Lyrics for Pride (In the Name of Love) as interpreted by archmastermind

Pride (In the Name of Love) Lyrics
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?

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WildHoney
01-05-2002

Rated +1 
This song is definitely about MLK and Christ. They both made the ultimate sacrifice all "in the name of love." What more will be done before the world is at peace? Who else acting for love alone will be brought down? Another powerful message from U2....

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2 Replies
anna118k
04-19-2002

Rated 0 
It's definitely about MLK JR, I think. I checked the dates.. MLK was assasinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis. I guess you Christ sort of works.. If you take out the April 4, and the "shots.. in the memphis sky"

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The Irish Guy
04-19-2002

Rated 0 
I think WH is referring to 'One man betrayed with a kiss' as in Judas's betrayal of Jesus.

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jaxgrrl
04-19-2002

Rated 0 
i think the first part is about Christ ('betrayed with a kiss'...maybe even the 'barbed wire fence' as a metaphor for the crown of thorns, i'm not sure) and the second part is about MLK jr.

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Mode000
06-11-2002

Rated 0 
All these facts youre portraying sound true. :)

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USPOAHZMSF
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
yeah you're all right... i made the betrayed the kiss out to be jesus betrayed by jesus... I think that this song is ultimately about MLK though.

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USPOAHZMSF
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
oops i meant ... i made the betrayed kiss out to be jesus betrayed by judas... oops, it was typing too fast

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Ramagamma
04-27-2003

Rated 0 
Its pretty obvious its about MLK because in a live version I have saw on TV he says. "This is about the reverend Martin Luther King".

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47ronin
05-08-2003

Rated +1 
Not Only Martin Luther King, though Bono did dedicate it to him. It's on the Rattle and Hum album I believe.

But in general, it is about the power of the individual, and how that individual can have so much power to rally people together and bring out emotions. Aside from King and Christ, the "caught on a barbed wire fence" refers to that person trying to escape some camp by leaping or charging through barbed wire fences. Photos and clips can be found on TV and in the net.

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Razormasticator
04-16-2004

Rated 0 
This is a great song,I admit, I hate all the other U2 songs,but this one has just got that cool bassline.

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Azzathoth
05-10-2004

Rated 0 
From what I know of Bono the "Christ" thing is credible, but does anyone else think the rationale used to justify reading it into the lyrics on any other grounds smacks of wishful thinking? The "barbed wire fence" thing sounds like the kind of thing racist whites used to occasionally do to blacks in the old South; equating it with a "crown of thorns" is a stretch by any means. As for the kiss bit, that would describe Samson, or dozens of heroes undone by their erstwhile lovers, much better than Jesus (I don't seem to recall anything in the Gospels about kisses in this context...). The opening stanza's bit about justification might plausibly refer to Jesus specifically, but that's about it. Perhaps it would be more plausible to say that it's about heroes and martyrs in general, with the last song sort of zooming in on MLK...

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quiffporn
05-23-2004

Rated 0 
Ok, obviously it's about Martin Luther King Jr, but the "One man betrayed with a kiss" is obviously a reference to the death of Jesus, in Luke, jesus says to Judas "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?". I think Bono makes this reference because as he sees it, M.L.K and Jesus both died for their people.

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peek-a-boo
10-09-2004

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well obviously its a tribute to MLK due to "Early morning,April 4 Shot rings out in the Memphis Sky'' even through MLK was shot in the evening aand Bono acknowledged the mistake and sings sometimes early evening April 4 and ''Free at last'' that black people (dont mean it in a bad way) are free now, i also think the song is about christ "one man caught on a bared wire fence"being christs crown of thorns christ wore when he was crucified "one man washed on an empty beach" being john the baptist "one man betrayed with a kiss" being Judas betraying Jesus how he told caesar i will tell you where jesus is for thirty pieces of silver and show him who jesus was by kissing Jesus and i think the song could also be about Mahatma Gandi "one man he resist" so the song is about good people doing good stuff that they loved doing and getting killed for it and even through they were killed they still have there pride

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firthelement
10-11-2004

Rated +1 
thinkin about it, each line of "one man..." could be referrin to a different person, eg Christ, MLK, Gandhi, whatever.....
But with it refering to Christ here is my say:
"One man come in the name of love"
Jesus came to Earth with the message of love
"One man come and go"
Jesus came to Earth and left as well
"One man come, he to justify"
Well Jesus came to justify His Father's will and that of the scriptures.
"One man to overthrow"
Jesus had to overthrow Satan - take on the sins of the world and overcome them by getting crucified.

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qrandle
10-12-2004

Rated 0 
I have to add my two cents in here. I think the Christ and MLK stuff is pretty obvious. But the second verse, as I've listened to it:

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man washed on an empty beach

What has always come to my mind is the U.S. soldiers on the Beach of Normandy, etc. That may be wrong, but that has always been what I thought of

Also, I can't remember the name of it, but there is a scholarly book that someone wrote about Christianity in Pop Music, and there are about 4-5 page on U2. I'll have to go back and look at it.

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Libraquarius
10-23-2004

Rated 0 
We used to call this one the 'Lemonade Song'

'Lemonade of love...'

Product of a noisy work environment and an overactive imagination.

I hope this observation isn't taken as disrespectful or iconoclastic; all you others have picked over the bones of this song effectively. It's just that when two half-deaf, middle-aged bass players working together in a factory in the mid-'eighties heard this tune, the humour was inescapable.

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joeso87
12-09-2004

Rated 0 
Azzathoth has clearly just made a bit of a tool of himself - "heroes undone by their erstwhile lovers, much better than Jesus (I don't seem to recall anything in the Gospels about kisses in this context...)" - The Gospel according to Matthew ch 26 v 48+49, the Gospel accorrding to Mark ch 14 v44+45, the Gospel according to Luke ch22 v47+48. That wuld seem to be 3 of the 4 Gospels that mention it.
Peek-a-boo is spot on, you cant pin this song to any one historical figure, it's for them all.
In response to Fifth element- Chrst came not to justify his Fathers will. He was justifying his people to his Father- like in a court scene; someone is justified because they havn't done anything wrong. Christ took his people wrong on himself so that God could justify us! Why did he do this? He is a God of undeserving,sacrificial kindness. or Love as some people like to call it.

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NavySkow
01-31-2005

Rated +1 
This is a beautiful song with many historical references and a lot of imagery. As for the breakdown of the lyrics, it is about many people who struggled throughout history for Love and Peace.
One man come in the name of love (CHrist)
One man come and go (prisoner Barrabbas)
One man come, he to justify (Pontus Pilate)
One man to overthrow (Hebrew leaders at the time)

One man caught on a barbed wire fence (escaping prisoners)
One man he resist ( fighting against authority)
One man washed on an empty beach (blacks hosed down by cops in the 60s)
One man betrayed with a kiss (Christ betrayed by Judas)

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
(both lines MLK but he wasn't shot in the morning)
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
(refering to anyone who stayed obedient to death and did not give in to their oppressors)

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Bodester
02-01-2005

Rated 0 
I disagree with NavySkow. I don't think you can interpret a seperate meaning for each line and still have a very deep meaning to the song. It seems apparent to me that the first verse is mainly about Jesus, not just one line of it. joeso87 and firthelement made good arguments for that.

The "betrayed with a kiss" part is not some random reference to "erstwhile lovers"...rather, it was the signal agreed upon by Judas and the high priests to pick Jesus out of the crowd - Judas arrived on the scene, went to Jesus, and gave him a kiss of friendship (a kiss doesn't necessarily mean "lovers", Azzathoth.)

I think the Jesus meaning is equally as obvious as the MLK meaning. You can also apply it to any number of people who've struggled In The Name Of Love. I'm not trying to rehash the whole argument, merely to sort out the different ideas. I liked the point about the Allied soldiers at Normandy, too, grandle.

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starfaery
03-03-2005

Rated 0 
I thought the "barbed wire fence" part, would be Jesus, recisting the devil(horns).
Maybe he's saying MLK, is Jesus like.
And what more sacrifices are needed, till humans wake up?
I dunno.

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88keys
03-08-2005

Rated 0 
The words "free at last" in the MLK reference refer to Martin Luther King's famous speech which he held in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Starting with "I have a dream..." he ends this speech with the words of the well-known negro spiritual "free at last". In MLK's words: "free at last, free at last, God almighty we are free at last."

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88keys
03-08-2005

Rated 0 
The words "free at last" in the MLK reference refer to Martin Luther King's famous speech which he held in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Starting with "I have a dream..." he ends this speech with the words of the well-known negro spiritual "free at last". In MLK's words: "free at last, free at last, God almighty we are free at last."

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EatingPie
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
I know this song is about Jesus and King. I always wondered if it referred to others as well, but I get the impression it only covers these two wonderous people.

One man come, he to justify. - Jesus (Justification... Awesome!)
One man to overthrow. - King

The next verse has always left me somewhat confused. Looks like it refers to differen people in each line.

One man caught on a barbed wire fence.
One man he resists
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss.

If we break it in two, though (similar to previous verse), it may apply to just Jesus and King.

King obviously resisted racism. But he was never literally "caught on a barbed wire fence." But a barbed wire fence divides two worlds. And it's a terrible divide, one you don't cross lightly or easily. But King didn't just cross it, he bridged it -- racism cuts both ways, and he knew it. So this image feels appropriate. In the name of love, he threw himself onto that fence, and endured everything pain and suffering to bridge the gap.

In terms of Christ, he was betrayed with a kiss. (I'm actually surprised people don't know this outright... it's a common colloquialism -- though we are entering a post-Christian era now, sadly.) But washed on an empty beach? Washed up, dead, on a beach? No. But he was "washed" by John the Baptist. Three gospels imply it's empty. The fourth says "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too." Doesn't sound too empty to me... Hmmm...

Anyway, I am still am not sure about the barbed wire fence, or the empty beach. And those are really the only lines in question in my mind. But this is the beauty and artistry of Bono's lyrics -- he doesn't hand us stuff on a silver platter, instead he challenges our ideas, our visions and our thoughts.

-Pie

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parker9319
09-11-2005

Rated 0 
the first verse is obviously about christ.
one man come in the name of love-obvious
one man come and go-obvious
one man come, he to justify-christ justifying us to god
one man to overthrow- christ to overthrow evil


the next is about those who betrayed christ or god.
the barbed wire fence is a metaphor for the struggle over what to believe for judas...should i betray jesus?
one man he resist, jonah rose upto flee ...from the face of the lord. and he was thrown to the sea... and then spat upon the dry earth (empty beach)
so the first line refers to judas, the second and third to jonah and finally the fourth back to judas as he betrayed christ with a kiss.
One man caught on a barbed wire fence-judas struggling over the decision to betray christ
One man he resist-jonah resisting to word of the lord
One man washed on an empty beach-jonah spat from the fish onto the dry earth
One man betrayed with a kiss-judas betraying christ


i think that this all fits together because god and christ have had struggles with those who have not been ready to accept them, or feared them.
MLK Jr. had the same struggles and i think that it symbolizes the similarities, and rises MLK to st. status, as Bono has ended the song with before.

so if you look at it this way
first verse about christ
second about those who resist or challenge
third about the death of MLK
i think that it makes a lot of sense...even if my explanation is somewhat cluttered and not referenced

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Wardo
09-28-2005

Rated 0 
Honestly, I've always thought that the "hung on a barbed-wire fence" part could be a reference to Bonoheffer. He was a model of courage against the Nazi effort and after his hanging, his naked body was tossed onto a barbed-wire fence where it was found by the Allies after they liberated the camp he was in. As a European Christian, Bono is probably familiar with Bonhoeffer and his work against he Nazis. But that's just my speculation.

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