Comments on: A few recent U2 poetic favourites

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:12:53 +0000

Here comes your third link from U2Sermons! ;-)

By: Tom Fletcher

Tom Fletcher — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:40:34 +0000

One of my favorites is:

“Dressed up like a car crash,
your wheels are turning but you’re upside down”
Stay

But my favorite U2 lyric is from One, but not the one most people say.

“Did I ask too much? More than a lot?
You gave me nothing now it’s all I’ve got”

By: markmeynell

markmeynell — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:19:54 +0000

Ah! But of course that is precisely my point entirely – if you just look at what i was saying!

By: cliveparnell

cliveparnell — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:45:51 +0000

What about the relationship between “all because of you I am” and yahweh meaning “I am”.
That is my bit for now off for a rest!

By: cliveparnell

cliveparnell — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:36:08 +0000

I did not realise it was so obvious – I am so yesterday ha!
It would be interesting to know what a person who is not a christian thought.
I don’t think I am going to make ELF now I have been out of it for 2 weeks with a chest infection, a real shame.

By: markmeynell

markmeynell — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:05:19 +0000

Hi Clive – i thought the sign on the departure board was too obvious – everyone knows about that…!
And actually, i don’t think you can take any credit for the seminar whatsoever… so there…

By: Clive Parnell

Clive Parnell — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:57:12 +0000

Good to see some U2 coverage – what about the CD cover of “All that you can’t leave behind” – check what it says on the departure board, if you don’t know already,
cheers
Clive
PS if you didn’t know I will have the credit for your seminar, Ha!

By: markmeynell

markmeynell — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:10:58 +0000

I completely agree with you David about all the songs you mentioned – and felt that to start talking about them in this post would be to open the floodgates. In fact I did mention Playboy Mansion in a previous post – and one of my proudest achievements is to have had 2 links from U2Sermons to this blog so far!! (how sad am I?)

Thanks also to Darian and Hoveactually for your comments – I admire the honest bleakness of Zooropa – but i suppose it should be seen in the context of all the different personae that Bono took on during the 90s (The Fly, The Wanderer, Mr MacPhisto etc) – and these reflect a whole load of different worldviews which are not necessarily Bono’s own. Once when he was challenged by a young Christian girl who was really disturbed by his MacPhisto (devil incarnate) routine, he simply replied that he was trying to do a contemporary spin on what CSLewis’ Screwtape Letters achieved.

As well as some of the standard books on U2, if you’ve not come across it, there’s a great little book on Achtung Baby, which you can find out via my Amazon book reviews – just click the link in my current reading sidebar. Also, Bono is remarkably frank about his own faith journey in the book Bono on Bono – and this gives a lot of food for thought

By: David Keen

David Keen — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:57:08 +0000

Great. Like you I love the subtlety and poetry of Bono’s lyrics, Playboy Mansion is one of my favourites.

You probably know about the U2 sermons website: http://u2sermons.blogspot.com/ which has lots and lots of stuff.

I like his honesty about faith as a struggle: Wake Up Dead Man, as hoveactually notes, and this line from Acrobat:

I’d join the movement if there was a cause I could believe in
I’d take bread and wine if there was a church I could recieve in
‘cos I need it now…

I think Zooropa is brilliant because it shows us the view from the empty heart of post-Christian society:

and I have no compass, and I have no map
and I have no reason, no reason to get back
and I have no religion, and I don’t know what’s what

and the superb Numb: ‘too much is not enough’ which is where you end up once you’re saturated on the branded society.

Please do post on the earlier stuff, it’ll be fascinating to read.

By: hoveactually

hoveactually — Sat, 10 May 2008 06:05:59 +0000

I’ve always found Zooropa the most bleak one for faith quotes… “I left by the back door, and I threw away the key..” And of course the Wanderer. Oh so many. Pop also, although not a great classic, has many many lyrics to ponder upon, and some more obvious- Wake up dead man for example! Playboy Mansion is also fairly intriguing and beautiful for the lyric:
Then will there be no time for sorrow
Then will there be no time for shame
And though I can’t say why
I know I’ve got to believe

We’ll go driving in that pool
It’s who you know that gets you through
The gates of the Playboy mansion
But they don’t mention…the pain

Then will there be no time for sorrow
Then will there be no time for shame
Then will there be no time for sorrow
Then will there be no time for shame…

I’m sure you’ll have a wealth of material for later posts!
It would be really interesting to get Bono to talk through his journey of faith with all these lyrics… Maybe one day eh. Or maybe these things are best not so tightly defined.