“This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end” – The End by The Doors
The beginning lyrics were inspired by The Doors song “The End”. This was also a way to draw a connection to me making the comparision to Michael Hutchence and Jim Morrison after we met in 1983.
“This is the end
‘Hold your breath and count to ten
Feel the earth move and then
Hear my heart burst again”
Lyrics were inspired by our work on the script for Titanic as well as lyrics I used when writing the song “Going Under” recorded by Evanescence of, “I’m going under, drowning in you, I’m falling forever”
“For this is the end
I’ve drowned and dreamed this moment
So overdue, I owe them
Swept away, I’m stolen”
An early song I wrote was Crumblin’ Down“ (1983) and recorded by John Cougar Mellencamp. The song not only inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Wall, but also learning about the Berlin Wall and during the time I named the band Berlin. My cry for the wall to come down was repeated by President Ronald Reagan in a 1987 speech. After the Berlin wall started to be dismantled, the artists brought me pictures and a piece of the wall. It was the particular picture of the wall and someone holding the sign “Achtung!” that inspired me to name the U2 album Achtung Baby released in 1991.
‘Let the sky fall, when it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At skyfall’
Since it was Michael Hutchence, alive and well, encouraging me to write the song as we began working on script ideas for the James Bond film with Judi Dench, I used lyrics inspired from another song I wrote ”Never Tear Us Apart” recorded by INXS. “Two worlds collided and they could never tear us apart. We could live for a thousand years” inspired,
“Skyfall is where we start
A thousand miles and poles apart
When worlds collide, and days are dark”
Of course, everyone knew my favorite number is “3″ which inspired me to write the songs “Lithium” recorded by Nirvana, Lithium having the atomic number 3, and writing the song “3″ recorded by Britney Spears. Taking my name was letting the lead singer of Evanescence use my name as her stage name.
“You may have my number, you can take my name
But you’ll never have my heart
Where you go I go,
What you see I see
I know I’ll never be me, without the security
Are your loving arms
Keeping me from harm?
Let the sky fall, when it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At skyfall”
