a quick update: I chose Sunday Bloody Sunday, and my presentation is on the last day. So far the presentations have covered songs from Ben Folds Five, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, The Verve Pipe, and more. The best IMO is "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Although the guy played the acoustic version, which I think is not as effective/affective as the drum version.

So all we've done and will be doing for the rest of the semester is talking about subjects like SUICIDE, VIOLENCE, RACISM, and ABORTION. Such a cheerful and uplifting class. :)

Could try a band called Snog, for somthing more modern.

Phil Collins?

PHIL COLLINS?!

Man, someone needs to slap the shit out of that person. ;)

Incidentally (Tob, you remember GS-101, right?), I had to take this mandatory class during my freshman year of college called Creative and Critical Thinking. One of the things we had to do was give a presentation on "something that we knew pretty well." It could be about horse-wrangling, fiber optics, whatever. I did my presentation on Nine Inch Nails circa 1994, complete with audio...got an A. :)

You took a course in Critical Thinkin' ... you're shittin' us!

Shhh! No one else needs to know!

Actually, I decided to switch my song to Bullet the Blue Sky. I myself can barely focus listening to Sunday Bloody Sunday; I think Bullet is more attention-grabbing.

So much for the critical thinking class ;)

Re: Any music expert aqui?
 

Well, I see that Sycamore has already provided a Depeche Mode reference (although I don't know how seriously people may have taken "New Dress"...only because many do not take DM seriously).

Ah well..there's always "People Are People". ;)

goddammit, pj! i was all proud of myself when you said you were using one of my suggestions! :) oh, well. as long as its a u2 song ill claim victory.

~james

Good choice, although I would go with the live version on Rattle and Hum. Much more intense, IMO.

James, strained your arm patting yourself on the back, eh? ;)

damn right. :)

actually, bullet the blue sky is my second favourite u2 song. let us know how it goes pj.

~james

Same here, although nobody would succeed in guessing my absolute favorite.

Will do! I appreciate every input I received here. Might need some more between now and Dec 3 :)

Party Girl

Knowing you, it's probably something from the Pop album. :)

Actually, just in the last few weeks, I've become an avid fan of U2, due to this project. Right now it would be hard to decide on one favorite from God Part II, Bullet the Blue Sky, the Ground Beneath My Feet, Staring at the Sun, and One.

Anyway, what do you guys make of these lines from Bullet the Blue Sky:

This guy comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colors of a royal flush

........

You take the staircase to the first floor
turn the key and slowly unlock the door
as a man breathes into a saxophone
and through the walls you hear the city groan

"His face red like thorn bush..." can't figure out if there's any symbol in there.

"the colors of royal flush"--can't decipher either

Here is my stab:

red face/ rose/ thorn similie
Face (identity,emotion) described by all the symbolic connotations of the color red (passion,love,heat,blood,anger, life) + the classic contrast of rose vs thorn (beauty,pleasure,soft vs harsh,pain, sharp)

face/royal flush similie
1. card reference: colorful- all the suits (chaotic, jumble), royal flush (winning hand, powerful, confident, lucky)
2. face reference: royal flush as in majorly flushed skin, (empassioned)

The second passage stikes me as a rather poetic narrative witnessed by the singer- private space- the locked door, where a lone man plays music (or attempts to we just hear breath) for no audience other than himself, attempting to express his true self. The last line contrasts this with the outside world-public- relentlessly creeping in through the cracks. The city groans, a larger, collective pain.

er...maybe not.:)