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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

lyric reflection question: "Rejoice"

photo backstory
Anyone familiar with the "official liner notes lyrics vs. what Bono actually sings" syndrome knows well that the printed lyrics often represent an earlier incarnation of the song (form criticism!):  "Counting down to the Pentecost" became "Counting down till the pain would stop"  by the time"Moment of Surrender" was recorded, etc etc.

I guess I never thought to even check the lyrics in the 2008 remastered edition of the "October" album, especially with the amazing essay by Neil McCormick stealing the thunder (and worth the price of buying a CD you already own)..

But today i caught these lyrics to "Rejoice"  in that official booklet:




It's falling, it's falling

And outside a building comes tumbling down.

And inside a child on the ground

Wants out of his playpen.

and

This morning I fell out of bed

When I woke up to what my father said


It was amazing, I can't pretend or lie.


Of course, what the man sings on record is:

It's falling it's falling
And outside the buildings
Are tumbling down
And inside a child on the ground
Says he'd do it again

and

This morning
I fall out of bed when I woke up to what he has said
Everything's crazy
But I'm too lazy to lie




Any thoughts?   Pesher?

I can't find my original lyric sheet to October (remember that big fold out lyric poster you had to order through the mail?) to consult.  Are the lyrics there the same?

Does the briefcase help?
I find no reflections on this in the fan forums (yet..watch atU2 here)


Reflection, by the way, is a word to ....reflect on.

I also just noticed this lyric in the same booklet, for "I Threw a Brick( a" song that was often very mystical in concert), and reflected on it:


My reflection...as I thought about it

Believe it or not I never noticed the play on words there: to "think about" is to reflect.

I need to reflect on my reflection.

Meditation.

And  reflect on this  "Scarlet" lyric change in the booklet




Blood was spilledWhile we were still looking at each other

The one word--"while"--which is not sung, somehow seems to make all the difference
(Of course, this is not the first time, a one word change is huge..see this).
I get the picture of disciples gathered around the cross (where "blood was spilled"), and not "getting it."   Of course they did, eventually at Pentecost ("We were filled with a love")


Reflect sooner than later.
Don'r deflect reflection.
Reflect on  select (and elect) reflections.

Mediate on meditations.
And meditate on the meditations

This is of course epistemological: how do we know what we know about what we know..




By the way, I now almost see  the narrator of "Moment of Surrender,"who  sees the reflection of Jesus next to his own on the ATM  as  the same guy threw a brick through a window in "Brick."

Sometimes we have to smash/thrash/deconstruct our reflections/meditations/selves..

to see what ..and Who... has been there all along.

As the Irish prophet recently said, "[your] life is forever changed [when} you see something that you can't unsee."


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Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!