Lyrics for 40 as interpreted by archmastermind

40 Lyrics
One, two, three, four

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long
How long, how long to sing this song?

He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see
Many will see and fear

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song?
How long to sing this song?
How long, how long
How long, how long to sing this song?

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  • 94 Comments
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u2elevation
05-22-2002

Rated +1 
I always liked this song and I always though of it as one of those "little-known-but-still-great" songs

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crone85
05-25-2002

Rated -1 
The lyrics were written in about 10 minutes and the music about 10 minutes also (I heard Bono say that on a TV special, I think). It comes from Psalm chapter 40. It's starts like this:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40: 1-3 NIV (New Internation Version)

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basseman101
06-04-2002

Rated 0 
I really like this song alot. My first time to hear it was actually at youth at my church because i had to learn the bass riff's because we were going to play it in praise and worship. Ever since then i have really liked this song and get alot out of it whenever i hear it. If u just let it flow and listen to the words it has a very good message.

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emann333
06-12-2002

Rated 0 
This song is a beautiful adaptation of Psalm 40:1-3, with a lovely addition as well. To me, it is a cry out to God, to relieve the opression and pain surrounding someone (or some people). It is a very human prayer, asking God "How long to sing this song?" and wondering how long the Lord will let His children suffer in this way. These lyrics remind me of how far from God we really are, how He knows everything and our humanity and sinfulness creates such a gap and that we couldn't possibly handle knowing the future as the Lord does. As the song continues, "I will sing, sing a new song," the good in human nature is also revealed. Bono's lyrics remind us that we are in charge of our own attitudes and outlooks, that we CAN choose to remain positive and peaceful amidst the chaos and cruelty around us, and in doing so, there will be rewards if we "wait patiently for the Lord."

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BrandtH
06-21-2002

Rated 0 
I think its interesting that nobody gets the irony of this song--sure its based on a prayer, but its all about the irony of people killing people in the name of religion. "How long to sing this song" could apply to so many situations all over the world, not just northern ireland or the middle east. Until people learn to separate religion and politics the drum beats on...as U2 said in Sunday Bloody Sunday...try to translate that into a psalm

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Johnnybones
07-23-2002

Rated -1 
I think BrandtH missed the mark here - this song was written a decade before Bono discovered irony. I think it was a clarion call for the religious leaders in Ireland to take to heart the words of their own scriptures. I sincerely doubt there is a subversive undertone about religious conflicts here - this was U2 at their most spiritual.

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joeytheboy
09-27-2002

Rated 0 
i agree about it not being ironic (al least not deliberatly). its not U2 at thier most spiritual however, its U2 at thier most religious and also raw and primitive. this is one of their best of that period and in my oppinion its just simply praising god and nothing else. it was written at the time that the band really discovered religion and all its glory.

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AgentGabbit
04-08-2003

Rated 0 
BrandtH, they didn't write the song. David wrote it about 4000 years ago. So I doubt it has much to do with Ireland...

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U2U2
05-01-2003

Rated 0 
crone85, u might fing this interesting:
Bono: "This is a song that...when were we, when were we--when we were being thrown out of the studio on our third LP, on the War LP, we're being, we're being thrown out of the studio, we had I think, we, we spent 10 minutes writing this next song, 10 minutes recording it, 10 minutes mixing it, 10 minutes playing it back, and that's nothing to do with why it's called 40."

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U2takemehigher
04-12-2004

Rated +1 
it's pretty much along the same lines of sunday bloody sunday... (obviously, how long must we sing this song vs. how long to sing this song.) it IS (to me anyway, jerks, don't flame me) about violence in the name of religion. and a prayer to end the violence.

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firthelement
10-11-2004

Rated 0 
i jus think its just song to God

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Uncle Chop Chop
11-23-2004

Rated 0 
I agree that it is simply a song taken from Ps 40. From what i have read on it, is they recorded it while Adam was not in the studio (which makes sense seem Adam was not a Christian), i think Bono played bass for it.

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albanyankee
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
I think you have to stretch this song a bit much to make it be about religious violence per se (or perhaps pull in references from Sunday Bloody Sunday on the same album). Rather, I'd say it's about the conversion experience (being "brought up out of the pit). "How long to sing this song" refers to the fact that as long as the Christian lives, he is called to sing the new song that causes "many to see and fear" while continuing to be subject to all the evils and miseries of this present world. Yet one could certainly argue that religious violence is among the worst aspects of the present situation. The interpretations aren't mutually exclusive, which of course is usually the case with U2 songs.

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Jou12n3y
03-03-2005

Rated 0 
~*I never knew this side of U2 until i heard this song today.*~

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mlock317
03-20-2005

Rated 0 
"I never knew this side of U2 until I heard this song today"

Well, my dear, you have alot to learn about U2! As long as you don't expect them to be squeaky clean Bob Jones-type fundamentalists, then you won't be disappointed. They have a deep, long-lasting faith and have produced some of the most inspiring music I have come across (even counting CCM). And don't assume that just because a song's title (e.g. 'The Playboy Mansion', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For') or its sound (e.g. 'Mofo') doesn't sound very Christian, that U2 have lost their way. There's some great spiritual content in those songs if you really look.

http://u2sermons.blogspot.com/

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ICantLeaveU2Behind
04-09-2005

Rated 0 
so thats where the name comes from

anyway, the entire war album is about a, you guessed it, war. probably fictional, but may be based on real one. this is kind of an, "i told you so" where sunday bloody sunday was a warning to never start this war. bono says that good people in general (or mostly christians) have to keep reminding people of (sappy moral time) evilness of violence and fighting. still cool song, sounds Unforgetable Fire-ish.

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rockingtheplanet
04-14-2005

Rated 0 
glad to see that U2 are using this song to finish their live concerts these days. its an intimate number, more appropriately suited to the end of an emotionally charged night rather than sandwiched in between other great U2 songs. despite what's been said about religious/non-religious connotations "40" works simply because it tugs at the emotional heartstrings - it's U2 at their rawest, most open either with each other or in front of 40 000 fans, singing "how long to sing this song?" as a plaintive cry that could cover a wide range of issues and topics. it's sort of their answer (question?) to the question of pain and suffering in this world - rather than offering a simple straighforward answer, they throw a rhetoric question back at their whoever's listening and leaves the listener to draw their own conclusions.

Bono at his rawest and finest.

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joeso87
07-29-2005

Rated 0 
Its all very good to sit and debate the meaning of '40', but don't give Bono too much credit for writing it. It is from the Bible after all. And Bono has just 'rocked' it a bit. Being from the Bible it obviously still has many meanings and relevence for today

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andeweathers
08-02-2005

Rated 0 
Clearly the song is from Psalms 40. War was all about the violence in Ireland and Bono's knowledge of the scriptures probably led him to reaise it was a perfect song to finish the album.
I remember reading back in the lat 80's that U2 faced a dilemna in their early years when the band wanted to follow a more Gospel-oriented route, but Adam Clayton wanted no part of it. I don't know how accurate that is, so please don't lay into me if you think that's wrong. But this song always makes me think of the conflicts and problems we have on this planet and "how long" will we continue to ignore God.
Musically, I love how they finish the song, with each band member stopping their part adn finally Larry bangin' those last two or 3 beats. My two favorite renditions are the Red Rocks version and that bootleg copy with Annie Lennox.

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Master Lemming
07-26-2006

Rated 0 
To me this is the christians protest song.

U2 used the song after they sing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" live. They also use the chrus during the song. As a question on haw long were going to have to wait for violence to stop.

"40" is a protest song for christians to say to other people "haw long" must we keep telling everyone the same truths the same facts. "Haw long to sing this song."

Its also a question to god. When are you comming when will we see your face and grace. Until then give us strength and put us on a rock. "He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see
Many will see and fear"

And I'm a little confussed. the beads bono carries with him and places on his mike are prayer beads that the pope gave him.

And the song Yaweh that i think "Theresa1" refeenced at one stage "At the last show I attended, Portland, I eye-witnessed this song being performed right after U2 blasphemed God's name Yahweh to the extreme again, by showing yet another mass of people huge lit-up idolatrous and spiritistic symbols while singing "Yahweh."

All these things are metaphors for asking god to change atridutes to make us better to shape us to the people we want to be.

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rager1969
03-01-2007

Rated 0 
Bono says they were short one song and had only half an hour of studio time left and the next band booked for the studio were banging on the doors to get in.

He said they wrote it in 10 minutes, recorded it in 10 minutes, mixed it in 10 minutes and prayed over it for 10 minutes (total of 40 minutes). Maybe someone can write a few pages on the lyrics from the point of view of running out of time for their album:

I waited patiently for the lord
He inclined and heard my cry
I will sing a new song
How long to sing this song

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ilikeursleevs
03-03-2007

Rated 0 
this song is of course from psalm 40, and in that pslam, it is about someone who is being brought back from a life that is not wanting and using god's grace to become stable again.

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practicepreacher
03-30-2007

Rated 0 
there are some pretty "radical" statements being made on this song. Hearing the crowd chanting the refrain on Under A Blood Red Sky is an uplifting way to end one the great live albums. Truly inspiring. Bono tends to leave his listeners with open-ended, thought-provoking sentiments. He doesn't force his beliefs on anyone. A true artist knows self-expression & freedom are sacred. Being able to mix the profane w/ the holy is something Patti Smith did well. U2 knows it. You may not like it, but it gets people talking. I believe Bono's intentions NOW & THEN are in the right place. If one person does one good deed brought about by this song, how could the creator of EVERYTHING be disappointed? Or misinterpreted?

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bcole2315
04-08-2007

Rated 0 
im not sure if this has been addressed, but bono and the edge were on a tv special and talked about this song. A key point that they brought up that has been talked about here include:
that the whole part of the song about the "how long to sing this song" stuff IS in reference back to sunday bloody sunday which was an earlier track on the album. the song was only put on the album to really be a good closing song. U2 was running out of time in the studio and they didnt have a good track to end the album, so they put together this song quickly as a good closing track. They wanted to tie in sunday bloody sunday in some way since it was so popular and used the "how long" part to refer to it.

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PencilNeckedGeek
12-01-2007

Rated 0 
I know now the lyrics here come from the 40th Psalm, but when I first heard it, I imagined the song title was the answer to the question, "How long to sing this song?" That is, I thought they named it after the duration of the song, 40 seconds. Which, of course, would be wildly inaccurate because, even though the song is short, it's nowhere near that short.

I still think it would have been neat if I was right.

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