about it. "The song that you hear in your head" reminds me of this...there is this voice in your head telling you what's right and wrong, you want to be that, be a good person, but...

The next hard to hear part that Edge sings on the studio version (Bono sings it clearly when performed Live):

You want heaven in your heart
Heaven in your heart
The sun, the moon, and the stars

Continues the same idea...you want to be the song you hear in your head, you want to have heaven in your heart.

Again, as mentioned before, in Islam we say that you can give in to this world and try to get every possible pleasure out of it, but it's still much less than what you'll find in the next world, the pleasures are not comparable. This world is limited.

But you take what you can get
'Cause it's all that you can find
But you know there's something more
But tonight, tonight, tonight
... Discotheque

(You want heaven in your heart) BUT, you don't act that way, "you take what you can get, cause it's all that you can find" (this world is limited, but still you get whatever you can from it, you can't find more than the limit of it, it's "all that you can find").

But, even when you're doing that, "you know there's something more", you know about the next world. But still tonight...you give in...discotheque!!

Puff...sorry for the long interpretation...and I hope I didn't bore you guys with all the religious stuff!