As a single Get On Your Boots came out in a long line of unfamiliar first singles that started as far back as Desire from Rattle and Hum. The first sounds to hit the radio are always those that unsettle, disturb and intrigue the fan as to what might come next. Get On Your Boots certainly did all that. The surprise for me, and I had gotten to like it as a single, was how in the context of the album I found it reassuring and swaggeringly catchy half an album in. The big Edge riff, the Larry gunshot drumming, Adams solid groove and Bono’s cascading of spoken word couplets, all make claim on your attention until the melodic transformation into “let me in the sound” brings cohesion and unified sing along.
Lyrically, the song is equally unnerving. It could be that U2 were attempting another crack at the frivolous and as they found on Achtung Baby couldn’t demean themselves to just sing a song about sexy boots. Though Bono claims not to want to talk about wars between nations for at least these three and a half minutes there are bomb scares, dark dreams, ghosts and the focus on a pair of sexy boots gives way to the future and eternity. More admiration for Mrs Vox is certainly contained within. The idea that women are the future is again Bono’s acknowledgment of his wife in particular in women in particular. She may be the one in the sexy boots. She may also be the one who is unaware of how beautiful she is, though this chorus echoes the sentiments of Original Of The Species which was about the U2 female teenage offspring.
“The sound” that there is a desire to belong to seems to be a symbol of salvation – “God, I’m going down/I don’t want to drown/Meet me in the sound.” In the end a song about sexy boots ends up like a clarion call to something much bigger; the future needs a lot of love.
Thanks for that, Steve! Was wondering what sort of messages one could get from that one... you've given some thoughts to chew upon!
Posted by: Kate Donaghy | 20/05/2009 at 08:10 PM