| U2 – The First Time Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I'm not so sure, utwogirl. It would seem that in the mid 90s around Zooropa and Pop, Bono began to lose his faith a little. At the very least, his faith was shaken somewhat. In many songs he asked such questions as "is God really listening?", "does He really care?". Nothing wrong with that. Many of David's psalms questioned God and his motives and actions. I think God welcomes those kind of questions. Bono nearly always writes in the first person, but not always AS Bono. Quite often he uses other characters to express things that he may be thinking or to work through questions or issues that he has. I think this is one of those songs. I remember reading once in an interview that the song originally had a different, and more faith affirming, ending, but Bono changed it as that wasn't the kind of thing he was exploring at that time. |
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| U2 – Moment Of Surrender Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I interpret the song as dealing with the void inside all of us that we try to fill. The character in the song tries to fill it with drugs (the first verse) and even another person (the wedding day references and the second verse). He then moves on to science (the stars and black holes) and to money (at the ATM machine). His final stop and ultimate "surrender" is to spirituality (the stations of the cross). | |
| U2 – Breathe Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think the song is about being optimistic and joyful in the face of a constant barrage of negative media and fear mongering. "16th of June, nine o' 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 traveling 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?" I interpret this as a kind of shot at newscasts. How many times have we heard the teaser for the nightly news with promises such as "how to keep your family safe" and other such things. The media is sure to remind us at every turn how many bad things could potentially happen. Television broadcasters refer to "coming into your home" via television broadcasts. Would you allow a complete stranger to come into your home? Sure, we do it every night when we turn on the news. We're advised by complete strangers in our own home. "Every day I have to find the courage To walk out into the street" In the face of all of the dangers that we are told lurk right outside our door, we have to find the courage to walk out into the street anyway. "And I'm coming down with some new Asian virus Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man Doc says you're fine, or dying Please" If it's not the people out there who'll be the end of us, it's some new killer disease. Equating the average doctor with a JuJu man lowers the respectability of the doctor, who is either going to tell you that you're fine or dying, nothing in between. Bono even responds with a "Please", as in "give me a break". I think his point is that much of the medical community preys on our fears as well. "The forest fire that is fear so deny it" Again, it's all about fear and the culture of fear and stepping out beyond all of that to see that "These days are better than that". What a great song. Especially in these days of so much uncertainty. I believe that these days truly are better than all of that. |
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