U2: Three Chords and the Truth

Lyrics to the U2 album Songs of Experience

Love Is All We Have Left

Nothing to stop this being the best day ever
Nothing to keep us from where we should be
I wanted the world but you knew better
And that all we have is immortality

Don't close your eyes
Love and love is all we have left
A baby cries on a doorstep
Love is all we have left
Don't close your eyes
Love and love is all we have left
You argue ‘cause you can’t accept
Love is all we have left

Now you’re at the other end of the telescope
Seven billion stars in her eyes
So many stars
So many ways of seeing
Hey, this is no time not to be alive

Don’t close your eyes
Love and love is all we have left
A baby cries on a doorstep
Love is all we have left
Don’t close your eyes
Love and love is all we have left
The only thing that can be kept
Love is all we have left

Lights of Home

I shouldn't be here 'cause I should be dead
I can see the lights in front of me
I believe my best days are ahead
I can see the lights in front of me
Oh Jesus, if I'm still your friend
What the hell
What the hell you got for me
I gotta get out from under my bed
To see again
The lights in front of me

Hey, I've been waiting to get home a long time
Hey now, do you know my name
Hey now, or where I'm going
If I can't get an answer
In your eyes I see it
The lights of home
The lights of home

I was born from a screaming sound
I can see the lights in front of me
I thought my head was harder than ground
I can see the lights in front of me
One more push and I'll be born again
One more road you can't travel with a friend
I saw a statue of a gold guitar
Bright lights right in front of me

Hey, I've been waiting to get home a long time
Hey now, do you know my name
Hey now, or where I'm going
If I can't get an answer
In your eyes I see it
The lights of home
In the lights of home

Hey now, do you know my name
Hey now, or where I'm going
If I can't get an answer
In your eyes I see it
In your eyes of love
I see the lights of home

Free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see yourself
If only you could
Free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see yourself
If only you could
Free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see yourself
If only you could
Free yourself to be yourself
If only you could see yourself
If only you could see

You're The Best Thing About Me

When you look so good
The pain in your face doesn’t show
When you look so good
And baby, you don’t even know

When the world is ours
But the world is not your kind of thing
Full of shooting stars
Brighter as they’re vanishing

Oh, you’ve seen enough
To know it’s children who teach
You’re still free enough
To wake up on a bed or a beach

You’re the best thing about me
The best thing that ever happened
A boy
The best thing
You’re the best thing about me
The best thing
I’m the kind of trouble that you enjoy
You’re the best thing about me
The best thing
The best things are easy to destroy
You’re the best thing about me
The best thing about me

I been crying out
How bad can a good time be
Shooting off my mouth
That’s another great thing about me

I have everything
But I feel like nothing at all
There’s no risky thing
For a man who’s determined to fall

You’re the best thing about me
The best thing that ever happened
A boy
The best thing
You’re the best thing about me
The best thing
I’m the kind of trouble that you enjoy
You’re the best thing about me
The best thing
The best things are easy to destroy
If you’re the best thing about me
Why am I
Why am I walking away
Walking away
Why am I walking away

I can see it all so clearly
I can see what you can’t see
I can see you love her loudly
When she needs you quietly

You’re the best thing about me
The best thing
The best things are easy to destroy
If you’re the best thing about me
Why am I
Why am I walking away
Walking away
Why am I walking away

Get Out Of Your Own Way

Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way

Love hurts
Now you’re the girl
Who’s left with no words
Your heart’s a balloon
But then it bursts
It doesn’t take a canon, just a pin
Your skin’s no covering

And resistance
Love has got to fight for its existence
The enemy has armies of assistants
The amorous, the glamorous
A kiss, a fist
Listen to this, oh

Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way

I can sing it to you all night
All night
If I could, I’d make it alright
Alright
Nothing’s stopping you except what’s inside
I can help you but it’s your fight
Your fight

Fight back
Don’t take it lying down
You gotta bite back
The face of liberty’s starting to crack
She had a plan until she got a smack
In the mouth and it all went south

Like freedom
The slaves are looking for someone to lead them
The master’s looking for someone to need him
The promised land is there for those who need it most
And Lincoln’s ghost said

Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way

I can sing it to you all night
All night
If I could, I’d make it alright
Alright
Nothing stopping you except what’s inside
I can help you but it’s your fight
Your fight

Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way
Get out of your own way

Blessed are the arrogant
For theirs is the kingdom of their own company
Blessed are the superstars
For the magnificence in their light
We understand better our own insignificance
Blessed are the filthy rich
For you can only truly own what you give away
Like your pain

American Soul

Blessed are the bullies
For one day they will have to stand up to themselves
Blessed are the liars
For the truth can be awkward

It’s not a place
This country is to me a sound
Of drum and bass
You close your eyes to look around
Look around, around
Look around, it’s a sound
Look around, look around
It’s a sound

It’s not a place
This country is to me a thought
That offers grace
For every welcome that is sought

You are rock and roll
You and I are rock and roll
You are rock and roll
Came here looking for American Soul

It’s not a place
This is a dream the whole world owns
The pilgrim’s face
It had your heart to call her home

Hold on, brother John
Too many mothers weeping
Dream on, brother John
But in your dreams you can’t be sleeping

You are rock and roll
You and I are rock and roll
You are rock and roll
Came here looking for American Soul
American, American

Put your hands in the air
Hold up the sky
It could be too late
But we still gotta try

There’s a moment in a life
Where the soul can die
In a person, in a country
When you believe the lie
The lie, the lie, the lie

There's a promise at the heart
Of every good dream
It's a call to action
Not to fantasy

The end of the dream
The start of what's real
Let it be unity, let it be community
For refugees like you and me
A country to receive us
Will you be my sanctuary
RefuJesus

You are rock and roll
You and I are rock and roll
You are rock and roll
Came here looking for American Soul

You are rock and roll
You and I are rock and roll
You are rock and roll
Came here looking for American Soul
American Soul, American Soul

Summer of Love

The winter doesn't want you
It haunts you
Summer serenading's a long way
From this frozen place
Your face

Our teacher
Our preacher
It's nature
And like flowers growing in a bomb crater
From nothing, a rose
It grows

I've been thinking about the west coast
Not the one that everyone knows
We're sick of living in the shadows
We've one more chance
Before the light goes
For a summer of love
Summer of love
Summer of love
Summer of love

Freezing, we're leaving
Believing that all we need's
Ahead of us somewhere
In a summer to come
So we run

I've been thinking about the west coast
Not the one that everyone knows
We're sick of living in the shadows
We've one more chance
Before the light goes
For a summer of love
Love, love, love
Summer of love
Summer of love
Love, love, love
Love, love

Oh, and when all is lost
When all is lost
We find out what remains
Oh, the same ocean's crossed
For some it's pleasure
For some it's pain
I've been thinking about the west coast
Not the one that everyone knows
In the rubble of Aleppo
Flowers blooming in the shadows
For a summer of love
A summer of love

Red Flag Day

I am made of
All that I’m afraid of
Most afraid of losing you
Hell’s the season
You’re the reason
That I even dreamt of getting through

I, I can feel your body shaking
I, I will meet you where the waves are breaking

Baby, it’s a red flag day
But baby, let’s get in the water
Taken out by a wave
Where we’ve never been before
Baby, it’s a red flag day
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, let’s go a bit further
Paradise is a place
Red flag day, hey hey
You can’t see when it’s yours

Red flag day, hey hey
Red flag day, hey hey

Sun comes stealing
Oceanic feeling
Sky will soon be clear
Today we can’t afford to be
Afraid of what we fear

I, I can feel your body shaking
I, I will meet you where the waves are breaking

Baby, it’s a red flag day
But baby, let’s get in the water
Taken out by a wave
Where we’ve never been before
Baby, it’s a red flag day
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, let’s go a bit further
Paradise is a place
Red flag day, hey hey
You can’t see when it’s yours

Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, it’s a red flag day
Red flag day, hey hey

Not even news today
So many lost in the sea last night
But one word that the sea can’t say is
No, no, no, no

Baby, it’s a red flag day
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, come out me
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, come out to me
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, come out to me
Red flag day, hey hey
Baby, come out to me
Baby, let’s get in the water

The Showman (Little More Better)

Baby's crying because it’s born to sing
Singers cry about everything
Still in the playground, falling off a swing
But you know that I know

Walked through the room like a birthday cake
When I'm all lit up I can't make a mistake
And there's a level of shadow that you just can't fake
But you know that I know

Oh, you don't care
But you know I'm there

You make it look so good
A little more better
Look so good
Just a little more, little more
You look so good
That's what's gonna get ya
You look so good
Just a little more, little more
You know you're chasing the sunlight
That's why I'm staying up all night
You make it look so good
A little more better
Look so good
A little more

It is what it is but it's not what it seems
This screwed up stuff is the stuff of dreams
I got just enough low self-esteem
To get me where I want to go, oh

The showman gives you front row to his heart
The showman prays his heartache will chart
Making a spectacle of falling apart
Is just the start of the show, oh

Oh, you don't care
But you know I'm there

You make it look so good
A little more better
Look so good
Just a little more, little more
You look so good
That's what's gonna get ya
Look so good
Just a little more, little more
I've been chasing the sunlight
That's why I'm staying up all night
I lie for a living
I love to let on
But you make it true when you sing along

You make it look so good
A little more better
Look so good
Just a little more, little more
You look so good
That's what's gonna get ya
You look so good
Just a little more, little more
You make it look so good
A little more better
Look so good
Just a little more, little more
You look so good
That's what's gonna get ya
You look so good
Just a little more, little more

The Little Things That Give You Away

The night gave you a song
A light had been turned on
You walked out in the world like you belonged there
As easy as a breeze
Each heart was yours to please
Is it only me who sees there’s something wrong there
Oh la la la I'm not a ghost now
I can see you
You need to see me

It's the little things that give you away
The words you cannot say
Your big mouth in the way

I saw you on the stairs
You didn't notice I was there
That's cause you were talking at me and not to me
You were high above the storm
A hurricane being born
But this freedom it might cost you your liberty

It's the little things that give you away
The words you cannot say
Your big mouth in the way
It's the little things that tease and betray
Has the hunter now become the prey
But it's the little things
The little things that give you away

Sometimes I can't believe my existence
See myself from a distance
I can't get back inside
Sometimes the air is so anxious
All my thoughts are so reckless
And all of my innocence has died
Sometimes I wake at four in the morning
Where all the darkness is swarming
And it covers me in fear

Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes

Sometimes I’m full of anger and grieving
So far away from believing
That any sun will reappear

Sometimes
The end is not coming
It's not coming
The end is here
Sometimes

Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes

Sometimes
When the painted glass shatters
and you’re the only thing matters
but I can see through the tears
Sometimes
The end is not coming
it’s not coming
The end is here
Sometimes

Landlady

Roam, the phone is where I live till I get home
And when the doorbell rings
You tell me that I have key
I ask you, how you know it’s me?

The road, no road without a turn
And if there was, the road would be too long
What keeps us standing in this view
Is the view that we can be brand new

The landlady takes me up in the air
I go, I go where I would not dare
The landlady shows me the stars up there
I’m weightless
Weightless when she is there
And I’ll never know
Never know what starving poets meant
Cause when I was broke
It was you that always paid the rent

Space, her place is where I found my parking space
And when I’m losing ground
You know she gives it back to me
She whispers “don’t do, just be”

The landlady takes me up in the air
I go, I go where I would not dare
The landlady shows me the stars up there
I’m weightless
Weightless when she is there
And I’ll never know
Never know what starving poets meant
Cause when I was broke
It was you that always paid the rent

Every wave that broke me
Every song that wrote me
Every dawn that woke me
Was to get me home to you, see

Every soul that left me
Every heart that kept me
The strangers that protected me
To bring me back to you

Every magic potion
Every false emotion
How unswerving our devotion
To the lies we know are almost true

Every sweet confusion
Every grand illusion
I will win and call it losing
If the prize is not for you

The Blackout

Dinosaur, wonders why it still walks the earth, yeah
A meteor, promises it's not gonna hurt, yeah
Earth quakes always happen when you're in bed Fred
The house shakes maybe it was something I said Ned

Go easy on me, easy on me brother
Go easy on me, easy on me brother

When the lights go out
And you throw yourself about in the darkness where you learn to see
When the lights go out
Don't you ever doubt
The light that we can really be

Statues fall
Democracy is flat on its back Jack
We had it all
And what we had is not coming back, Zac
A big mouth
Says the people they don't want to be free for free
The Blackout
Is this an extinction event we see?

Go easy on me, easy on me brother
Go easy on me, easy on me now

When the lights go out
And you throw yourself about in the darkness where you learn to see
When the lights go out
Don't you ever doubt
The light that we can really be

When the lights go out
Ah, ah, oh, oh
When the lights go out
Ah, ah, oh, oh

When the lights go out
When the lights go out

Blackout
It's clear
Who you are will appear
Blackout
No fear
So glad that we are all still here
Here!

When the lights go out
When the lights go out
When the lights go out

When the lights go out
And you throw yourself about in the darkness where you learn to see
When the lights go out
Don't you ever doubt
The light that we can really be

When the lights go out
Ah, ah, oh, oh
When the lights go out
Ah, ah, oh, oh

When the lights go out
When the lights go out
When the lights go out

Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way

The door is open to go through
If I could I would come too
But the path is made by you
As you‘re walking, start singing and stop talking

Oh
If I could hear myself when I say
Oh
Love is bigger than anything in its way
Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh - oh
Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh – oh

So young to be the words of your own song
I know the rage in you is strong
Write a world where we can belong
to each other and sing it like no other

Oh
If I could hear myself when I say
Oh
Love is bigger than anything in its way Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh - oh
Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh – oh

If the moonlight caught you crying on Killiney Bay
Oh sing your song, let your song be sung
If you listen you can hear the silence say
When you think you’re done, you’ve just begun
Love is bigger than anything in its way
Love is bigger than anything in its way

Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh - oh
Love is bigger than anything in its way
Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh - oh
Oh - oh - oh - oh - oh - oh

13 (There Is a Light)

And if the terrors of the night
come creeping into your days
And the world comes, stealing children from your room
Guard your innocence
From hallucination
And know that darkness always gathers around the light

There is a light you can’t always see
If there is a world we can’t always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt
And there is a light, don’t let it go out

When the winds screams and shouts
And the sea is a dragon’s tail
And the ship that stole your heart away sets sail
When all you’ve left is leaving
And all you got is grieving
And all you know is needing

If there is a light you can’t always see
If there is a world we can’t always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt
And there is a light, don’t let it go out

Cause this is a song
A song for someone
Someone like me

I know the world is dumb
But you don’t have to be
I’ve got a question for the child in you before it leaves
Are you tough enough to be kind?
Do you know your heart has it’s own mind?
Darkness gathers around the light
Hold on, hold on

There is a light you can’t always see
If there is a world we can’t always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt
And there is a light don’t let it go out

And this is a song
A song for someone
This is a song
A song for someone
Someone like me
Someone like me
Someone like me

The following bonus tracks were released in the deluxe edition of Songs of Experience:

Ordinary Love (Extraordinary Mix)

The sea wants to kiss the golden shore The sunlight warms your skin
All the beauty that’s been lost before
Wants to find us again

I can’t fight you anymore
It’s you I’m fighting for
The sea throws rocks together
But time leaves us polished stones

We can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
And we cannot reach any higher
If we can’t deal with ordinary love

Birds fly high in the summer sky
And rest on the breeze
The same wind will take care of you and I
We’ll build our house in the trees

Your heart is on my sleeve
Did you put it there with a magic marker?
For years I would believe
That the world couldn’t wash it away

‘Cause we can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
And we cannot reach any higher
If we can’t deal with ordinary love

‘Cause we can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
And we cannot reach any higher
If we can’t deal with ordinary love
We can’t fall any further
If we can’t feel ordinary love
And we cannot reach any higher
If we can’t deal with ordinary love

Whoo whoo whoo
Are we tough enough for ordinary love?
Are we tough enough, tough enough for love?
Are we tough enough for ordinary love?

Book Of Your Heart

Right, right at the start
You put this into words
How you think we should proceed, yeah

You wanted me alone
With the pictures that you've seen
Of where you haven't been
But where you want to go

Ask the leaf and ask the bird
Not to sing or speak a word
We are not fictitious characters
But we don't belong to this world

The book, the book of your heart
One tiny mark, an entry
In the book of your heart
It's written on skin
To even be in
The book of your heart

You can change your name, or even who you are
That's the beauty of the scar
That is the contract of the heart
This is our wedding day
This is the promise that we'll stay
Through the long descriptive passages
Where we don't know what to say

The book, the book of your heart
One tiny mark, an entry
In the book of your heart
It's written on skin
To even be in
The book of your heart

Babe I don't belong to you
Love is what we choose to do
Babe you don't belong to me
It's not that easy

Lights of Home (St. Peters' String Version)

See Lights of Home

Random U2 lyric:

"There is a silence that comes to our house when no-one can sleep. I guess it's the price of love - I know it's not cheap" - Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

My U2 ramblings:

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