Wednesday, April 8, 2009

U2's New Easter-ish Song



White As Snow is from U2's new and recent album, No Line On The Horizon---here is the story of the composition of the song from Wikipedia:
[edit] Composition

In an interview with The Guardian Bono revealed that he became tired of writing in the first-person, noting that "I'd just worn myself out as a subject matter"; as a result he created several characters, including a traffic cop, a junkie, and a soldier serving in Afghanistan.[4] The soldier's character appears in "White as Snow", which focuses on the soldier's last thoughts as he dies from the wounds caused by an improvised explosive device.[2] Bono came up with the idea after reading Pincher Martin, written by William Golding.[1]

"White as Snow" was recorded in one take during two weeks of recording sessions in Fez, Morocco in 2007, though it received some minor editing in the final sessions in December 2008.[5] At this time, it was taken out of the 'Maybe' pile to balance out the rockier tunes present earlier on, with Adam Clayton noting that "it gave the listener a break."[6] Original plans were for the track to start with an explosion, though this was later scrapped.[1] Richard Watkins played the French horn in the song.[7] The melody of the song is based on that of the traditional Advent hymn "Veni, veni Emmanuel".[2] Bono noted that, with the exception of "White as Snow", the band had tried to keep the theme of war out of the album.[8]

"White as Snow" appears as the fourth track in the Anton Corbijn film Linear, based on a story by Corbijn and Bono where a Parisian traffic cop travels across France and the Mediterranian Sea to visit his girlfriend in Tripoli.[9]


And here are the full lyrics to the song hyperlinked by myself:
White As Snow
(U2)

Where I came from there were no hills at all
The land was flat, the highway straight and wide
My brother and I would drive for hours
Like we had years instead of days
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow

Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow

And the water, it was icy
As it washed over me
And the moon shone above me

Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow

As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep the night shooting out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
If only a heart could be as white as snow
If only a heart could be as white as snow


See also: White As Snow: U2's most intimate song.