"However i would still summise God (if he at all exists) works in mysterious ways" -deankavanagh1234
you have made me realize what the song "mysterious ways" is about
"she moves in mysterious ways" is a metaphor for god moves in mysterius ways

U2 rules and no matter what theresa says, she cant take it away.
This song is probably about 9/11, I think.

"A city lit by fireflies" - I guess it means, after 9/11 there were helicopters circling around, with their lights on (wild guess).

"They�re advertising in the skies" - Probably that the asshole bin laden and his followers are using the sky to promote their stupid beliefs.

"Don�t look before you laugh Look ugly in a photograph" - There was a pic that got published here, showing a person standing on the roof of one of the towers having his pic taken, and in the background one of the planesis just about to hit the same tower. Though later, the pic was revealed to be fake, I guess Bono referred to that.

"Oh you look so beautiful tonight In the city of blinding lights" - I guess bono's talking life here, in general. It could mean life, or living seems so beautiful, when (after 9/11) you see so much suffering in front of you.

And btw, Theresa, you wont make U2 fans stop supporting them by reading what you are saying. So stop wasting time, us and yours. Bono is not god, but he's a genius. a true lyrical genius. He's sending a right message out to people. He's seen lot of suffering in the world, and is doing something good. Hail Bono. Hail U2.

I just watched, on youtube, this song being performed at the Obama concert. Like Bono, I'm not even American, but there was just so much passion, even though it was taking place hundreds of miles away from me.

This is a beautiful and inspirational love song to New York City. It's a song about how New York with its "neon heart and dayglo eyes" is an inspiration to artists and immigrants all around the world moved by her idealism, creativity and her open arms to different races, cultures and creeds.

This is what "they're advertising in the sky for people like us" refers to. New Yorkers are the fireflies--alive at night, glowing with spirit. As they dance in the moonlight other people are intrigued and drawn in. They want to join. This imagery is evocative of Dionysus' satyrs who drink, dance, sing, fight and fuck to their hearts' content. Artists, dancers, musicians, lovers--they are all alive during the nighttime and this place of freedom and creativity, NYC, is mecca to many people in the world.

But after 9/11, the singer feels that she may abandon all that made her beautiful, authentic and loved. Hence the lines about how she should not fear "looking ugly in photographs" and dismissing the doubts about whether she is in fact still beautiful. The lines about the "clothes (she) made" refer to the doubt that might arise about whether being unique and harboring creative individuals is still a virtue. The singer believes that it is.

I believe that the line "I'm getting ready to leave the ground" means that after the attack and all of the lives lost, it made him requestion his own morality and the meaning of life. This is why at the beginning he says "the more you see the less you know" and also "i knew much more then than i do now". However, despite all that has happened, the singer reaffirms that "time can't take the boy out of the man" meaning he still has hope, still has optimism still holds ideals, despite what he's seen humans can be capable of.

Whenever he sings "Oh you look so beautiful tonight" I believe he is singing directly to the live audience, and I think it holds particular meaning to New Yorkers, or just anyone in the world who still believes she's a haven for artists and lovers of freedom. Many immigrants hold that New York is not just an American city, it's the world's city and Irish immigrants have been coming for decades. I'm sure Bono holds the same feelings as his ancestors and relatives.

I've been trying to figure out if the "City of blinding lights" refers to an earthly city, like NYC, or to heaven itself. I concluded that he believes that the earthly city (not necessarily NYC, but it is of course, a direct influence) is a heavenly city itself, even with its dark rough edges, her seedy night life. And even with her poverty and violence she is a petrie dish for originality and art.

The last lines: “The more you know the less you feel. Some pray for others steal. Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel… luckily” Are about what the singer thinks he has learned from his experiences post 9-11. He knows less about the world, in that he is less certain about what’s right and what’s wrong. The world isn’t black and white. It’s complex and layered. He cites examples of behavior that people believe are praiseworthy and blameworthy—prayer and stealing—neither act, he seems to be stating, are easy to judge as right or wrong, what we need is to understand underlying causes.

The very last line “Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel… luckily” is, to me, highly optimistic. There’s many ways to take this line. Some people will read it as “you can do anything you want, we’re all getting into heaven” or “people can be moral without believing in God”, but I take it as this: Human beings are the creators/authors of blessings, not necessarily a god who may or may not exist. We are capable of our destruction or our success. This is “lucky” because it means we are not doomed to failure by fate. We can write our own histories.

This one's easy: A totem pole carver in the Mojave desert learns to speak English after being raised by wolves. The city of blinding lights is clearly El Paso, Texas, known for it neon light bulb factories.

Love. Love. Love this song. Fabulous. So well done. The begining piano and the last piano notes are by far the best ever.....Wow.......Just simply....Amazing....

Love the theme, that simple guitar cry.
Maybe U2's best song ever, (It should be noted that I'm not a real fan)
I am still suprised with the whole 'Time won't let me as I am'-section, but hey...

Love the closing lyrics:
'Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel', cold shivers, and then that final word that I commonly mishear as 'Look away', wich gives me even more cold shivers than 'Luckily', as the song is about looking at a city.