I love blogging the A to Z Blog Challenge - blogging everyday in April, except Sundays, on a specific theme. I loved doing it last year, and I enjoyed it even more this year. I think I enjoy the challenge so much because I am one who likes to to lists things, rank my favorites. This year’s theme, in case you missed it was ‘My U2 from A to Z’ – about what aspects of U2 that has influenced me. It was fun, and it seemed I may have introduced a few new U2 topics. Just in case you were away from the internet in April, the following is what I wrote about: Achtung Baby, Bono, Can’t Help Falling in Love, Drums, Elevation Tour, First U2 Show, Get on Your Boots, Hallelujah Here She Comes and all B Sides from R & H and JT, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Joshua Tree, Kentucky Lexington Elevation 5.4.01, Larry Mullen Jr, Memphis Mullen, No Line on the Horizon, October, Popmart, Quest Field Seattle 360, Rattle and Hum, Storm Electrical, Three-Sixty (360) Tour, Unforgettable Fire, Vertigo Tour, War, X-Factor Fake U2 Audition, Yahwey, and ZooTv.
Larry hugging me
I also blogged the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z. I am not sure what I am going to write about U2 now since the new album and tour won’t be for several months, so if you have any suggestions please let me know.
There wasn’t a lot to pick from for U2 topics starting with Y. It is really only Yahweh or Your Blue Room. Neither one are particular favorites of mine. Your Blue Room is off of a Passengers album which is not a real U2 album according to Larry – and me. So Yahweh it is! It is off of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. My memory of Yahweh is watching Larry walking out onto the elipse and playing on the Vertigo tour.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
Technically it’s The Unforgettable Fire, but I always refer to it as Unforgettable Fire - and for the rest of this post I’ll just use UF. UF has always been one of my favorite U2 songs. It is also one of my favorite U2 albums, and it is a great video. I love when Larry looks up and flashes that sweet smile. UF is probably my favorite Larry look.
I had never heard UF live until the US 360 tour opener in Chicago 2009. I was SO excited, and very emotional, to finally hear UF in concert, but unfortunately they changed it and cut out my favorite part – “Stay this time, stay tonight in a lie. I’m only asking, but I, I think you know. Come on take me away, come on take me away. Come on take me home, home again.” But it was really cool when Bono sang the first verse of UF to us in Charlottesville a month later.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
Sorry, but I had to fudge this one a bit. I really wanted to include Electrical Storm video in ‘My U2 A to Z’ and I couldn’t leave out the Elevation Tour, so here you have it Storm, Electrical aka Electrical Storm. It is a good song, but it is even a better video. Electrical Storm is really U2 porn. Seriously, watch the video below and you’ll see – especially if you love Larry Mullen like I do. The video is all about Larry – Larry wet, Larry in the tub, Larry in the ocean, Larry kissing. Sigh! Every time I listen to Electrical Storm, the video plays in my head.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
October is one of my favorite U2 albums and one of my favorite U2 songs. October is my favorite month, my birthday month. To me, October symbolizes the changing of the seasons and the beginning of my favorite time of year. So I love U2′s October. Other favorite songs of the October album are Rejoice and Gloria, but I really love the whole album. The song October is a haunting song that says that even though things have changed, you still go on. It may a short song, but October‘s lyrics are powerful!
October and the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear.
What do I care?
October and kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on
And on.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
My favorite song of all-time, U2 or otherwise, is I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, off my favorite U2 album The Joshua Tree. It was my first favorite U2 song and what solidified me as a U2 fan, along with Larry Mullen Jr. With or Without You introduced me to U2, but it was I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For that made me a fan. And 26 years later, I still have not found what I am looking for. But I love the journey, the quest for what truly makes me happy. Besides being a fantastic, spiritual and uplifting song, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For is an amazing video – my favorite. It captures U2 during The Joshua Tree era in Las Vegas, my second favorite city. I cried when U2 played I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For at the second show in Anaheim on the 360 tour in 2011 because they hadn’t played it yet that leg. Even though I had heard it at lots of shows before, it was a special moment in Anaheim when U2 played I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. I find it interesting that Larry is on the cover of the single of my favorite song.
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you.
I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
(I was) burning inside her.
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I’m still running.
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
Some of my favorite U2 songs are the ones that didn’t make it onto their albums – the B Sides, especially the B-Sides from The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum. My favorites are Luminous Times, Walk to the Water, Spanish Eyes, Deep in the Heart, Sweetest Thing, A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel, and Hallelujah Here She Comes. Luminous Times is actually my second favorite U2 song ever. This song gives me chills every time I hear it, even though I have listened to it over and over again the past 26 years. The lyrics are so passionate and the way Bono sings them is so heart wrenching. I absolutely love it! My favorite part of Luminous Times, the part that really gets to me is, “I love you ‘cause I need to, not because I need you. I love you ‘cause I understand that God has given me your hand. He holds me in a tiny fist, and still I need your kiss. Hold on to love.” U2 has never played Luminous Times in concert. When I met Bono in 1992 on the ZooTv tour, I told him how much I loved Luminous Times and asked if they would ever play it in concert. Bono answered me by saying they were thinking of putting out a b-sides album. (Huh? That’s not what I asked.) Then before the 360 tour began in2009, Edge mentioned that they were thinking of playing some b-sides that they had never played before like Luminous Times - but unfortunately that did not happen.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
I love the song Get on Your Boots off No Line on the Horizon specifically for the line “Let me in the sound.” It summarized my entire three-month road trip on the U2 360 tour in 2011. It was sort of my anthem as I traveled across the country driving to all 16 US U2 360 shows. I coupled it with a line from Breathe, “I’ve found grace inside a sound” – “Let me in the sound.”When I listen to Get on Your Boots now, I flash back to hearing it live on the U2 360 tour. Larry and Bono would stand back to back and sing, “LET ME IN THE SOUND!” Larry singing while standing and beating the drums would get me SO excited! The song’s music as a whole is very energetic and makes me really happy! But the line, “Let me in the sound,” just does it for me.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
Even though Can’t Help Falling in Love is credited to Bono and not U2, I am going to include it as part of my U2 favorites. U2 played it on the ZooTv tour. In fact, one of my greatest memories of the ZooTv tour is when Bono knelt in front of me (I was in the 3rd row) and sang Can’t Help Falling in Love as U2 closed the DC show on August 16, 1992 – the 15th anniversary of Elvis’ death. As an avid Elvis fan, this was an amazing, unforgettable moment for me! My worlds were colliding! Elvis used to close his shows with Can’t Help Falling in Love, a fact I’m sure Bono knew. My favorite recorded version is this one with Bono singing while Elvis is talking. Bono sings an abbreviated version of Can’t Help Falling in Love while an Elvis interview is playing in the background.
This blog post is part of my A to Z April Challenge about ‘My U2′ – what I love about U2 from A to Z. Thanks for stopping by. I am also blogging the A to Z Challenge on my other blog Deena’s Days about ‘My Music’ – music I love from A to Z.
When I started this journey into U2 songs and their spirituality, I thought Unknown Caller would be the obvious choice for most spiritual song off No Line on the Horizon - as a telephone call from God, or to God. (Since my research, it seems that other songs are just as spiritual.) I didn’t love Unknown Caller until I heard it live on the 360 Tour in 2009, and now whenever I see the time 3:33 I think of Unknown Caller – just another U2ism to add to my repertoire. “3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face” is probably a reference to Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,” which Bono has referred to as God’s telephone number. Also if you look closely at the cover of All That You Can’t Leave Behind, you will notice J33:3. Once he reaches God in Unknown Caller, ”Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak.” This may be in reference to Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
do you see the J33:3 on the left?
Sunshine, sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
I was lost between the midnight and the dawning
In a place of no consequence or company
3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face
Speed dialling with no signal at all
Go, shout it out, rise up
Oh, oh
Escape yourself, and gravity
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, oh
Force quit and move to trash
I was right there at the top of the bottom
On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be
I had driven to the scene of the accident
And I sat there waiting for me
Restart and re-boot yourself
You’re free to go
Oh, oh
Shout for joy if you get the chance
Password, you, enter here, right now
Oh, oh
You know your name so punch it in
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now
Oh, oh
Then don’t move or say a thing
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight was my favorite song off No Line on the Horizon when it first came out and during the 360 2009 tour, but then Get on Your Boots surpassed it during the 360 2011 tour. It was always just a fun song to me, with great lyrics. In 2009, it was my favorite part of the 360 show – whenever Larry walks around the catwalk is my favorite part.
But more than just a fun Larry walking around the catwalk song, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight has a pretty strong message – one that I am struggling with right now. I think Crazy is about having a difficult time starting your journey -”It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain as you start out the climb.” Specifically for me at this point in my life I interpret this as someone who has committed themself on a spiritual journey, but is finding it difficult getting started because of their sinning. A more direct spiritual reference in Crazy is the lyric “Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?” This was most likely inspired by 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” If we truly know God’s love, then we would never be scared and would be able to deal with the crazy moments in our lives.
She’s a rainbow and she loves the peaceful life
Knows I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight
There’s a part of me in the chaos that’s quiet
And there’s a part of you that wants me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
A change of heart comes slow
It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me, or are you doubting
We’re gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I’ll go crazy if I don’t go crazy tonight
Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls
Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but a change of heart comes slow
It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain
As you start out the climb
Listen for me, I’ll be shouting
We’re gonna make it all the way to the light
But you now I’ll go crazy if I don?t go crazy tonight
Baby, baby, baby, I know I’m not alone
It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain
As we start out the climb
Listen for me, I’ll be shouting
Shouting to the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we’ll go crazy
You know we’ll go crazy if we don’t go crazy tonight
Oh oh
Slowly now
“It’s not a hill, it’s a mountain as you start out the climb.”
Moment of Surrender was one of my favorite songs off No Line on the Horizon from the moment I first listened to it. I thought it was a perfect choice to end each show of U2′s 360 Tour. In Nashville when introducing Moment of Surrender, Bono said, “This is the theme of the show. Thank you Lord.” For me, Moment of Surrender is about surrendering to God. After searching in the material world for happiness and fulfillment, you realize that it is pointless and at that moment you surrender to God because that is the only way you will be truly happy and fulfilled – “vision over visibility.” My favorite lyric from Moment of Surrender, after the passionate cry of the first line, is “It’s not if I believe in love but if love believes in me.” This is very similar to 1 John 4:10, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us…”
I tied myself with wire
To let the horses run free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me
The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too cool to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day
We set ourselves on fire
Oh God, do not deny her
It’s not if I believe in love
But if love believes in me
Oh, believe in me
At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body’s now a begging bowl
That’s begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
I was punching in the numbers at the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down ’til the pentecost
At the moment of surrender
Of vision of over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
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 TheMagnificat 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
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!
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!
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.
One of my favorite U2 songs is Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. It is a very personal song for me. It is literally about my first love. When we broke up, I made him sit down while I read him the lyrics. I couldn’t have written a more perfect song for the way I felt. I have never thought about Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses in religious terms, until now. The lyric “Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot for any spirit to haunt” may have been referencing Luke 11:24-26 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seen other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Later in the song “Hallelujah! Heaven’s white rose the doors you open I just can’t close” may be referencing God as ‘heaven’s white rose.’ Dante depicted paradise as a white rose where God was at the center and saints surrounded him. The white rose symbolizes purity, divine love, and perfection – all characteristics of God.
You’re dangerous, ‘cos you’re honest.
You’re dangerous, you don’t know what you want.
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt.
You’re an accident waiting to happen
You’re a piece of glass left there on a beach.
Well you tell me things
I know you’re not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach.
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna fall at the foot of thee?
Well you stole it ‘cos I needed the cash
And you killed it ‘cos I needed revenge.
Well you lied to me ‘cos I asked you to.
Baby, can we still be friends?
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna fall at the foot of thee?
Ah, the deeper I spin
Ah, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin.
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees, the river laughing at you and me.
Hallelujah! Heaven’s white rose
The doors you open I just can’t close.
Don’t turn around, don’t turn around again.
Don’t turn around your gypsy heart.
Don’t turn around, don’t turn around again.
Don’t turn around, and don’t look back.
Come on now love, don’t you look back.
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who’s gonna taste your saltwater kisses?
Who’s gonna take the place of me?
Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
Who’s gonna tame the heart of thee?
To me, Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses is still a song about a relationship gone bad, but now I know some of the lyrics are inspired by God and the Bible.
My third favorite U2 song is Gone. I love the lyrics to Gone, but my favorite (and one of my favorite lyrics of any song) is “What you thought was freedom is just greed.“ I also love Gone because it reminds me of Elvis Presley, my other passion. He always felt guilty for all that he had because he did not feel he deserved it. He always wondered why God had chosen him to be Elvis Presley – “You get to feel so guilty. Got so much for so little. Then you find that feeling just won’t go away.” To me, Gone is about trying not to lose yourself as you make your journey through life. Matthew 16:26 says, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Gone says, “You wanted to get somewhere so badly you had to lose yourself along the way,” and ends with, “I’ll be up with the sun. Are you still holding on? I’m not coming down.” To me, this means that he is happy because he is up with God, and is asking if you are still holding on to the things that are holding you back from being happy, from being with God.
You get to feel so guilty
Got so much for so little
Then you find that feeling just won’t go away.
You’re holding on to every little thing so tightly
Till there’s nothing left for you anyway.
Goodbye, you can keep this suit of lights
I’ll be up with the sun
I’m not coming down.
You wanted to get somewhere so badly
You had to lose yourself along the way.
You changed your name
Well that’s okay, it’s necessary
And what you leave behind you don’t miss anyway.
Goodbye, you can keep this suit of lights
I’ll be up with the sun
I’m not coming down.
‘Cause I’m already gone
Felt that way all along.
Closer to you every day
I didn’t want it that much anyway.
You’re taking steps that make you feel dizzy
Then you learn to like the way it feels.
You hurt yourself, you hurt your lover
Then you discover What you thought was freedom is just greed.
Goodbye, and it’s an emotional
Goodnight, I’ll be up with the sun.
Are you still holding on?
I’m not coming down.
For this series I am writing about my spiritual journey with U2, I have decided to first write about my favorite U2 songs in relation to theology and then go through each U2 album. So Gone is not the most religious of U2 songs, but it is one of my favorites. Don’t worry I will get to the more obvious religious U2 songs, so please keep reading each Sunday.
Luminous Times (Hold on to Love) is my second favorite U2 song, but I never thought of it in religious terms – until now. I recognize it as a song about Love, true love, the purest love. And God is Love – his love is the purest kind of love there is. Luminous Times says, “Hold on to love. Love won’t to let you go.” Love conquers all, in fact it is the only force that can overcome anything. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Love transforms enemies into friends.
Luminous Times says God is an essential part of the relationship between lovers – “I love you cause I need to, not because I need you. I love you ’cause I understand that God had given me your hand.” The two lovers help each other love God and because God is involved in their relationship, they are free of worry and full of hope.
Hey sister love
Hey sister sun
Hey oh my love
You turn me around tonight
Hey sister love
Save my soul
Hold on to love
Love won’t to let you go
Hold on to love
See the sunshine in her soul
Hey sister love
Hey sister sun
She come likes carnival
She is the big wheel
She turn my head around
She is the speedway
She is the slipstream
She is coming round
Hold on to love
Love won’t to let you go
Hold on to love
See the sunlight in her soul
She is the gun fire
She is the car crash
She is the avalanche
She is the thunder
She is the waves and
She pulls me under
I love you cause I need to
Not because I need you
I love you cause I understand
That God had given me your hand
Holds me in a tiny fist
And still I need your kiss
Hold on to love
See the sunlight in her soul
The original purpose of this blog was to write about all 75 U2 concerts I have been to over the last 20 years, and since I have done that and U2 are not currently touring, I had to find something else to write about on this blog. I have recently gotten back into going to church. In addition to attending worship services, I am also attending Sunday School and Bible Study. In addition I am involved with the church’s Women’s Group and helping lead the Youth Group. I am back on my spiritual journey, so I thought why not combine my spiritual journey with my musical journey. I am going to explore U2′s lyrics in relation to theology. This is not a new concept, in fact many have already written about it. But this will be the first time I am really going to delve into U2 and religion. What I am writing isn’t necessarily the right answer, but rather my interpretation of U2′s music as it pertains to my spiritual journey. Being On the Road with U2 has led me back on my path to my spiritual journey.
It is all about the journey, not the destination. No song portrays that sentiment more than my favorite song I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. It was the song that got me into U2, and 25 years laterI still have not found what I am looking for. But I love being on the journey – the quest for what truly makes me happy. U2 refer to I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For as a gospel song, and I agree. The first verse may suggest that success doesn’t mean fulfillment – “I have climbed the highest mountains, I have run through the fields only to be with you. I have run, I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls only to be with you. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” In the second verse the lyric “I have spoke with the tongue of angels” may have been taken from 1 Corinthians 13:1, which says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Similarly this says that knowledge doesn’t mean happiness – even if you have all the right answers, without love you have nothing. The third verse may suggest that in your head you believe in God, but you are yearning to know God in your heart – “I believe in the Kingdom Come…You carried the cross of my shame…you know I believe it. But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you.
I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
(I was) burning inside her.
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one.
But yes, I’m still running.
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, but I am enjoying the journey!
My name is Deena Dietrich, and I am living back home in Ellicott City, Maryland with my 2 dogs Elvis and Cilla. My passions are Dogs, Elvis, U2, LMP, NKOTB, the Denver Broncos, the Baltimore Orioles, blogging, social media, biographies. It is better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done, so ... Pursue your passion!
