Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Song Analysis

U2, which began as four teenagers jamming in a basement, is now regarded as the “World’s Biggest Band”. The Irish rock group from Dublin has pushed the boundaries of rock for over thirty years, and still has plenty of great music to put out there. Their lyrics have mostly focused on political and social awareness, as seen in some of their albums, War, Under a Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire. One of the most well known songs off of War is “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, a powerful combination of poetry and storytelling that portrayed the horrors caused by the dangerous civil rights movement going on in Northern Ireland at the time.

Although this song is obviously a political protest song, Bono, the lead singer of U2, always made sure to note that it was “not a rebel song”. The lyrics are made up of alliteration, imagery, a creative rhyme scheme, and much symbolism. The line “broken bottles under children’s feet” is a great example of both alliteration and imagery used together. In an even more slightly morbid imaging, the next line “bodies strewn across the dead end street” gives the listener a grim picture of the violence that took place in Northern Ireland during this time period. Bono uses figurative language when he says “I won’t heed the battle call”; this means that he will not submit and join everyone else with the violence. Ambiguity is found in the line “there’s many lost, but tell me who has won”. “Many lost” can mean either the number of people who has died or mean who has lost the battle. Figurative language is found again in the line “the trench is dug within our hearts”, seeing as a trench could not literally be dug into some one’s heart. The trench can be a symbol for the heartbreak being experienced because of the war. Throughout the song Bono asks, “how long must we sing this song?”, really meaning: how long will this violence last? The entire song is an allusion to the Bloody Sunday incident in Derry, a city in Northern Ireland, where civil rights protesters were viciously shot and killed by British troops. This protest song is more of a peace promoting song than an anti-war one.

“Sunday Bloody Sunday” is one of U2’s signature songs, as well as one of the most performed on stage. Its social relevance and political stand-points makes it one of the most celebrated protest songs of its generation. It is not just a metaphor for peace, but also was an eye-opener to many people living in that time period to the horrific events that were going on in the world. Bono even emphasized his yearning for peace in his live performances of the song, during which he wrapped a white flag around his body. This gesture became a symbol for U2’s reputation as a socially outspoken, peace-keeping musical act.

Check out a video of U2 performing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" LIVE

Lyrics:

I can't believe the news today

Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away

How long
How long, must we sing this song
How long
How long
'Cause tonight
We can be as one
Tonight

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

How long
How long, must we sing this song
How long
How long
'Cause tonight
We can be as one
Tonight


Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday



Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday


And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Van Morrison: Songwriter Biography

10 Interesting Facts:

Van Morrison was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up listening to his father’s collection of jazz records.


He learned to play the guitar, saxophone, and harmonica as a teen.

He dropped out of school at the age of 15 to join an R&B band as a saxophonist.

He achieved local, and eventually national, success for his band, Them, for hits like “Don’t Start Crying Now” and “Gloria”.

Morrison pursued a solo career and gained popularity. One of his well known songs is “Brown Eyed Girl”. The song was originally supposed to be titled “Brown Skinned Girl”, which would depict an interracial relationship, but it was changed to make it more playable for the radio in 60s.

His music style has ranged from jazz and strings to R&B to rock ‘n’ roll.

Morrison is actually a very introverted individual who rarely gives interviews, and finds it difficult to explain his own lyrics.

He stopped performing for a period of time because of frustration with manipulation in the music industry.

His various albums often reflected his spiritual beliefs at that particular time.

Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
He looks up to artists such as Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lee Lewis.


Timeline


1945: Van Morrison is born as George Ivan Morrison in Belfast

1960: Morrison drops out of school to join the band the Monarchs

1965: Morrison’s band, Them, scores hit singles “Baby Please Don’t Go” and “Here Comes the Night”

1966: Them disbands after an unsuccessful U.S. tour

1967: Morrison’s solo career hit “Brown Eyed Girl” reaches the U.S. Top 10

1968: Morrison came out with Astral Weeks, still considered one of his most powerful works

1970: His next album, Moondance, had a more R&B sound, traded for his previous jazz and strings stye

1985: Morrison released A Sense of Wonder, which displayed his continuing spiritual journey

1993: Morrison is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1996: His song “Days Like This” is adopted as a peace anthem for Northern Ireland and Morrison receives an Order of the British Empire title

Present: Morrison’s body of work continues to grow and change today


Video Footage of Van Morrison Perfoming "Have I Told You Lately"

Song Analysis: “Madame George”

Van Morrison is ultimately one of the most well-known and celebrated artists of his time. He can play a variety of instruments, including guitar, saxophone, and the harmonica. In addition to that, Morrison also has a talent as an emotionally evocative songwriter and poet. His songs frequently feature numerous poetic devices, both simple and sophisticated. This combination provides for a great understanding for the listener. Morrison’s songs are often really stories: told through poetry and set to a smooth jazz sound. While the majority of his songs exemplify Morrison’s love of poetry, “Madame George” is full of various poetic devices, from onomatopoeia to imagery.

“Madame George” starts off with a quick allusion to one of Morrison’s other well known songs, “Cyprus Avenue”. Morrison writes, “Down on Cyprus Avenue, with a childlike vision leaping into view”. This line also features personification, suggesting that a vision or idea can be “leaping” . The song proceeds to say “clicking, clacking of the high heeled shoe”, which is an example of onomatopoeia. The line of “Ford & Fitzroy, Madame George” shows the first of many uses of alliteration in the song. A simile takes form in the line, “the cool night air like Shalimar” , and also local color because of the mention of Shalimar, a town in Ireland, where Van Morrison is originally from. An example of imagery in the song comes from the line, “kids out in the street collecting bottle-tops”; it is easy to imagine children playing in a road looking around for bottle-tops. “Sitting on a sofa” is another example of alliteration, specifically of consonance. Another line, “On that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row”, shows yet even more of Morrison’s frequent use of local color. “The rain, hail, sleet, and snow” is also an example of imagery. You do not have to look hard to find the clear use of poetic devices in Morrison’s writing.

“Madame George” is just one of many Van Morrison songs that are known for the poetic writing style. He has known to influence more modern artists such as Bruce Springsteen, the Counting Crows, and Elvis Costello. Although he has a reputation for being introverted, gruff, and stubborn, Morrison’s songwriting has the essence of a soulful man who dreams of love. He refused to let critics pin-point his religious beliefs through his music, but his writing always had a mystic and spiritual feel. It is said that one of his major themes in writing was the healing power of music. Van Morrison can be argued to be the best musical poet of his generation.