Even Better Than The Real Thing by U2

Album: Achtung Baby (1991)

Charted: 12 32

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song began with the title "The Real Thing" during the Rattle And Hum sessions. It's a play on the Coca-Cola slogan "It's The Real Thing." The song was intended to make a statement about commercialism.
In the band's autobiography U2 by U2, Bono explains the song "is much more reflective of the times we were living in, when people were no longer looking for the truth, we are all looking for instant gratification. It's not substantial as a lyric but it suggests a certain sexual tension and desire to have some fun playing in the shallows. 'Sliding down the surface of things.' There is a moment when you want to read a magazine, not a novel. It was nice to take some of the more fun bits of rock 'n' roll. We really needed that playful thing to balance what was at the heart of the album and make the bitter pill a little sweeter to swallow."
The video was directed by Kevin Godley, who with his creative partner Lol Creme, had made a number of groundbreaking videos, including Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Two Tribes." For "Even Better Than The Real Thing," Godley had camera rigs built that could revolve around each member of the band, creating a constant and unusual motion. They called it "the wheel thing."

Godley also mixed in quick shots of advertising ephemera, including slogans and product shots, ending with a title card reading "WATCH MORE TV." By the end, the viewer has been assaulted with a barrage of constantly moving images, making the point that long exposure to overstimulated media and be harmful to your health. It tied in with the Zoo TV concept.
U2 performed this on their 1992-1993 Zoo TV tour with huge monitors flashing messages and video clips behind the band. This was one of the most daring and technically sophisticated tours of its time, bombarding the audience with a barrage of visuals to parody the way advertising messages were being thrust on the public.
The video marked the first collaboration between U2 and Kevin Godley. He went on to direct their videos for "Numb," "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," "Sweetest Thing" and "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of."

In a Songfacts interview, Godley talked about making the "Even Better Than The Real Thing" video. "It looks like the camera is actually moving around the performance, 360 degrees, up and over them and underneath them, because that's how the track felt to me," he said. "It was quite extraordinary, and what was extraordinary about it was how the band reacted to that setup. They instinctively understood what it was capable of and worked the camera in a mode that would give us the best results, so it was a perfect marriage of a half-formed idea becoming a fully-formed idea, and on the day of the shoot, the performers reacted so well to it that it doubled its potential."
Back when they gave out such an award, this won the MTV Video Music Award for best special effects in 1992.
A single with dance remixes of this track went to #8 in England and was popular in clubs.
Richard Branson asked to use this song to launch his Virgin Cola, a competitor of Coke, but U2 refused.

Comments: 13

Rod K from U.s.I love reading the interpretations. Like others, I kind of always felt that the song was about a man in love...only not with a real one, but his idealization of what the perfect woman is to him in a very nuanced way. An imagery he's put on a pedestal, reflecting back to himself that he's more in love with this ideal than he is with anything he's connected to in reality. The song always had a gleefully submissive yearning feel to me, so theres a sexual undercurrent there, or lust if you will. He's okay with surrendering himself to the illusion, because its so powerful, so specific to him, that the reality of a woman couldn't possibly be better, a slave to his own desire
Jane B. from NjI've been following U2 on and off for years. Just saw them at the Sphere. I knew this song was about commercialism at one point, but whenever I listen to it, can't help but feel it's about a relationship. Since I'm hetero, a man (Bono) telling his woman (Ali) that their love is authentic and better than pornographynand other material crap. But I guess we each interpret songs the way they hit us...that's the beauty of music.
Paul from UkThe video also features many scenes with U2s own Lookalike band The Doppelgangers - open auditions were held for Lookalikes, Kevin Godley & U2 put the band together they feature throughout the video in quick cuts (mainly in the zoo clothes shop scenes in Carnaby street) swapping places and clothes with the real U2 in fact the Lookalikes were a bit too good and the cuts were so fast that unfortunately hardly anybody noticed and couldn't tell them apart so the whole point was really lost.
U2 & Kevin Godley rectified this by using The Doppelgangers for a second time in the Zootv / Channel 4 special broadcast by having the Doppelgangers flown over to Dublin to perform to the track "Who's gonna ride you wild horses" again dressed in U2s actual Zootv stage clothes and using U2s guitars and drums while U2 sat amongst the studio audience watching.
Chris from Germany U2 at that time could make everything they wanted and they were the darlings of the press, fans and of the world. This song is strange and has a strange video.
Davíd from Woburn, MaI agree with Steve, now that I listen to it with that in mind... give me one more chance, slide down the surface of things, and of course the title of the song itself. Still a great song regardless.
Steve from Binghamton, NyI know it wasn't written with it in mind, but the words and the music fit very well with someone relapsing on drugs...
Maddie from Rochester, NyThe line "the sun wont melt our wings tonight" refers to the Greek myth about Icarus and Daedalus where Icarus made fake wings but he flew too close to the sun and they melted.
Acrobat from Adelaide, AustraliaCoke wanted to use this for an add, U2 told them to shove off.
Shehryar from Islamabad, Pakistanyes there are some safe shots from porn flicks, with sound, in there
Matt from Bossier City, LaI think you can look at this song as a statement about the over-sexualization of our society. With things like plastic surgery and pornography becoming so mainstream in the media, we are constantly led to believe that it sould be, "Even better than the real thing". If you look closely at the images in the video (one of my all-time favorites) I think you'll see some support for this point of view.
Ryan from Albion, Nycover bands always play this song,like the dopplegangers..i guess its all in the title, huh? (which im pretty sure theyre NOT cuz u2 is incredible)
Wes from Atlanta, GaSimply reminds me of an incredible past relationship. Great lyrics and the main rift makes the whole song. Tell a girl that this song reminds you of them and watch the reaction!
Nick from San Francisco, CaThis song was really good. Then it inspired U2 to spend the rest of the 1990s trying to add techno touches to match the sound of this one. That wasn't really good.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Oh WellFleetwood Mac

"Oh Well," from their 1960s Peter Green era, is the only Fleetwood Mac song played in concert in every decade they've been extant.

Bitter Sweet SymphonyThe Verve

"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.

That's The Way Love GoesJanet Jackson

The longest-running #1 US hit for a member of the Jackson family is Janet's "That's The Way Love Goes," with eight weeks on top.

Work ItMissy Elliott

On Missy Elliott's "Work It," the backward vocal is the previous line, "Put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it," in reverse. She stumbled on it when the engineer played it backward by mistake.

TeardropMassive Attack

"Teardrop" by Massive Attack has vocals by Elizabeth Fraser of The Cocteau Twins, who wrote the lyric after learning that Jeff Buckley had died.

Voices Carry'Til Tuesday

The MTV classic "Voices Carry" is by 'Til Tuesday, a group fronted by Aimee Mann. She wrote the lyric about a friend who's partner wanted to keep their fling a secret.