An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart

Infobox Song
Name = _ga. An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart


Type = Song
Artist = U2
alt Artist =
Album = Boy
Published =
Released = 20 October 1980
track_no = 3 / 4
Recorded =
Genre = Rock, post-punk
Length = 8:14
Writer =
Composer =
Label = Island
Producer = Steve Lillywhite
prev = "Twilight"
prev_no = 2
next = "Out of Control"
next_no = 5

_ga. "An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" are the third and fourth tracks, respectively, from U2's debut album, "Boy".

The two songs are played together as one, both on the album, and during every live performance. On European pressings of "Boy", " _ga. An Cat Dubh" runs at a track time of 4:47, and "Into the Heart" runs at 3:28. On North American pressings of the album, " _ga. An Cat Dubh" runs at 6:21, and "Into the Heart" runs at 1:58. [cite web
url=http://u2wanderer.org/disco/alb001.html
title=Boy
work=U2 Discography
publisher=U2 Wanderer
accessdate=2007-05-17] This can be easily noted by the visible difference between the two vinyls. However, the tracks together sound identical on both pressings, and also both have a total run time of 8:14. Early compact disc releases combined the two songs into a single track. Due to the track time differences, there is no official determination of where one song begins and where one ends (although the band's digital box set "The Complete U2" standardized the original European pressings' running times). Therefore, both songs are usually considered as one. For example, U2's 1998 single "Sweetest Thing," features a live track of both songs, but is listed simply as a live version of " _ga. An Cat Dubh". [cite album-notes
title = Sweetest Thing
albumlink = Sweetest Thing
year = 1998
bandname = U2
format = [http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/view.shtml?images/sing044-15.jpgback cover]
publisher = Island Records
location = United Kingdom
publisherid = CID727 / 572 466-2] Although the two songs are separate tracks on "Boy", live releases of the songs on the "Live from Boston 1981" digital album and the "" DVD feature both songs on a single track, similar to the "Sweetest Thing" single.

The songs had been played at almost all shows on every U2 tour until The Unforgettable Fire Tour. After the first leg of that tour, it disappeared until the band's 2005 Vertigo Tour. It was featured at just over half of the concerts on the Vertigo Tour's first leg, and at one on the second leg, but was omitted from subsequent legs. It is featured in the "Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago" DVD.

This song was covered by The Bravery as a B-side to "Fearless."

ong meaning

The title " _ga. An Cat Dubh" means "The Black Cat" in Irish. The song was reportedly written about a short relationship Bono had with a woman whilst split from his girlfriend (now wife) Ali Hewson.Fact|date=April 2007

Gavin Friday, a very close friend of Bono, claims that the song is undoubtedly about sexfact|date=June 2007, while Bono says that the song conjures the image of a cat and a bird, where the cat kills the bird and then plays with it before sleeping next to it.fact|date=June 2007 The song is layered with several guitar parts, a vibraphone and a sustained guitar sound. This song, like a lot of the songs on "Boy", are part of the concept of youth which was the given message and the theme which recurred on the Vertigo Tour. Bono says a lot of the themes on "Boy" and "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" are co-related.fact|date=June 2007

External links

* [http://www.u2.com/music/lyrics.php?song=14&list=a _ga. An Cat Dubh Lyrics] directly from U2.com
* [http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/song204.html _ga. An Cat Dubh's performance history from U2-Vertigo-Tour.com] - Lists all known performances of " _ga. An Cat Dubh".

References