mojofilterloco September 5th, 2005 10:22PM  
The part in brackets (donde esta?), I think is being coy.

Listen closely and you may just hear "Bogota!"

This is poignant if you read the rest of the lyrics including jungles, bullets ripping up the sky, and the girl with jesus round her neck.

Bogota is the place that was the centre of controversy a couple of years back in Columbia. A few alleged IRA members were caught training with dissidents also selling/buying arms, and were jailed. There were numerous calls for their extradition, but the story went a bit cold. Haven't heard anything since.

Just listen for it. I'm pretty sure they don't say "donde esta?"

anonymous December 14th, 2005 02:58AM  
I'm sure they say "¿dónde está?" It makes sense, bacause they said hola!" before. Though that interpretation about a place like that is fine :)

I'm from Spain, and I think it's so cool the saying some Spanish words in the song. By the way, it is really one of their best song!

anonymous June 2nd, 2006 12:53AM  
The song is about the fact that once you are saved you can never be unsaved. But there are things in this life in ones life that makes us believe that we can be doomed back into eternal damnation.

anonymous August 5th, 2006 06:29PM  
Bono has said that vertigo is a like a club to him, a place of temptation. He is surrounded by things in this world that he hates being around and wants to get away from. When he sees the cross around the girl's neck he realizes it's his only hope for salvation and focuses on that. He realizes that the only way to escape temptation is god, hence "your love is teaching me how to kneel."

anonymous September 6th, 2006 10:10AM  
The person who said that jesus (the cross round the girl's neck) is the only salvaion is correct, that's what bono says the song is about... He's in a club, the people are people he doesn't want to be with, the music isn't what he wasnt to hear, he feels dizzy (vertigo) but he's sees this girl with 'jesus round her neck' and its all he can concentrate on. And at the end he says 'your love is teaching me how to kneel' which I think is a great way of saying that he's accepted christ as his saviour but he know he still has a long way to go.
Also I love the imagery in 'the night is full of holes // as bullets rip the sky of ink with gold' also interesting that it says twinkle on the album but he says sparke when he sings it live. And I like the line 'boys play rock 'n' roll //they know that they can't dance' just cause it's funny!

blue August 14th, 2007 11:41AM  
The first verse of the song evokes an image of a club, dark, like a jungle. People are amazed and confused, similar to the Earth's state now.

In the second verse, this image is further developed, with the names of worldly, sometimes sinful things, like bullets, and gold. Bono sings, "I can't stand the beats, I'm asking for the cheque, the girl with crimson nails has Jesus round her neck." He doesn't want to be in this place or this state of vertigo (dizziness) accompanying it. He sees a girl with a rosary/Jesus necklace around her neck and he's completely absorbed in it.

Then in the bridge, the lyrics are a paraphrasing of scripture, where Satan tempts Jesus: "All of this can be yours. Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt." This symbolizes temptation that people face, specifically, Bono, or the main character in this song, while in the club. Then after a sudden and brief rest, which I guess is to symbolize a peak of temptation, the chorus kicks in, showing that Bono, or the main character has chosen not to give in to this temptation.

The chorus also shows some meaning: "Hello, Hello (Hola!)/ We're at a place called Vertigo (Donde esta? [Or "como estas?" or "Bogota" depending on what you think]) It's everything I wish I didn't know (or "Lights go down and all I know") But you give me something, I can feel you love teaching me how..your love is teaching me how...how to kneel..kneel..." He doesn't want to be in temptation, and God is helping him through it.

That's about it. Also, something interesting I saw: If you watch the video, the rings rising around the band seem to grow as the song goes on and then after the bridge don't seem to rise much after that. If you look at this song as being about temptation, the rings could symbolize the temptation I was talking about.

anonymous October 27th, 2007 04:33PM  
Another fun fact,
if you take the numbers 1,2,3,14 and apply them to the Bible you may be surprised. 1= the first testament, 2=the second book (exodus), 3=the third chapter, 14= the fourteenth verse. This is where Moses asks God what he should refer to him as, and God responds, "Yahweh." (also the final song on the album) coincidence?

anonymous May 26th, 2009 06:22AM  
This song talks about when the Devil was trying to tempt Jesus in the book of Matthew( All of this can be yours/ just give me what I want and no one gets hurt). I'm not sure what the part about kneeling means though.