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| “Zooropa” | ||||||||||||||
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| Single by U2 from the album Zooropa |
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| Released | July 1993 | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||||||
| Length | 6:31 (Album Version)
4:49 (Radio Edit) |
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| Label | Island Records | |||||||||||||
| Producer | Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge | |||||||||||||
| U2 singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Zooropa" is the opening track from U2's 1993 Zooropa album. It was later released as a promo single in the United States and Mexico.
Contents |
Song meaning
"Zooropa" is a commentary on consumerism and commercialism, featuring advertising slogans of several well-known companies as verses. [1] The introduction to the song (entitled "Babel" in early stages of recording) is a mixture of piano and indistinct sounds and voices; described in the liner notes as "courtesy of the advertising world".
Examples of the slogans include:
- Audi — "Vorsprung durch Technik" ("Lead through technology")
- U.S. Army — "Be all that you can be"
- UK Lottery — "Be a winner"
- Slim Fast — "Eat to get slimmer"
- Persil/Daz — "A bluer kind of white"
- Fairy Liquid Mild Green — "We're mild and green, and squeaky clean"
- Toshiba — "Better by design"
- United Airlines — "Fly the friendly skies"
- Zanussi — "Through the appliance of science"
- Colgate — "We've got that ring of confidence"
In some parts a voice that appears to be that of the The Edge says "What do you want?" while a female voice asks the same question ('Qu'est-ce que tu veux?') in French.
"Dream out loud"
The lyric "dream out loud" found in this song has appeared a few times in U2's work. Its first known appearance was during a speech by Bono, in Dublin at the Point Depot on December 31, 1989. During this Lovetown Tour show Bono stated: "Here's to the future! The only limits are the limits of our imagination. Dream up the kind of world you wanna live in; dream out loud at high volume. That's what we do for a living. Lucky bastards!" [2] The phrase "And you can dream / so dream out loud" appears in the song "Acrobat" on their 1991 album Achtung Baby, and again on "Zooropa" two years later. The song "Always", b-side of the "Beautiful Day" single, featured the phrase "Well if you dream then dream out loud".
Live performances
The song has been played live on three occasions, each time on the European leg of the Zoo TV Tour. The live performances were truncated versions of the album version, beginning with the lyrics "I have no compass / And I have no map." The guitar riff and "what do you want?" phrase were sampled in the opening sequence of the European and Australian tour legs.
The bassist in the opening is Larry Mullen Jr.[citation needed]
Track listing
Mexico release
- "Zooropa" – 6:29
- "Numb" – 4:17
The two-track Mexico release featured album versions of "Zooropa" and "Numb."
U.S. release
- "Zooropa" (edit) – 4:49
The single-track U.S. release featured an edited version of "Zooropa," which omitted the "Babel" introduction of the song.
References
- ^ U2: U2faqs.com - Songs / Lyrics FAQ
- ^ Jal de la Parra, Pimm. U2 Live a concert documentary (1994). pg. 136. Omnibus Press
External links
- Discography entry at U2 Wanderer — Details on the promo single
- U2-Vertigo-Tour.com Listing — Live performances and song lyrics
