Archive for June, 2012

Magnificent – my spiritual journey with U2

Posted in my spiritual journey with U2, Songs, U2 with tags , , , , on June 24, 2012 by DeenasDays

Magnificent has always been a drums and bass song for me. You know, the most important part of U2. But at closer look, there is much more to this song than a great a beat. It is a very spiritual song. Apparently Magnificent was inspired by the Virgin Mary’s song of praise The Magnificat from Luke 1:46-54, “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.”

The lyric “it was a joyful noise” from Magnificent is taken from the Psalms – it shows up all over the place. For instance, Psalm 66:1 “Make a joyful noise unto God.” As Christians, we are born to sing God’s praises. My favorite part of Magnificent is the chorus, “Justified till we die, you and I will magnify The Magnificent
.” The concept of being ‘justified’ appears throughout the Bible, particularly in Paul’s letters -as in Romans 8:30, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Christians are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and we ”magnify the Magnificent” for all that he has done for us. We try to reflect God to other people.

Magnificent
Magnificent
I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven’t had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise …
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent

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Breathe – my spiritual journey with U2

Posted in my spiritual journey with U2, Songs with tags , , , on June 17, 2012 by DeenasDays

After Get On Your Boots, Breathe is my favorite song off No Line on the Horizon. I loved when U2 opened with Breathe for the 360 Tour in 2009, mainly because Larry walked on stage first by himself and started playing the drums.

I love the lyrics of Breathe, especially “I’ve found grace inside a sound, I found grace, it’s all that I found,” which is a precursor to my favorite lyric from Get On Your Boots “Let me in the sound.” Divine Grace is defined as “Grace in this context is something that is God-given, made possible only by Jesus Christ and none other. It is God’s gift of salvation granted to sinners for their salvation.” For U2, their grace is their song. For me too. Through U2′s music and music in general, I find peace, solace and happiness. My grace, I hope, is sharing my experiences through writing. There is a lot wrong in the world, but in grace one has done all one can do. And everyone has grace, that special gift that God created for them to use. Ephesians 2:8-10 says,  ”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

16th of June, nine 0 five, door bell rings
Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer
There’s a few things I need you to know. Three
Coming from a long line of travelling sales people on my mother’s side
I wasn’t gonna buy just anyone’s cockatoo
So why would I invite a complete stranger into my home
Would you?
These days are better than that
Every day I die again, and again I’m reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can’t defeat
Neither down or out
There’s nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up
And I’m coming down with some new Asian virus
Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man
Doc says you’re fine, or dying
Please
Nine 0 nine, St John Divine, on the line, my pulse is fine
But I’m running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease
The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it
Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There’s nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah
We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown
Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I’ve found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it’s all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now

I’ve found grace inside a sound, I found grace, it’s all that I found. Let me in the sound!

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Get On Your Boots – my spiritual journey with U2

Posted in my spiritual journey with U2, Songs, U2 with tags , , , , , on June 10, 2012 by DeenasDays

After writing about my five favorite U2 songs and their theological references, it is now time to go through each U2 album – chronologically backwards starting with No Line on the Horizon. I am not going to write about every song, but my favorites from each album and the most spiritual ones. Get On Your Boots is my favorite song from NLOTH, mainly because of last summer’s 360 tour when Larry would stand up back to back with Bono and sing/scream “LET ME IN THE SOUND!”

 

That chorus is my favorite lyric from Get On Your Boots and was my anthem for last summer while driving to all 16 U2 360 shows in the US. I like to pair it with Breathe‘s, “I’ve found grace inside a sound.” To me that is spiritual, “I’ve found grace inside a sound. Let me in the Sound.” So I wanted to see if there were any biblical or theological references in Get On Your Boots. I believe Bono said Get on Your Boots was a song about first love set at a carnival where he and Ali go. But maybe he got the idea of ‘get on your boots’ from Isaiah 52:1-2, “Wake up, wake up! Pull on your boots, Zion! Dress up in your Sunday best, Jerusalem, holy city! Those who want no part of God have been culled out. They won’t be coming along. Brush off the dust and get to your feet, captive Jerusalem! Throw off your chains, captive daughter of Zion!” And maybe the first line, “the future needs a big kiss” is referring to God’s grace and love  - how his kiss will remove the hate and violence in the world. The song ends with a plea to God, maybe asking to know him and to be with him, “Let me in the sound, now God, I’m going down. I don’t wanna drown now. Meet me in the sound. Let me in the sound.”

The future needs a big kiss
Winds blows with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too?
Night is falling everywhere
Rockets at the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But he won’t scare you
Hey, sexy boots
Get on your boots, yeah
You free me from the dark dream
Candy floss ice cream
All our kids are screaming
But the ghosts aren’t real
Here’s where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real
You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are
That’s someone’s stuff they’re blowing up
We’re into growing up
Women of the future
Hold the big revelations
I got a submarine
You got gasoline
I don’t want to talk about wars between nations
Not right now
Hey sexy boots…
Get on your boots, yeah
Not right now
Bossy boots
You don’t know how beautiful
You don’t know how beautiful you are
You don’t know, and you don’t get it, do you?
You don’t know how beautiful you are
Hey sexy boots
I don’t want to talk about the wars between the nations
Sexy boots, yeah
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, now
God, I’m going down
I don’t wanna drown now
Meet me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Yeah hey hey

I’ve found grace inside a sound. Let me in the Sound!

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Heartland – my spiritual journey with U2

Posted in my spiritual journey with U2, Songs, U2 with tags , , , , , on June 3, 2012 by DeenasDays

My fifth favorite U2 song is Heartland. To me this song is about Memphis, my favorite city. I always think about the scene from Rattle and Hum when Edge and Bono are on the hill overlooking the Mississippi River and then U2 tour Graceland while Heartland is playing in the background.

 

The chorus of Heartland is spiritual – “In this heartland heaven knows. This is a heartland. Heartland, our heartland.” This place is so beautiful, it must be what heaven is like. Memphis is beautiful, not necessarily physically beautiful all the time, but the feel of the city and its music history is heavenly to me. The lyric in Heartland “Through the ghostranch hills” refers to a spiritual place in New Mexico where many religious conferences take place.

See the sunrise over her skin
Don’t change it.
See the sunrise over her skin
Dawn changes everything, everything.
And the delta sun
Burns bright and violent.
Mississippi and the cotton wool heat
Sixty-six – a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
All the shining cities
In this heartland
Heaven knows
This is a heartland.
Heartland, our heartland.
See the sunrise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway, like a river
Cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Like dirty tears
Through the ghostranch hills
Death Valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on
In this heartland
Heaven knows
This is a heartland.

 

 

Now that I’ve written about my five favorite U2 songs in relation to theology, next I will go through each U2 album chronologically backwards starting with No Line on the Horizon and discuss U2′s most religious songs.

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