U2 – Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

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Sometimes I feel like I don't know
Sometimes I feel like checkin' out
I want to get it wrong
Can't always be strong
And love it won't be long...

Oh sugar, don't you cry
Oh child, wipe the tears from your eyes
You know I need you to be strong
And the day is as dark as the night is long
Feel like trash, you make me feel clean
I'm in the black, can't see or be seen

Baby, baby, baby...light my way
(alright now)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

You bury your treasure
Where it can't be found
But your love is like a secret
That's been passed around
There is a silence that comes to a house
Where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap

(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way
(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

Oh...ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

I remember
When we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together
In whispers and moans
When I was all messed up
And I had opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb
Hanging over my bed

Baby, baby, baby...light my way
(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

Ultraviolet...
[Repeat 4 times]

Baby, baby, baby...
Baby, baby, baby...
Baby, baby, baby...light my way
[Repeat 3 times]

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

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Lyrics submitted by Novartza


Ultraviolet (Light My Way) song meanings
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38 Comments

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  • -1
    General Comment:This is about a relationship who is starting to fade away.
    Flag thejesuon January 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that this is a romantic love song AND a song to God. He's singing to a woman he cant live without and in whom he's placed faith to guide him through the tough times. In short, he's deifying his lover, although, from what I can infer from the lyrics, she's just as human as he is. To him, she is all around him, invisible, ever-present, kind of like ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Like God. She's always there for him. The verses seem to evoke temptation, sorrow, and confusion. In the chorus he calls on his lover and his god to guide him through the uncertainty. It seems to me to be the absolute climax of Achtung Baby.
    Flag vertigojoneson November 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i believe the opera lyric could be in referernce to Bono's fatehr Bob. "Sometimes you can't make it" is definatly about his father and how they were so alike the fought so hard for so long but when he died Bono missed him terribly. Bono's mother died when he was an early teen and his father raised him. His father loved opera, thus the reference in "Sometimes..." to "you're the reason why the opera's in me".

    not sure if it's a similar reference in this song "and i had opera in my head" but i'm certain of the reference in "Sometimes...."
    Flag kmickloon July 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It’s about love being the invisible light making living better...

    I loved the line Bono changed when performing ultraviolet in the past U2 concert in Mexico City:
    "I guess it's the price of love, and the price of love isn’t right if it’s cheap"
    Flag HartoPicanteon June 01, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This is one of my absolute favorite U2 songs. If you haven't seen the live version from their U2 360 at the Rose Bowl video, you should check it out.

    "Ultraviolet" refers to the part of the light spectrum that can't be seen by the naked eye, and an ultraviolet light can illuminate things that would otherwise be invisible. As such, I think this song is about a relationship between a man and woman that started out great, but has come upon hard times. They are both to blame, but the man is asking the woman to help him see the bad parts of himself that he is unable to see for himself so he can make things right.

    Concerning the "opera" reference that others mentioned earlier, it's a reference to Bono's father. I remember watching a live show and before singing the song "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" where Bono described how when he was young, his father (who had a strong tenor voice) would take his mother's knitting needles and pretend to conduct an imaginary orchestra while singing opera - hence, the lyric, "You're the reason why the opera's in me..." In Ultraviolet, I think the lyric "When I was all messed up, and I had opera in my head..." is another reference to his father, how they were often at odds, and how his father would get inside his head. During those times, the love of his wife would help him through.
    Flag thepayolaon April 23, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's saying I fucked up, but hang with me. Remember those times we had. These temptations done't mean anything. You are the real "light" meaning guidance as to what I am really striving to.
    Flag whitesnakeon December 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Personally, I think this is just a love song... nothing really deeper. The lyrics are incredible though.
    It's the rawest, barest love song I've heard
    (To some this must mean I've not heard any!)
    Flag EnduringChillon October 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Desperation is the word that comes into mind hearing this song.

    In times of despair you need someone to light your way.
    Flag HankSayson October 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:My favorite song of U2... especially the verse "feel like trash you make me feel clean"
    Flag bamaru79on August 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love the last through runs of the chorus in this song when the ethereal, larger-than-life spacious stuff is going on in the background. So epic.
    Flag historybuffon March 27, 2010   Link

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