U2 is an Irish alternative rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group… Read Full Bio ↴U2 is an Irish alternative rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), the Edge (lead guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums and percussion). Initially rooted in post-punk, U2's musical style evolved throughout their career, yet has maintained an anthemic sound built on Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's effects-based guitar textures. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. Popular for their live performances, the group has staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career.
The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music into their sound, and embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group's thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence (2014), was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, but received criticism for its automatic placement in users' music libraries.
U2 has released 14 studio albums and is one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.
Foundation: The band originally formed in 1976 when Larry Mullen posted a bulletin in his school asking for musicians to form a rock band. The band then consisted of the four current members plus three additional guitarists, including The Edge’s brother Dick Evans (later a member of Virgin Prunes), Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. According to legend, Bono originally auditioned as a guitarist but couldn’t play. He auditioned as lead vocals, but really couldn’t sing. He was, however, incredibly enthusiastic about the band, extremely charismatic, a great writer, and was strangely able to reach the audience when the band played, something he is known for still today. Bono will reach out into the crowd and dance or mess with someone in the crowd at every concert. He was kept as a member. The extra guitarists would soon leave the band and the group would go through the names “Feedback ” and “The Hype” before finally settling on U2.
The 70s & 80s: 1978 was a jumping point year for the band, finally finding their sound / voice. U2 won a talent contest in 1978: £500 and funds to make a record. Paul McGuinness became the band’s manager and U2 released an EP called Three and the single Another Day, the following year. U2 went on to release their first album, Boy and then more critically acclaimed albums incl.: October, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire (featuring the song PlayMLK dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr). Seen by many as a political band with more charisma than others, they were called “a different kind” of band. After a short break U2 returned with The Joshua Tree & the USA music inspired Rattle And Hum (also a movie of the same name, based on the tour).
The 90s: Promising ”to dream it all up again”, they added industrial and dance styles to their music. Trying to drop a goody two shoes image, they went to Berlin (Germany), supposedly to develop new self-expressions. From there they started to make fun of themselves and had a good time of it in albums like Achtung Baby (meaning ”watch out, baby”, artwork feat. make-up artist Nassim Khalifa) & Zooropa. Bono took on many stage personae such as “The Fly”, “Mirrorball Man” and “Mr. MacPhisto” for the gigantic ZOO TV Tour. Later they continued to make fun of Pop culture and all its extremes with the album Pop and consequent PopMart tour which was announced to be launched at a Kmart store and included a giant golden arch across the stage.
The 00s: At the end of the 90’s into 00’s U2 became less image and more reality. With the death of Bono’s good friend Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, Bono wrote more songs from the heart surrounding ideas like life and death, children, hope, and the real world past all the pop culture and TV. Some say they’ve returned to a more band-centric sound with albums like All That You Can’t Leave Behind which features a song, Kite, dedicated to Bono’s father who passed away shortly after the album’s conception and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The 10s: U2 went on the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010. This tour set records for the highest-grossing concert tour. The band worked with producer Danger Mouse for their thirteenth album Songs of Innocence, which was released on 9 September 2014 for free to all Apple iCloud users.
The Name: There are many theories as to the origin of the name U2. For example, U2 was an intelligence airplane that was in use by the United States during the Cold War. Other obvious candidates include “You too” and “You two”, etc. Nonetheless the official line on the name’s origins remains unknown. The band has been quoted as saying that they did think of the U2 spy plane, but remain hushed about other reasons… U2
The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music into their sound, and embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group's thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence (2014), was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, but received criticism for its automatic placement in users' music libraries.
U2 has released 14 studio albums and is one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.
Foundation: The band originally formed in 1976 when Larry Mullen posted a bulletin in his school asking for musicians to form a rock band. The band then consisted of the four current members plus three additional guitarists, including The Edge’s brother Dick Evans (later a member of Virgin Prunes), Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. According to legend, Bono originally auditioned as a guitarist but couldn’t play. He auditioned as lead vocals, but really couldn’t sing. He was, however, incredibly enthusiastic about the band, extremely charismatic, a great writer, and was strangely able to reach the audience when the band played, something he is known for still today. Bono will reach out into the crowd and dance or mess with someone in the crowd at every concert. He was kept as a member. The extra guitarists would soon leave the band and the group would go through the names “Feedback ” and “The Hype” before finally settling on U2.
The 70s & 80s: 1978 was a jumping point year for the band, finally finding their sound / voice. U2 won a talent contest in 1978: £500 and funds to make a record. Paul McGuinness became the band’s manager and U2 released an EP called Three and the single Another Day, the following year. U2 went on to release their first album, Boy and then more critically acclaimed albums incl.: October, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire (featuring the song PlayMLK dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr). Seen by many as a political band with more charisma than others, they were called “a different kind” of band. After a short break U2 returned with The Joshua Tree & the USA music inspired Rattle And Hum (also a movie of the same name, based on the tour).
The 90s: Promising ”to dream it all up again”, they added industrial and dance styles to their music. Trying to drop a goody two shoes image, they went to Berlin (Germany), supposedly to develop new self-expressions. From there they started to make fun of themselves and had a good time of it in albums like Achtung Baby (meaning ”watch out, baby”, artwork feat. make-up artist Nassim Khalifa) & Zooropa. Bono took on many stage personae such as “The Fly”, “Mirrorball Man” and “Mr. MacPhisto” for the gigantic ZOO TV Tour. Later they continued to make fun of Pop culture and all its extremes with the album Pop and consequent PopMart tour which was announced to be launched at a Kmart store and included a giant golden arch across the stage.
The 00s: At the end of the 90’s into 00’s U2 became less image and more reality. With the death of Bono’s good friend Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, Bono wrote more songs from the heart surrounding ideas like life and death, children, hope, and the real world past all the pop culture and TV. Some say they’ve returned to a more band-centric sound with albums like All That You Can’t Leave Behind which features a song, Kite, dedicated to Bono’s father who passed away shortly after the album’s conception and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The 10s: U2 went on the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010. This tour set records for the highest-grossing concert tour. The band worked with producer Danger Mouse for their thirteenth album Songs of Innocence, which was released on 9 September 2014 for free to all Apple iCloud users.
The Name: There are many theories as to the origin of the name U2. For example, U2 was an intelligence airplane that was in use by the United States during the Cold War. Other obvious candidates include “You too” and “You two”, etc. Nonetheless the official line on the name’s origins remains unknown. The band has been quoted as saying that they did think of the U2 spy plane, but remain hushed about other reasons… U2
Beat On The Brat
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For-sake the power
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
I beat on the brat
I beat on the brat
I beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
Do, yeah
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
I beat on the brat
I beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
Do, yeah
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
What can you lose?
What can you lose?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
The lyrics of U2's song 'Beat on the Brat' are simple and repetitive, but have a different meaning at the surface level and beneath it. The song is about a rebellious teenager who is constantly causing trouble and disturbing the peace. The singer of the song, who is likely an adult, is frustrated with the teenager's behavior and is urging him to change his ways. The title 'Beat on the Brat' refers to the singer's need to take strong actions against the teenager's bad behavior, possibly even resorting to physical violence represented by the baseball bat.
However, the song can also be interpreted as a commentary on the cyclical nature of violence in society. The lyrics "What can you do? With a brat like that always on your back" suggest that the singer has been victimized by the brat's behavior, but is now resorting to violence to solve the problem, perpetuating the cycle of violence.
Overall, the song is a critique on the use of force to solve problems and the need for a different approach to dealing with challenging behavior that leads to violence.
Line by Line Meaning
For-sake the power
Reject the notion of having power over someone else.
Beat on the brat
Physically attack the troublesome, aggravating person in question.
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Use a blunt object to deliver the blows in order to make a more significant impact.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh-oh
Exclaim in excitement and approval of the idea of hitting someone who deserves it.
I beat on the brat
The singer has taken action against the person causing problems.
What can you do?
Expressing futility and helplessness in dealing with this type of person.
With a brat like that always on your back
Referring to the constant annoyance and presence of the problematic person in one's life.
What can you lose?
Implies that there is nothing to lose by standing up to the aggravating person.
Do, yeah
Encourages action against the problem rather than passive acceptance.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Douglas Colvin, Jeff Hyman, John Cummings, Thomas Erdelyi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@chriscarter7196
Heaven sends me here to you
And if you fear you've reason to
Open up all seven seals
The beast is come to claim the youth
Archangel
Archangel
Defiant brood
Defiant brood
I call on you
Casted down my bretheren
Rebels from authority
Power, pride, contempt and lust
All these things I give to you
Archangel
Archangel
Defiant brood
Defiant brood
I call on you
I am not your son of God
The prince of light will show no fear
Mine is that which rules this world
The beast is come, I am the end
Archangel
Archangel
And when they cast out the brood
For the sin of pride misused
And when they cast down to Hell
Fucking brood
Archangel
Archangel
Heaven sends me here to you
And if a-you fear you've reason to
Open up all seven seals
The beast is come to claim the youth
Archangel
Archangel
Archangel
Archangel
@HardlyRamone
One of the last things Johnny Ramone did was oversee the making of this album. He advised all the bands to make the songs their own rather than play them like Ramones songs, so that's what everyone did. Naturally, the cover by Greenday sounds the closest to the original, as their style is arguably already closer to the Ramones than anyone else's on the album. But interestingly, Johnny's favorite track was actually the Red Hot Chili Peppers' version of Havana Affair, which sounds nothing like the original stylistically.
I personally really like a lot of the tracks, it's interesting to hear Ramones songs translated to other band's styles, as it shows how versatile their music really was. The problem is, if you already dislike a band's style or dislike it when a song you like gets messed with, you aren't going to enjoy the cover. But honestly, getting all these different artists to play the songs the way the Ramones played them would have been silly. That's what tribute bands are for.
@LetsGoMetsGo33
The Offspring's cover of Sedated was really close to Ramones also. They really didn't do anything with it.
@Imsuchaliar
So much hostility here. The Ramones opened up for U2 in stadiums in the early 90s. U2 genuinely like the Ramones (as opposed to many poseurs wearing Ramones t.shirts and don't even know they once were a band). They just covered a song they like by a band they like and respect.
@curly_wyn
U2 weren’t even good enough when they started out to play cover of them. If your band can’t play something as simple and straightforward as the Ramones, then you should quit. Full fuckin’ stop.
@rastou2
@@curly_wynRamones would be over the moon to cover anything by U2 by now. Come on mate get your shit together
@catchsway
This should be forbiden because this cvnt bono fvcked up like never in his life. Plain and simple.
@marcoscardosoce4563
U2 e Ramones são duas excelentes bandas, cada uma perfeita no seu tempo......
@travisossowski5831
I'm not a U2 fan but they did a really good job on this song
@fabianhernandez3321
The Edge...uffff
@ghouls101
Great song, horrible cover