image is a cutout from their album, “No Line on the Horizon”*
I’ve been reading Bono’s book, “Surrender: 40 songs, one story” as a daily devotional for the past couple of weeks. Have been reading the book in bits for months now, as it is a bible, to be savored slowly. But I want to get it done, and another day or so and it will be.
Today Bono talks about his feelings for Edge, Adam, and Larry, using the vehicle of a live performance U2 did in Berlin a few years back. Of course I had to stop reading and go find it out on YouTube. What a perfect moment in time to read about this song and to see the theatrics of the performance mimic the real of now. The Edge has my whole body tingling with his performance.
Acrobat is from Achtung Baby, one of my top 3 favorite U2 albums (The Joshua Tree and All That You Can’t Leave Behind, with Zooropa making it a top 4. Also I admit to not having heard the last 4 albums they made but plan on correcting that.)
Don’t believe what you hear
Don’t believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face of melting in snow?
Now it looks like this
And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
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
No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you’d hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I’d join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I’d break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
‘Cause I need it now
To take the cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I can’t let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And don’t let the bastards grind you down
Oh, it hurts baby
What are we going to do? Now it’s all been said
No new ideas in the house and every book has been read
And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
And you can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can’t wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
And I know that the tide is turning ’round
So don’t let the bastards grind you down
lyrics are written by Bono; music is composed by U2
The cover art (image directly above) for No Line on the Horizon is a photograph of Lake Constance, taken by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto; titled Boden Sea, it is one of 200 pictures in his Seascapes collection. — Corkill, Edan (20 March 2009). “Photographer Sugimoto strikes a Stone Age deal with U2”. The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
Tao-Talk 
Undoubtedly, not all folks will like Bono’s comments, but he has always been an outspoken artist, so it’s not like he’s suddenly jumping on a new train.
If you’d ask me about my favorite U2 albums, I would probably pick the first five, which include may favorite, “The Joshua Tree.” But this assessment is also biased toward U2’s music I know best, which tends to be their earlier work.
By comparison, I’m less familiar with “Achtung Baby.” It pretty much comes down to a handful of tracks like “One”, “The Fly” and “Mysterious Ways”. “Acrobat” wasn’t even on my radar screen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bono is a musical philosopher king in my book. Happy to introduce you to this song, Christian. I’ve got the earlier albums (Boy, October, War, The Unforgettable Fire) and have given them all listens, but only after I got hooked on The Joshua Tree. I have the rest of their discography other than the last 4.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve got me interested in his book now. I’ve got so many waiting to be read but….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Violet, you can borrow it from your library as an e-book also. It’s almost 600 pages, so beware.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for this, Lisa. Great song! JIM
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anytime, JIM!
LikeLike
I saw them on the Zooropa tour. My favorite is probably Rattle and Hum…they did Americana on that really well.
I like this one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome on Zooropa, that album is off the hook good. A worthwhile experiment for them. Bono spends some time talking about going to the church where the choir was for I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For in the book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was really cool of him to do that. I saw them in Birmingham Alabama… it was a great concert.
LikeLiked by 1 person
p.s. that’s on Rattle & Hum
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
<3
LikeLiked by 1 person
A timely song selection, especially given Bono’s spoken commentary. And of course, “… don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Steve, they are determined, but so are we. I just remember last time, how he had a pathological compulsion to be the “big story” of every news day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the spirit, Lisa. Take good care of yourself in these troubling times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perfect music choice !
LikeLike
:) He can write them and they can play them. One of my top top favorite bands.
LikeLike
They are good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
YES! I’m listening to 2 I never heard before, “No Line on the Horizon” and “Songs of Innocence” both excellent!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ive had them on lately ‘Rattle Hum’ and ‘All That You Cant Leave’
LikeLiked by 1 person
“This is the song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We’re stealin’ it back.” I love the man.
“All That You Can’t Leave” one of my fave albums of theirs.” In Bono’s book, he talks about ‘Stuck in a Moment’ being about Michael Hutchence. ‘Grace’ is such a perfect song.
LikeLiked by 1 person