“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” - U2 lyrics - Shane MacGowan

U2 Covers · Shane MacGowan · The Pogues

A brassy Pogues apology song becomes part of U2’s long history of covers, tributes, collaborations, and Irish musical inheritance.

“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” is a Shane MacGowan song originally recorded by The Pogues and later covered by U2 for 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan. It is not one of MacGowan’s obvious ballads of exile, drink, ruin, or doomed romance. It is brighter than that on the surface, built around a repeated chorus and a horn-driven soul feel, but the lyric underneath is still classic MacGowan: regret, desire, apology, and the hope that forgiveness has not arrived too late.

LYRICS

I love you, baby, since we were at school

I didn't show it, I was a fool

You were burning, I was cold as ice

Baby, now I realize, oh yeah

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Wooo-oooh-oooh-oooh

Wooo-oooh-oooh-oooh

I gave you misery, I gave you lies

And if I hurt you, I apologize

I love your lips and I love your eyes

I love your breasts, I love your thighs, oh yeah


Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)


Wo0oo-oooh-o0ooh-oooh

Wo0oo-oooh-oooh-oooh


Wo0oo-oooh-oooh-o0ooh

Woo0o-oooh-oooh-oo0oh


Now all I can do is hope and pray

That you'll forgive me before it's too late

There's only one thing I can say to you

You know I love you, you know it's true, oh yeah

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Wo0oo-ooo0h-o0ooh-oooh

W0ooo-o0ooh-ooo0h-oooh

Wo0oo-oo0oh-oo0oh-o0ooh

Woo0o-o0ooh-o0ooh-o0ooh

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah (yeah yeah yeah yeah)

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For U2, the song sits naturally beside the band’s wider cover-song tradition. Their catalogue of covers includes dramatic reinventions such as “Night and Day”, cause-driven collaborations such as “The Saints Are Coming”, punk tributes such as “Beat on the Brat”, and affectionate nods to rock elders such as “Satellite of Love”.

The lyric begins from an old romantic confession and moves quickly into regret. The narrator admits he loved someone from youth, failed to show it properly, caused hurt, and now wants forgiveness. MacGowan keeps the language plain, direct, and slightly rough-edged. That is part of the power. The song is not dressed up as noble suffering. It is a man admitting he made a mess and hoping the person on the other side of the song still hears him.