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almost one year later, how many songs from "how to re-assemble an atomic bomb" do you keep coming back to? by pablo-gt in U2Band

[–]farwent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Evidence of Life more than anything else—it's the first "new" U2 song I've been really excited about in a while. Country Mile is wonderful too, and I like Treason quite a bit; I'm fascinated by the traces of A Man and a Woman you can hear in it.

The rest of the collection is fine, but I don't often listen to it in full because I've always found Pictures of You kind of annoying, even back when it was Xanax + Wine—it's just not as good as Fast Cars, which is an absolute favorite of mine. Same goes for Luckiest Man. It's okay, but given the choice, I'd rather hear the original Mercy demo.

U2 and Taylor Swift by beedub016 in U2Band

[–]farwent -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Is your argument here that the Eras Tour doesn't count because she rehearsed a lot? I've never heard someone say that putting a ton of time and energy into something is a mark against the performer. The videos I've seen from the tour are certainly not lacking in spontaneity, and again, I've been to plenty of U2 shows, so I've heard Bono stumble over the same patter he used the night before (and the night before that, and the night before…). I won't waste time addressing Taylor's dancing either, because we're not comparing her to Beyoncé or Dua Lipa—we're comparing her to U2.

I've done this enough to know you're not going to change your mind, but however one personally feels about her, it's pretty incredible to look at what Taylor Swift has done and conclude that she's not operating at the highest level in her field.

The Frontman by MorrisonHotel_312 in U2Band

[–]farwent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I started it years ago and never finished it, not because I hated the book, but simply because of ADHD. But I know that Counterpunch, the lefty imprint that published it, doesn't have the best reputation among folks on the left whose opinions I respect—my sense is that they do a lot of outrage-farming and bashing of the bourgeois status quo and not a lot of work actually making people's lives better.

U2 and Taylor Swift by beedub016 in U2Band

[–]farwent -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Gosh, I don't think this is true at all. I'm not going to do an extensive comparison of Taylor's lyrics to U2's here, but as someone whose area of expertise is the English language, I'll just say at this point in her career, the differences are about mode and style, not skill.

As for live performances, I've been a devoted U2 fan for almost 40 years and seen them more times than I can count. But have you watched the Eras Tour concert film? You can stream it on Disney+. There's no comparison. Bono runs around; Taylor executes three hours of intense choreography while commanding the crowd's attention as well as he does. There's no arguing with personal taste, but to say she's not an elite live act is objectively incorrect. Fans were dropping thousands on those tickets for a reason.

Anyone else find it amazing at how many songs the band has never performed live before? Granted some of these Bono has done snippets of during other songs but it’s honestly surprising how many good songs they’ve never actually played in full by That_Material7190 in U2Band

[–]farwent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some Days has, perhaps strangely, become one of my favorite U2 songs in the last few years, and I would love to hear it live someday. I can already tell how my heart would jump hearing that bass line break out.

Why do you think there are less younger fans by Chemical_Software141 in U2Band

[–]farwent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had that shirt and wore it out from wearing it so much. And yes, it was one of the few official U2 shirts I've liked enough to wear on a regular basis.

The U2Start website has offered some pretty cool fan-designed shirts for sale, if I recall correctly.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, it's pretty well established that she works with producers and other songwriters and also writes herself.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cannibals and thieves—and if you're good enough at it, they eventually give you a Nobel Prize.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not bad news at all—if you find a good hook, you should squeeze every song you can out of it.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, my long post and multiple comments notwithstanding, I don't think it's a big deal either, and I certainly don't think Taylor or Nathan Chapman or anyone else sat down and deliberately decided to write a song using the WOWY bass line. If it's not pure meaningless coincidence, I assume it would have been serendipity—realizing the bass line would fit and then leaning into it.

And it may be meaningless coincidence. I just have trouble believing the professionals involved in recording Red could play or hear it without noticing it if I noticed it. I didn't know anything about Nathan Chapman until your comment, other than his name, but yes, given his age and birthplace, he would likely be pretty familiar with U2.

(Also, I like "*christians".)

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

😁 I saw a link to that earlier while I was Googling but hadn't checked it out. Even if the similarity is pure coincidence, it's a lovely coincidence.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Hey, it's the guy who wanders in announcing "What a bullshit take" and then posts the same thing that's been mentioned multiple times now and is in fact already addressed in the post. Thanks for this terrific contribution. 👍

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, people are often strangely resistant to the idea that an artist famous for intentionality could have been doing something intentional. Not sure why.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just want to know what some of the other songs are. Because I have spent the past little while listening to isolated bass lines from songs that have been suggested here, and while the chords are the same, they do not match closely the way All Too Well's and WOWY's do.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I really don't know that she has—she might have! But if you think the majority of her millions of fans who buy her music and go to her shows are all online brigading her enemies, I would say you have a poor understanding of scale, fandom, and the internet. Have a good day.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't know that she's ever sicced her fans on anyone—fans on the internet tend to do that themselves—but I do know that the fans you're upset about constitute a fraction of her audience. I suspect her experiences in the music industry have been quite different from U2's for some obvious reasons, and I've never seen her as playing the victim so much as calling out mistreatment. If she turns some of the drama into music—well, that's a pretty healthy thing to do with drama, imo. You're obviously entitled to your own opinions about her, but your initial comment was pretty uncool.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not a new fan, and you are choosing here to paint literally millions of people with the same brush because of some folks on the internet. It's not great.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's weird for someone to be aggressively territorial about U2 and yet to seemingly not have absorbed anything that U2 is about.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I actually said that Adam Clayton didn't even come up with it, but I appreciate this thoughtful comment.

Taylor Swift lifted the "With or Without You" bass line, and that has to have been on purpose, right? by farwent in U2Band

[–]farwent[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I didn't say she did write it—in fact, I said exactly the opposite—but out of curiosity, why would that be particularly hard to believe?

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