U2 Week - 90s Night - "Acrobat," "Discotheque," "Please," & "Lemon"

It's no secret that the 90s are my favorite U2 era (see what I did there? #TheFly).  Although I am totally diggin' the 2010s so far, I became a fan when Pop came out, and I love beyond words their artier, dancier, darker side.  The fact that a rock band can completely transform their music and image, and revolutionize the live concert experience is astounding and inspiring to me.

Tonight, I'm sharing one song from each of the 3 albums they released during the 90s.  First, is the greatest album of all time, Achtung Baby.  Since they will likely never play fan-favorite "Acrobat" in concert, I have to share it.  It is one of their most intense songs,

"And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgwvqO-_luM

Going slightly out of order to Pop, their most underrated album.  I still don't understand why people hated it so much.  Is rock not allowed to be colorful?  It is a very dark album, accompanied by their shiniest and brightest visuals.  And a 40' tall mirrorball lemon.  Because, as Edge said, why not a lemon?

I'm sharing two songs from the album, because they could not be more different, and that is their genius and contradiction.  They can write a glossy song about the riddle of love - "Discotheque" - and dress up like the Village People in the video, AND they can make a desperate song about the violence in Northern Ireland, with "Please."

Here is Discotheque:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2AjpPNDe-8

#BoomCha

And here is Please - the powerful Live from Mexico City version:

"So love is hard
And love is tough
But love is not
What you're thinking of"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1l0Zq0mN4M

And then, of course, my beloved Lemon.  Inspired by a video of Bono's mother Iris wearing a lemon-colored dress, it's a dance song with a falsetto vocal about a man trying to figure out the world around and inside of himself by looking at his dead mother.  Totally and utterly amazing.  The video also features the band in their lemon suits, and Bono as his character, MacPhisto, that he developed along with The Fly and the Mirrorball Man on the ZooTV tour.  All three are caricatures of rock stars in some way - a commentary on the ridiculous lives they lead.  I miss them making fun of themselves in this way.

I said this before, but I really want them to do some kind of acoustic arrangement of this song and perform it live.  I think the song is strong enough to handle a complete reworking.  (CC: Rob Trigalet​ and John Austin​)

"And these are the days
When our work has come asunder
And these are the days
When we look for something other"

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj22n_u2-lemon_music

I also just realized that all of these songs have one-word titles.  Don't know if that means anything, but I like it when a title either gets directly to the point, or makes you wonder what in the world it's about.

#YearlongMixtape

#U2Week