In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
And you know it's time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Light in the distance
And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
I'll be there
I'll be there
Tonight
A high road
A high road out from here
The city walls are all come down
The dust, a smoke screen all around
See faces ploughed like fields that once
Gave no resistance
And we live by the side of the road
On the side of a hill
As the valley explode
Dislocated, suffocated
The land grows weary of its own
Oh come away, oh come away, oh come away, I say I
Oh come away, come away, oh come, oh come away, I say I
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
And still we run
We run and don't look back
I'll be there
I'll be there
Tonight
Tonight
I'll be there tonight, I believe
I'll be there so high
I'll be there tonight, tonight
Oh come away, I say, I say oh
Oh come away, I say
The wind will crack in winter time
This bomb-blast lightning waltz
No spoken words, just a scream
Oh
Oh
Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight
And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
Oh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Light in the distance
And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
I'll be there
I'll be there
Tonight
A high road
A high road out from here
The city walls are all come down
The dust, a smoke screen all around
See faces ploughed like fields that once
Gave no resistance
And we live by the side of the road
On the side of a hill
As the valley explode
Dislocated, suffocated
The land grows weary of its own
Oh come away, oh come away, oh come away, I say I
Oh come away, come away, oh come, oh come away, I say I
Oh, oh, oh
On borderland we run
And still we run
We run and don't look back
I'll be there
I'll be there
Tonight
Tonight
I'll be there tonight, I believe
I'll be there so high
I'll be there tonight, tonight
Oh come away, I say, I say oh
Oh come away, I say
The wind will crack in winter time
This bomb-blast lightning waltz
No spoken words, just a scream
Oh
Oh
Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight
And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distance
Oh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
A Sort of Homecoming Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I knew this song was about Ireland, but living in Israel in 8 years I could understand the perspective. I felt it was a metaphor for people and the land being tired of a conflict and in your heart you wanted to go to a better place. So even if it wasn't a physical place, it still existed in your mind. Hence "A Sort of Homecoming".
Something I forgot to mention in my previous post is that I grew up in the US till I was 10 and when I finally got to go home to the USA from Israel I played this song all the time. It really had special meaning to me to be leaving the bombs, bloodshed and tears behind and to be going home.
this is such an awesome song. i don't even know the studio version, i have wide awake in america and this song is so incredible on there. i relate to it not in a literal sense, necessarily but being a teenager i relate to it in a sense of finding myself and discovering life and what is important to me. i can also relate to it in a literal sense as i feel like where i live is not actually my home, so sometimes leaving and going somewhere else is a sort of homecoming to me.
"A sort of a home coming" is so special to me. It's got to be in my top 5 u2 songs. The part that goes " see the sky the burning rain, she will die and live again" reminds me of my mother who died back in '86. This song helped me thru it, and still comforts me. God, I was so young back then. These words are still so poignant to me. The words to this song flow out over my tongue like blood flows thru my viens. My life blood. " No spoken words, just a screem"...
this is a sad song i remember this on the 80s weekend when i saw the vid i was crying like a baby.
This song came on the radio after Hurricane Katrina. I was driving to my nieghborhood to see if I still had a home. It was so odd for "A Sort of Homecoming" to come on the radio, but it was very weird for it to come on as I really was having my own homecoming. Even though my house is gone, this song is very important to me... I'll never forget that day I was driving home with this song playing, the ocean looking so calm, and that feeling of peace and acceptance come over me.
I love U2.
ok, i could be completely wrong about this, but i always thot that this song was about, like, a really big disaster, either a war, or a famine ("as the valley explodes" "the land grows weary of its own") and then the refugees having to leave their home ("And you know it's time to go/ Through the sleet and driving snow/ Across the fields of mourning/ Lights in the distance" "oh come away") and then, their homecoming ("Oh, don't sorrow, no don't weep/ For tonight, at last/ I am coming home/ I am coming home"). but their home really isn't the same anymore, so it's only a "sort of homecoming".
also, Unforgettable Fire has one of the coolest album covers EVER. wat is that a picture of????
@mieolhc That's Moydrum Castle on the cover
@mieolhc you're not wrong at all. Read a bit of the history of The Troubles in Ireland and the English occupation
The title comes from Jewish poet Paul Celan, who wrote: "Poetry is a sort of homecoming."
One of the most important songs in my life. I know its about Ireland in the 1980s but to me, especially since I always listened to it before traveling, its about passage and reconciliation, growing older and the awful responsibility of time.
This is one of my favorite u2 songs. I am very sad that people don't even know this song. It was a very touching song and caused me to sing terrible reditions of their songs in the shower. As you can see, people are probably too busy downloading "Hollaback Girl" on their ipods to listen to real music.
This is one of my all time favorite U2 songs (bono has mentioned it is one of his). This song used to remind me of the conflict in Bosnia during the 1980's 1990's... To me it is the story of a man coming home after war, longing for his family or his wife/lover, thoughts going through his mind as he travels home. I think the versions from Unforgettable and Wide Awake in America are both great (the version from WAIA really captures what U2 is all about-- "build a bridge")...