Blessings Aren't Just for the Ones Who Kneel.

Another song from the album, The Best of: 1980-1990, that contains Christian connotations, is the song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For ” While there are some Christians who maintain that Bono is renouncing his faith in this song, others maintain that Bono is simply expressing personal struggles with his faith and with temptation. Still others maintain that Bono is expressing his struggle with the current world.

Whether or not Bono is indeed facing a crossroad in his faith is mere speculation, but there can be no speculation on the Christian imagery that is so evident throughout this song. Verses seven through eight read,

                      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

This last verse seems to indicate that Bono is a follower of Jesus Christ because he acknowledges that he has been set free from shame on account of what was done for him on the cross.  If Bono is affirming his faith, then how can he also be asserting that he has not found what he is looking for in Jesus Christ?According to Stockman, Bono is not speaking of his discontent in Jesus Christ but of his discontent with the current world. Stockman writes, “To have found what you’re looking for actually means you have died and gone to heaven!”

At the same time that Christians believe the cross has changed their lives.  There is still a hope in one day moving on to a place where there is no AIDS, poverty, violence, division in the Church, selfish motives, and other things associated with a fallen world. This whole idea of Christians still not finding what they’re looking for, falls in line with what Paul writes in Philippians 3:12-14:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

From U2’s album, “U2 - The Best of 1990-2000Mysterious Ways,” also contains Christian content. It is interpreted that Bono is speaking about the Holy Spirit moving in mysterious ways, because the last verse directly refers to spirits.

                     Move you, spirits move you
                     Move, spirits ‘its move you, oh yeah
                     Does it move you?
                     She moves with it
                     Lift my days, and light up my nights, oh  

Bono has publicly said that he believes the spirit is a feminine thing, which explains the feminine imagery he uses throughout the song. Another Christian component to this song is the last lines in the fourth verse which read,

                    If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel
                    On your knees, boy!

These lines indicate that prayer, or more specifically, repentance, is needed to reach heaven.This falls in line with Romans 10:9-10, which reads,

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

U2 has made music for the people, for you and me. Its not only about faith and the idea that you must follow one God, clearly if you listen to the music as a whole you will find that that blessings are for everyone.

Bono's Lyrics and Faith

The music of U2 has appealed to both Christian and secular audiences alike for well over two decades. Not only are the sounds and melodies intriguing but the lyrics exemplify powerful emotions which captivate audiences by identifying with inner emotions and struggles.

The man behind these compelling lyrics is Bono, U2’s exclusive song writer. But what is Bono trying to say through his lyrics? Is he touching on spiritual or even Christian issues, as Christian fans often suggest?

Although there is some truth in assertions that Bono’s songs are ambiguous, and vague this can not be generalized to all of his songs.  There are many songs in which Christian content is unmistakable. In this section, some of Bono’s most popular songs, namely those from U2’s compilation albums, The Best of: 1980-1990, and The Best of: 1990-2000, will be examined for Christian content.

Moreover, popular songs Bono has written from 2000-2005 will also be examined. Ultimately, the reason Bono’s songs appeal to both Christian and secular audiences alike, is because the songs resonate in people’s hearts as they are able to identify with the real-life issues of pain, doubt, fear, love, and hope.  

In 1987, Bono released, “Where The Streets Have No Name” which became an immediate hit. This song was inspired by the visit Bono and his wife Alison Stewart made to Ethiopia in 1985.  In Ethiopia they saw great disparity between the rich, city-dwellers and the poor, rural villagers who were dying in the desert.

Bono comments to Propaganda, the official U2 magazine( at the time), on how he was trying to sketch with this song a feeling reflecting either a spiritual or a romantic location.

He goes on to explain: “I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don’t hold you down. An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they’re making - literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become.

You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side to that street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name”

Even though  Bono is not explicit in identifying whether this place, where the streets have no name, is a new Heaven on Earth or not, the fact that status indicators would be written off certainly suggests that it is a place to which one would aspire. At the same time that the song exhibits a hope for a better world, it also exhibits a real emotional struggle of dealing with the current world. The first verse of the song reads:

I wanna run, I want to hide
I wanna tear down the wall

That hold me inside
I wanna reach out

And touch the flame

Where the streets have no name

These lyrics reveal a conflicted heart that wants to embrace and extend love, but is fearful of doing so.[x] The song’s last verse expresses the wickedness of humanity:

We’re still building and burning down love
                        Burning down love
                        And when I go there
                        I go there with you
                        (It’s all I can do)
 
In essence, this song is calling people to rise up to the challenge of loving others in spite of different backgrounds, thereby disregarding labels of race, social status, nationality etc.

This notion of throwing off identity labels falls much in line with Galatians 3:28, where the apostle Paul writes, “ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Although Bono does not come out directly and speak about Heaven, he is clearly speaking about a peaceful place where love overrides all identity barriers.

No Rapture, Just Faith

Tim Heufeld wrote an article earlier this week that we did not have a chance to share our thoughts on. “God is in the house” in deed HE is.  For the last three decades U2 has written songs of faith, hope and love going thru phases as most Christians do. Tim pointed out that on two albums “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” and “No Line on the Horizon” could be considered as U2’s grounded works.

Denver’s show had a couple of interesting dynamics going on; of course it was the first show back in the USA after a long winter break. Fans with bend up emotions seemed a bit flat or were it the idea that the Rapture was to happen during the show period; secretly I have over heard some fans longing for it to be true. The ultimate U2, with faith and an MP3 player on her side, she waits the coming of the LORD (hum new lyric)

Bono and the Boys never claimed to have lock on faith, love and God, only that one should find peace and why not in God, true that Christians look at U2 and wonder how they can be Christian with drinking, and partying and well frankly enjoying life.  Clearly how can they be? Simply put God is in everyone and how you choose to live your life is really a choice you make, it’s not mine or yours to say this person is more God like we are all in God’s image.  U2 only provides the tools for you to make your own choice. We looked over Tim’s U2 Rapture Playlist and believe its worth a listen. Try it -

Just one last thought the Denver show take a look at this video, is Bono suggesting that this is the end of time, or was it just part of the song. Ether way it was very interesting to see for the first time on this stage Bono reaching his hand across the bridge to The Edge. The trusses never touch and Bono drops a flower, what symbolism; what poetic faith.   

Bono: My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love.

TOP TEN RAPTURE PLAYLIST

10. “Tomorrow,” October (1981)

Won’t you come back tomorrow / Won’t you be back tomorrow
Will you be back tomorrow / Can I sleep tonight

Open up, open up to the love of God / To the love of He who made the blind to see
He’s coming back / He’s coming back
I believe Him / Jesus is coming / I’m gonna be there

9. “Stateless,” The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

I’ve got no home in this world / Just gravity, luck, and time
I’ve got no home in this world / Just you and you are not mine

Stateless / Weightless / Stateless

8. “A Sort of Homecoming,” The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

And you know it’s time to go / Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning / To a light that’s in the distance

And you hunger for the time / Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath / Your own dream landscape

7. “Last Night on Earth,” POP (1997)

She feels the ground is giving way / But she thinks we’re better off that way
The more you take the less you feel / The less you know the more you believe
The more you have, the more it takes today

You got to give it away / You got to give it away
Well, she don’t care what it’s worth
She’s living like it’s the last night on earth

6. “Gone,” POP (1997)

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 anyay

Goodbye, you can keep this suit of lights
I’m be up with the sun / I’m not coming down

5. “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” No Line on the Horizon (2009) (Live U2360 Remix of course!)

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

4. “Where the Streets Have No Name,” Joshua Tree (1987)

Where the streets have no name / Where the streets have no name
We’re still building, then burning down love / Burning down love
And when I go there I go there with you / It’s all I can do

3. “Walk On,” All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)

You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen

Leave it behind

2. “Until the End of the World,” Achtung Baby (1991)

Waves of regret and waves of joy / I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you’d wait / ‘Til the end of the world

1. “Elevation,” All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)

You elevate my soul / I’ve lost all self-control
Been living like a mole / Now, going down, excavation
I and I into the sky / You make me feel like I can fly so high
Elevation

Play list credit: Tim Heufeld

Happy Annversary Bono and Ali

Bono and Ali married on 21 August 1982 in a Church of Ireland (Anglican) 

U2 when they're 64

Dave Long / U2TOURFANS 2010 Bono turned 50 this summer but the Irish star will have no time to relax. The 360 tour is U2’s first under its 12-year deal with Live Nation, which means the supergroup will be touring well into their early 60’s.

Billboard just released its Top Concert Tours for 2009, and leading the pack with the highest-grossing tour was U2. The other artists in the top five were Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, and Pink.

U2 spent 2009 touring behind its studio album ‘No Line on the Horizon,’ and will continue to tour in North America and Europe this summer.

U2’s deal with Live Nation earned them $108 million last year and the top spot on Billboard’s Top Money Earners list for 2009, thanks to the band selling out all 44 of its concerts in 2009. Total gross for the 360 tour was $311, 637, 740, with total attendance at 3, 071, 290.

So will you love them at 64 ?