So Cruel
Encyclopedia
"So Cruel" is a song by rock
band U2
. It is the sixth track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby
, concluding side one of the album. The song was written at Elsinore in Dalkey
. While audio engineer Flood changed reels to listen to a demo of another song, lead singer Bono
began to improvise a song on guitar. The rest of the band quickly joined in, creating the first take of the song. It was developed as an acoustic track, with Flood adding overdubs and additional elements later. Bassist Adam Clayton
and Flood noted that the technology in the studio was crucial in transforming the acoustic song into the final mix.
During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, guitarist The Edge
separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. The separation had a major effect on the development of the song, as Bono channelled their pain into the lyrics. Bono said "there were lots of other things going on internally within the band and outside it, and I was working through all of that", noting that The Edge's separation from Aislinn was just one component of that. Thematically the song is about unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness.
U2 have performed "So Cruel" live just four times, all of which were on the Zoo TV Tour
in 1992. The track was favourably received by critics.
. Following the recording sessions at Hansa Studios in West Berlin
in 1990, U2 resumed the album's sessions in February 1991 at the seaside manor Elsinore in Dalkey
, renting the house for ₤10,000 per month. Producer Daniel Lanois
' strategy was to record in houses, mansions, or castles, as he believed it brought atmosphere to the recordings. During the recording at Elsinore, while working on another song, audio engineer
Flood changed the reel
to listen to an earlier take. Bono picked up a guitar and began to sing. The rest of the band quickly joined in. Flood said, "All of a sudden, almost in the time it had taken for me to wind off the reel and wind the next reel on, it was quite obvious that there was a song about to pop out, and if I wasn't suddenly taking the reel off and getting a new piece of tape on, and changing from monitoring a backing track downstairs to everybody's in the control room wanting to record now, it would never have happened."
"So Cruel" was developed acoustically, with guitarist The Edge
playing an acoustic guitar, bassist Adam Clayton
playing an acoustic bass
, and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. using a bodhrán
. Author John D. Luerssen interpreted the song as beginning "with the same kind of basic approach to songcraft that gave wings to 'She's a Mystery to Me
'". Bono said that "People thought it was too traditional, one more attempt at writing a song for Roy Orbison
". Lyrically, it was also inspired by Scott Walker
. Bono said, "His is a very delicate mode of expression on the outside, though too often it is laced underneath with a lot of pain and rage."
According to Clayton, Flood "did a couple of treatments to the track that utterly transformed it." He keyed
Clayton's bass with the bodhrán, which "gave it a much more bubbly, off-beat feel". This was followed by some overdubbing and the laying down of a full drum track. Flood said, "I think the way we shifted around the rhythm was very important... The bass is played, but in the studio we doctored it to change the emphasis of where the bass line lay. That turned it into something that had a more unique feel about it, meshed against the song." Duchess Nell Catchpole was brought in to play violin
and viola
for the song. The strings were arranged by The Edge and producer Brian Eno
. Clayton explained that while the original acoustic version "wasn't something one could imagine being on the record", it "was lifted up by studio trickery." Flood believes that the use of technology was crucial in making the final mix. An early version of the track was later released on some versions of the 20th anniversary reissue of Achtung Baby.
editor Niall Stokes
noted that in the lyrics, "Bono is clearly drawing on the experiences of those close to him, and particularily on the emotional turmoil that The Edge and Aislinn had been going through." Bono said "that's in there, but it's unfair to lump it all on The Edge and Aislinn splitting up. That was one of the saddest things... But that was only one part of it. There were lots of other things going on internally within the band and outside it, and I was working through all of that. People are desperately trying to hold onto each other in a time when that's very difficult. Looking around, you see how unprepared for it all people are, and the deals they make."
Thematically, "So Cruel" also deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness. Stokes described it as "the desolate complaint of a lover who has been spurned but who remains in love with his tormentor." Uncut contributor Gavin Martin said "the lyrics of the song reinforce the idea of Achtung Baby as a kind of romantic masque, where images of love, debased or abandoned, abound." Elizabeth Wurtzel of The New Yorker
noted "with its lovely string arrangements, winding keyboards, and frothy, hypnotic melodies, is reminiscent of Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover
", except that every lovingly sweet line is contrasted with a bitterly ironic counter line", citing the lyric "I disappeared in you / You disappeared from me / I gave you everything you wanted / It wasn't what you wanted" as an example. Hubert Dreyfuss, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley
and Mark Wrathall, a Humanities Professor at Brigham Young University
believed that the song was an exploration into philosophical dualism
. Quoting the lyric "Head of heaven, fingers in the mire", they said "if we are essentially dual in this way, then any attempt to overcome one side in favour of the other inevitably ends in despair", comparing the underlying philosophy to Blaise Pascal
's Pensées
.
Author Višnja Cogan wrote "Women... never get treated badly in U2 songs... Women are put on a pedestal by Bono, his mother's untimely death being undoubtedly one of the reasons. If anything, in some of the songs on Achtung Baby, it is the man who gets the raw deal. On 'So Cruel', it is the man who is the victim of a woman. It is the reverse of the classical torch song". Quoting the lyric "Her skin is pale like God's only dove / Screams like an angel for your love / Then she makes you watch her from above / And you need her like a drug", he added "The man is manipulated by the woman's sexual power. He is incapable of pulling himself out of this relationship and despite his best efforts, he comes back to her." He noted that the woman is portrayed as "cruel, unreliable and unfaithful. She can only betray him and the duality between love and lust is well depicted in the song." Cogan concluded by saying "unlike the classical torch song, this one ends with the man seemingly deciding to leave the woman... The only thing we don't know in the end is whether he actually acts on his promise or not."
Conversely, author Deane Galbraith believed the song was told from the woman's viewpoint, saying "a woman is unable to receive love without also hating those who love her. She acts simultaneously as tender lover and cruel sadist. The lyrics that describe her 'like an angel' are immediately juxtaposed with a more sordid description that pictures her love as an addictive and manipulative drug. Instead of the subtle and vivifying transcendence of a heavenly angel, when she offers to take her lover higher, he is forced to watch her while she controls him 'from above'. For this is a fallen angel, not purely good or evil, but a lover whose best intentions are insidiously corrupt".
wrote that it was "riddled with images of self-doubt and uncertainty". Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone
said, "Bono sounds humbler and more vulnerable than in the past", noting that he "[acknowledges] his own potential for hypocrisy and inadequacy, and addressing basic human weaknesses rather than the failings of society at large".
Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
called it an "embittered love [song]" with "a minimalist drum sound from Larry Mullen and an even more minimalist vocal from Bono." Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
wrote that "[love is] a state of desperation or a bitter memory... The marchlike 'So Cruel' [ricochets] from fond reminiscence to vindictiveness to accusations, some of them directed at the narrator himself". Writing for the Boston Herald
, Julie Romandetta called "So Cruel" a "broken-hearted [lament]" that was "lushly orchestrated". Robert Hillburn of the Los Angeles Times
believed that it was one of U2's best tracks, describing it as "pulsating and accusatory". Brian Eno described the song as "epic and intimate, passionate and chill".
. The first appearance was on 22 May 1992 in Milan, Italy, on the second leg of the tour when, at the end of "Bad
", Bono sang a few lines of "So Cruel" in place of "All I Want Is You". In August 1992, a few days prior to the commencement of the third leg of the tour, U2 rehearsed the song in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The second performance in concert was on 22 August 1992 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Bono performed the song acoustically. Concert historian Pimm Jal de la Parra said that it "[chilled] the crowd." The final performances occurred on 9 and 15 September 1992 in Pontiac, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois respectively. On both occasions it was played in place of "All I Want Is You". An abbreviated performance, recorded at Hansa studios, appears in the 2011 documentary From the Sky Down
.
Additional
Technical
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
. It is the sixth track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative...
, concluding side one of the album. The song was written at Elsinore in Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
. While audio engineer Flood changed reels to listen to a demo of another song, lead singer Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
began to improvise a song on guitar. The rest of the band quickly joined in, creating the first take of the song. It was developed as an acoustic track, with Flood adding overdubs and additional elements later. Bassist Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
and Flood noted that the technology in the studio was crucial in transforming the acoustic song into the final mix.
During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. The separation had a major effect on the development of the song, as Bono channelled their pain into the lyrics. Bono said "there were lots of other things going on internally within the band and outside it, and I was working through all of that", noting that The Edge's separation from Aislinn was just one component of that. Thematically the song is about unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness.
U2 have performed "So Cruel" live just four times, all of which were on the Zoo TV Tour
Zoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
in 1992. The track was favourably received by critics.
Writing and inspiration
"So Cruel" was developed by lead singer BonoBono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
. Following the recording sessions at Hansa Studios in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
in 1990, U2 resumed the album's sessions in February 1991 at the seaside manor Elsinore in Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
, renting the house for ₤10,000 per month. Producer Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
' strategy was to record in houses, mansions, or castles, as he believed it brought atmosphere to the recordings. During the recording at Elsinore, while working on another song, audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Flood changed the reel
Reel
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...
to listen to an earlier take. Bono picked up a guitar and began to sing. The rest of the band quickly joined in. Flood said, "All of a sudden, almost in the time it had taken for me to wind off the reel and wind the next reel on, it was quite obvious that there was a song about to pop out, and if I wasn't suddenly taking the reel off and getting a new piece of tape on, and changing from monitoring a backing track downstairs to everybody's in the control room wanting to record now, it would never have happened."
"So Cruel" was developed acoustically, with guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
playing an acoustic guitar, bassist Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
playing an acoustic bass
Acoustic bass guitar
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
, and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. using a bodhrán
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
. Author John D. Luerssen interpreted the song as beginning "with the same kind of basic approach to songcraft that gave wings to 'She's a Mystery to Me
She's a Mystery to Me
"She's a Mystery to Me" is the sixth track and the lead single from Roy Orbison's 1989 album, Mystery Girl. The track was written for Orbison by Bono and The Edge of U2. The album Mystery Girl received its name from the song...
'". Bono said that "People thought it was too traditional, one more attempt at writing a song for Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
". Lyrically, it was also inspired by Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
. Bono said, "His is a very delicate mode of expression on the outside, though too often it is laced underneath with a lot of pain and rage."
According to Clayton, Flood "did a couple of treatments to the track that utterly transformed it." He keyed
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
Clayton's bass with the bodhrán, which "gave it a much more bubbly, off-beat feel". This was followed by some overdubbing and the laying down of a full drum track. Flood said, "I think the way we shifted around the rhythm was very important... The bass is played, but in the studio we doctored it to change the emphasis of where the bass line lay. That turned it into something that had a more unique feel about it, meshed against the song." Duchess Nell Catchpole was brought in to play violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
for the song. The strings were arranged by The Edge and producer Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. Clayton explained that while the original acoustic version "wasn't something one could imagine being on the record", it "was lifted up by studio trickery." Flood believes that the use of technology was crucial in making the final mix. An early version of the track was later released on some versions of the 20th anniversary reissue of Achtung Baby.
Themes
During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, The Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. Reflecting on the impact it had on U2, Bono said, "We're a really tight community. This is not like somebody's, you know, girlfriend's left. We've grown up with these people, this our family, our community. This was really hard for us... It was like the first cracks on the beautiful porcelain jug with those beautiful flowers in it that was our music and our community, starting to go 'crack'." The Edge explained that travelling to Berlin to write and record provided him with an escape from his failing marriage: "I was disappearing into the music for a different reason. It was a refuge in a way. That approach didn't completely work. You know, I wasn't really... in a good positive headspace. I was running away, I suppose." Hot PressHot Press
Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...
editor Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...
noted that in the lyrics, "Bono is clearly drawing on the experiences of those close to him, and particularily on the emotional turmoil that The Edge and Aislinn had been going through." Bono said "that's in there, but it's unfair to lump it all on The Edge and Aislinn splitting up. That was one of the saddest things... But that was only one part of it. There were lots of other things going on internally within the band and outside it, and I was working through all of that. People are desperately trying to hold onto each other in a time when that's very difficult. Looking around, you see how unprepared for it all people are, and the deals they make."
Thematically, "So Cruel" also deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness. Stokes described it as "the desolate complaint of a lover who has been spurned but who remains in love with his tormentor." Uncut contributor Gavin Martin said "the lyrics of the song reinforce the idea of Achtung Baby as a kind of romantic masque, where images of love, debased or abandoned, abound." Elizabeth Wurtzel of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
noted "with its lovely string arrangements, winding keyboards, and frothy, hypnotic melodies, is reminiscent of Tommy James's "Crimson and Clover
Crimson and Clover
"Crimson and Clover" is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition....
", except that every lovingly sweet line is contrasted with a bitterly ironic counter line", citing the lyric "I disappeared in you / You disappeared from me / I gave you everything you wanted / It wasn't what you wanted" as an example. Hubert Dreyfuss, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and Mark Wrathall, a Humanities Professor at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
believed that the song was an exploration into philosophical dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
. Quoting the lyric "Head of heaven, fingers in the mire", they said "if we are essentially dual in this way, then any attempt to overcome one side in favour of the other inevitably ends in despair", comparing the underlying philosophy to Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
's Pensées
Pensées
The Pensées represented a defense of the Christian religion by Blaise Pascal, the renowned 17th century philosopher and mathematician. Pascal's religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the Pensées was in many ways his life's work. "Pascal's Wager" is found here...
.
Author Višnja Cogan wrote "Women... never get treated badly in U2 songs... Women are put on a pedestal by Bono, his mother's untimely death being undoubtedly one of the reasons. If anything, in some of the songs on Achtung Baby, it is the man who gets the raw deal. On 'So Cruel', it is the man who is the victim of a woman. It is the reverse of the classical torch song". Quoting the lyric "Her skin is pale like God's only dove / Screams like an angel for your love / Then she makes you watch her from above / And you need her like a drug", he added "The man is manipulated by the woman's sexual power. He is incapable of pulling himself out of this relationship and despite his best efforts, he comes back to her." He noted that the woman is portrayed as "cruel, unreliable and unfaithful. She can only betray him and the duality between love and lust is well depicted in the song." Cogan concluded by saying "unlike the classical torch song, this one ends with the man seemingly deciding to leave the woman... The only thing we don't know in the end is whether he actually acts on his promise or not."
Conversely, author Deane Galbraith believed the song was told from the woman's viewpoint, saying "a woman is unable to receive love without also hating those who love her. She acts simultaneously as tender lover and cruel sadist. The lyrics that describe her 'like an angel' are immediately juxtaposed with a more sordid description that pictures her love as an addictive and manipulative drug. Instead of the subtle and vivifying transcendence of a heavenly angel, when she offers to take her lover higher, he is forced to watch her while she controls him 'from above'. For this is a fallen angel, not purely good or evil, but a lover whose best intentions are insidiously corrupt".
Reception
"So Cruel" was favourably received by critics. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes called it "dark, bitter, intense and masochistic", believing the lyrics to be the aspect that made the song memorable. He added, "As a statement about marital infidelity, the sense of betrayal that accompanies it and the rage that almost inevitably follows, it would be hard to surpass." Uncut contributor Gavin Martin rated the song four stars, calling it "lustful and lustrous". He said that "The Edge's looped five-note piano motif is encircled by a sabre-rattling guitar and a fine synthesized string part; lushly multi-dimensional, pregnant with poise and feeling" and that the theme of "marital disharmony and emotional desolation" underpinning Achtung Baby was especially evident on the song. Greg Potter of The Vancouver SunThe Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
wrote that it was "riddled with images of self-doubt and uncertainty". Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said, "Bono sounds humbler and more vulnerable than in the past", noting that he "[acknowledges] his own potential for hypocrisy and inadequacy, and addressing basic human weaknesses rather than the failings of society at large".
Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
called it an "embittered love [song]" with "a minimalist drum sound from Larry Mullen and an even more minimalist vocal from Bono." Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that "[love is] a state of desperation or a bitter memory... The marchlike 'So Cruel' [ricochets] from fond reminiscence to vindictiveness to accusations, some of them directed at the narrator himself". Writing for the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
, Julie Romandetta called "So Cruel" a "broken-hearted [lament]" that was "lushly orchestrated". Robert Hillburn of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
believed that it was one of U2's best tracks, describing it as "pulsating and accusatory". Brian Eno described the song as "epic and intimate, passionate and chill".
Live performances
U2 have only performed "So Cruel" four times live, all of which were on the Zoo TV TourZoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
. The first appearance was on 22 May 1992 in Milan, Italy, on the second leg of the tour when, at the end of "Bad
Bad (U2 song)
"Bad" is a song by rock band U2 and the seventh track from their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. A song about heroin addiction, it is considered a fan favourite, and is one of U2's most frequently performed songs in concert....
", Bono sang a few lines of "So Cruel" in place of "All I Want Is You". In August 1992, a few days prior to the commencement of the third leg of the tour, U2 rehearsed the song in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The second performance in concert was on 22 August 1992 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Bono performed the song acoustically. Concert historian Pimm Jal de la Parra said that it "[chilled] the crowd." The final performances occurred on 9 and 15 September 1992 in Pontiac, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois respectively. On both occasions it was played in place of "All I Want Is You". An abbreviated performance, recorded at Hansa studios, appears in the 2011 documentary From the Sky Down
From the Sky Down
From the Sky Down is a 2011 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about rock band U2 and the production of their 1991 album Achtung Baby. The film documents the album's difficult recording period, the band members' relationships, and the group's creative process...
.
Personnel
U2- BonoBonoPaul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
– vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
– guitar, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Adam ClaytonAdam ClaytonAdam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Larry Mullen, Jr. – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Additional
- Duchess Nell Catchpole – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
Technical
- ProductionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
– Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie... - EngineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
– Flood - Engineering assistance – Robbie Adams
- MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
– Flood, Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,... - Mixing assistance – Shannon Strong