Iris should not be confused with the popular 1990's song 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls. You could be forgiven for this though as that song also appeared on the City of Angels soundtrack with U2's If God Will Send his Angels.
Iris is directly inspired by Bono's mother, Iris Hewson. Bono has previously referenced Iris in Tommorrow from the October album.
The song contains contains a cute reference to Kraftwerk. Bono said 'My mother [died] just as I was discovering girls. One of the girls I was discovering was Ali... she arrived at Mount Temple in the same month. The first lover’s gift I gave Ali was a Kraftwerk album called The Man Machine. So I referred to that.' with the line "It was you made me your man/Machine.’
Songs of Innocence was released, through sheer coincidence, 40 years to the day that Iris died.
Bono also noted to Rolling Stone Magazine that he was later inspired to rewrite part of the song after being deeply moved by the late ISIS hostage James Foley's letter to his family. "I realized," Bono says, "that we will all be remembered, and we remember our loved ones, by the least profound moments. The simplest moments. In the letter he says to his brother, 'I remember playing werewolf in the dark with you.'
Iris lyrics by U2
The star that gives us light
Has been gone a while
But it’s not an illusion
The ache in my heart
Is so much a part of who I am
Something in your eyes
Took a thousand years to get here
Something in your eyes
Took a thousand years, a thousand years
Hold me close
Hold me close and don’t let me go
Hold me close
Like I’m someone that you might know
Hold me close
The darkness just lets us see
Who we are
I’ve got your life inside of me
Iris, Iris
Once we are born
We begin to forget
The very reason we came
But you I’m sure I’ve met
Long before the night
The start went out
We’re meeting up again
Hold me close
Hold me close and don’t let me go
Hold me close
Like I’m someone that you might know
Hold me close
The darkness just lets us see
Who we are
I’ve got your life inside of me
Iris, Iris
The start are bright
But do they know
The universe is beautiful but cold
You took me by the hand
I thought that I was leading you
But it was you made me your man
Machine, I dream where you are
Iris standing in the hall
She tells me I can do it all
Iris wakes to my nightmare
Don’t fear the world
It isn’t there
Iris playing on the strand
She buries the boy beneath the sand
Iris says that I will be the death of her
It was not me
Iris, Iris
She said free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see yourself
Free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see
U2 have written a of songs which make references to parents. A notable effort was Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own from the All That You Can't Leave Behind album.
1 comment:
A great great song. Get chills every time I listen to it, even teared up a bit a few times. Bono puts so much heart into this song (as he does with all of U2 songs), but I can feel something deeper, he loved his mom, he is a good man.
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