|
"Numb" is a song by rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1993 album ''Zooropa'' and was released in June 1993 as the album's first single. The song features a monotonous mantra of "don't" commands spoken by guitarist the Edge amidst a backdrop of various sound effects and samples. The noisy composition and lyrical concept for "Numb" were inspired by the theme of sensory overload, which had prominently been incorporated into the Zoo TV Tour. Lead singer Bono and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. provided backing vocals on the track. "Numb" originated as a discarded song from the ''Achtung Baby'' recording sessions called "Down All the Days." While recording ''Zooropa'', the band transformed the song with mixing assistance from co-producer Flood, the addition of keyboards and samples by co-producer Brian Eno, and the addition of the Edge's monotone vocals. The song was released as a VHS single, featuring a music video directed by Kevin Godley, but it did not attain widespread commercial success. U2 added "Numb" to their live setlists after resuming their Zoo TV Tour in May 1993, but like most songs on ''Zooropa'' it has never been performed live since the end of that tour.〔(‘Numb’ by U2 concert statistics )〕 ==Recording and production== "Numb" originated as a discarded song from the ''Achtung Baby'' sessions called "Down All the Days"〔McCormick (2006) p. 248〕 (later released in the premium editions of ''Achtung Baby''s 20th anniversary reissue) that was recorded with producer Daniel Lanois at Berlin's Hansa Studios. The band was not fond of the track—''Zooropa'' co-producer Flood, who was engineer for the ''Achtung Baby'' sessions, said it was "quite a ballady song and in the end it was decided that it didn't fit" on that record.〔 Guitarist the Edge said, "It almost worked," calling it a "quite unhinged electronic backing track with a very traditional melody and lyrics" sung by lead vocalist Bono. During the ''Zooropa'' sessions of February–May 1993, U2 revisited the song. At Windmill Lane Studios, producer Brian Eno began working with a stereo submix of the Berlin version, containing guitar, bass, bass pedals and drums, that Flood had created. Eno added about six or seven tracks of keyboards to the submix, mostly samples and strings from a Yamaha DX7 synthesiser. Some of the samples included Arabic voices and congas. According to Flood, "The idea of his overdubs was to make up music out of non-musical noises, like loops of pieces of dialogue and video samples."〔 The Edge called Eno's additions "fantastic."〔 The song’s biggest contribution came while the band were organizing the final running order for ''Zooropa''. The Edge spent several hours in another studio with the mix, experimenting with ideas; eventually adding vocals in a monotone, almost rapped delivery. He said that writing the lyrics "came very quickly," and that he wrote so many lyrics that two verses had to be cut from the song.〔 His vocals were recorded at Westland Studios in Dublin, where the band spent one day for the album sessions. Flood subtly added gating to his voice "to turn the level down when he wasn't singing."〔 The addition of the Edge’s vocals, for the most part, completed "Numb."〔 Bono and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. provided backing vocals. Flood treated Bono’s vocals with heavy reverb to compliment his "falsetto soul voice," while Mullen provided two tracks of backing vocals, one with a falsetto and one with his natural singing voice.〔 After the vocals were overdubbed, Flood and the Edge mixed the track at Westland Studios. The Edge described it as "a few hours' work and a lot of editing," but said the mixing was "the easiest thing in the world"〔 Flood concurred, calling the mixing "very straightforward." A sample of a Walkman cassette player rewinding was accidentally recorded onto the audio tapes, but the group liked the sound and looped it throughout the song. The final mix comprised about 15 or 16 audio tracks.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Numb (U2 song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|