...in the day...but not today...let's move on...more Clash...

 cosmiclint wrote: 

I know what you mean...  hope you are having a marvelous time right now...  this song is a 10 in all versions...

Early morning, April 4,
shot rings out in the Memphis sky.
Free at last, they asked for your life;
they could not take your pride. 

Someone mentioned in the thread  for a different live song that they hate having to re-rate songs when a live version gets added. Personally, I love it. I'm just shoving the Godlikes off the back of the truck this morning :)

Intelligent lyrics, great band. Done with it. 

 SaintPeter wrote: 

i disagree with the "enough already"! 

to me, u2 comes back to life in an rp environment. i start to really LISTEN again to overplayed songs and the appreciation comes back.

especially delicious when such a gorgeous life version comes your ear's way :o) I love its energy.

actually, I'm starting to become a (first time) U2 fan here... ;o) when I was younger U2 weren't LOoouuuUD enough for me... :o)

Oh Bono, your blue-tinted gaze and manly brogue makes my heart quiver.  Heal me with your righteous grace.

Everybody in my hotel room loves this live version, too...

 

 MinMan wrote: 
I agree with you. However, regardless of their power as rock icons, I think that a bunch of Irish guys invoking Dr. King as a symbol of freedom is pretty cool. Their approach may be a bit oafish, but their hearts are in the right place. You choose to write and sing about injustice, where writing and singing about getting laid on the beach might very well sell better. So I give them a little for heart despite my feeling that there's a tad too much self-righteousness around this one.

Glad Bill keeps this one in rotation.  Haters need to get some perspective here.

 It is not the song, it is the band.  Enough already.  There is plenty of music that has not been played to death.  Most of us are here to avoid commercial radio.


WayUpNorth wrote: 

 MinMan wrote: 

Good question.

Even if you hate this song, you can use it as a way to communicate important history to our kids.

Great!!  Radio Paradise needed another version of this crappy song.

Come on, Bill.  This band's sound is tired and your overplaying of them makes it even worse.

 zurcronium wrote: 

True !  you read my mind

Most overrated band ever. 

ditto!!!

 perrygibbs wrote: 

 mjmurphy61 wrote: 
Apparently, a lot of people feel this should be retired. Me?  This is the first time I've heard the song live, and I love it that the crowd is singing along. I like it. I'm not a music-snob, and I don't analyze every note or wrong chord, unless it adds to the wonder of the song.

It's painful to read, but anyone who cares should be informed. First - it wasn't "early morning, April 4." And the lyrics don't tell anything of the story apart from the snuffing out of a vital, powerful, wonderful idealist who fought for change.

MLK

I love this song because it's a step in the right direction. It's a voice, even after a decade or two, for change. I'll always love U2 for their rebellion.

Aaaargh! Please no more U2.

 upgal wrote: 
...it was still pretty good twenty-two years ago, though - i give this recording a pass...

 csnyder wrote: 
In the studio, they could have sped up the recording to sound a half-step higher.  The engineers at Abbey Road used it all the time with the Beatles.  For instance, they would record the basic track, then speed up the recording and record a guitar part, then slow down the recording and record the vocal.  They did something like this on "Rain."  And then John took the demo home and accidentally played it backwards, so they had to add some backward vocals at the end!

 chedak wrote: 
$10 - wow, how things change. I've passed Sun Devil stadium a few times on visits to Phoenix & always thought it must've been a great venue for that show.

I've seen U2 three times now since the 80's and always a great show.

so sick of this.

 SmileOnADog wrote: 

It was a great show!  I was there also at the top of Sun Devil Stadium in 1987 dancing to the beat.  I remember waiting in a long line to buy a $10.00 ticket in Tucson and even though, I was so high up and the band looked like ants, it still was was worth the money and the gas to travel to Tempe, Arizona.

What's not to love? 10.

 MinMan wrote: 
Good call. Seconded.

This is one of the best songs of all time...

 thatslongformud wrote: 
Nominee for funniest comment of the day

 MinMan wrote: 

hey, go down to Memphis, TN go past the mississippi river, and the pyramid, go past beale street, and bb king's joint (would he even have a joint if it was not for MLK?) go past the fire house, and the crazies walking around, and take a LOOK at the lorraine motel. with the permanent black wreath on the door, and feel your breath catch. tell me that any song that mentions, glorifies, commercializes, memorializes Dr. Martin Luther King, is not pretty damn cool.

I absolutely hated this album when it came out...but this song is quite likable.