God, I love this song!!! How come nobody has commented on it???

It's so beautiful, and the lyrics are so deep-I love this song!

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Ok...as for the meaning, Bono originally wrote it about Ireland, but then changed to America.

The clues to that are, "she is liberty, and she comes to rescue me''(statue of liberty) and the constant metaphor with dreams (Bono sees America as a land of dreams, but also as a land of despair{sad eyes, crooked crosses}).

Even though the tune is uplifting, the lyrics say otherwise.

Actually I think its about both. I think the first 4 verses are about Irteland and a person realising that there's nothing left for him there (Everyday, the dreamers die, See what's on the other side) and deciding to emmigrate to America, and then findingout, as most Irish did, that he's not really wanted.

"crooked crosses" is about religious freedom.

in the first four verses..."we need new dreams tonight..." to me means that Ireland has nothing else to offer him
and in the second four verses..."like a siren she calls to me..." is talking about America? at least that's what it means to me.
when he talks about "in God's country..." i think he means the world God created (in not saying that's waht it is though, just an opinion) because if you believe in the christian religion, and you think about it, this whole world is God's country.

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I always thought that when he said
"Sleep comes like a drug
In God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's country" he was talking about Israel and the fighting going on there

I always thought that when he said
"Sleep comes like a drug
In God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's country" he was talking about Israel and the fighting going on there

I always thought that when he said
"Sleep comes like a drug
In God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's country" he was talking about Israel and the fighting going on there

sorry for posting it 3 times something screwed up

I lived in Tucson, Az when this song first came out. U2 started and ended the Joshua Tree tour in AZ. They helped to impeach the newly elected governor Evan Meecham. Evan Meecham was an ignorant SOB who publicly made racial slurs against Native Americans and blacks. He strongly opposed the MLK holiday, which of course angered the lads from U2. To make matters worse, after Bono voiced his opinion of the situation at the tour opening concert in Tucson, Meecham retaliated by calling U2 a "bunch of pitiful Micks".
Anyway, to make a long story short....U2 were very enamourate of the Southwestern Desert region during this time. crooked crosses may also refer to the Sahuaro cacti that peppert the desert landscape.

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The last verse says "I stand with the sons of Cain". The sons of Cain are the evil seedline. Does that mean that Bono is actually evil?

chyland,
I wonder about this also. I wish someone knew the answer

Regarding the "sons of Cain".

And Cain went away from the presence of Yahweh
and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch;
And he built a city and called the name of the city by his son’s name, Enoch.

Several generations later, Lamech was born. He had two wives. Of one Jabal was born; ‘he was the father as such as dwell in tents and have cattle.’ Of the other, two sons were born. One, JUBAL, ‘was the father of all such as play the lyre and pipe.’ The other son, Tubal-Kain, was ‘an artificer of gold and copper and iron.’

Standing with the sons of cain may imply his work as musician, and songwriter. Burned by the fire of love is ambiguous. We are burned with passion, as well as suffering affliction, or discipline. Perhaps he is identifying with Cain in these ways.

Sons of Cain .... it can be a symbol of humanity .... It feels like the "She" he's talkning about is in some ways unreachable from someone that livess deep in the gutter of mankind ...

Sleep comes like a drug to Bono because he has spent his days with his head caved in. His eye's are "sad" because he is desperate to find a woman.

Gosh... I can't believe how 'expanded' the meaning of this song has been made so far....
The song IS about Ireland AND the US. Nothing more, nothing less. This has been mentioned in various interviews/magazines in the past.
So.. sometimes life IS that simple that we need not dig too deeply... :-)

A part of the song that starts with the word "desert" is about Ireland?? Rivers running dry? Doesn't sound like Ireland to me.

If you drive across rural America, you see crosses somewhat frequently. If poorly attended to, they become crooked.

I'd offer this interpretation: It depicts life in rural, desert America. An unnamed man who lives there has no real hope in his life but the dream of love, some woman, like a desert rose, who does not actually exist. Sleep comes like a drug because his life itself offers nothing of pleasure, and sleep (and dreams) are a relief from it.

I don't see a single word in this song that indicates Ireland as opposed to Arizona/Nevada/Utah.

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I have to say that I agree with irishprincess. The album was called "Joshua Tree" with regards to Joshua Tree national forest. The band spent some time there and no doubt it influenced their music for this album in a major way, hence the album title. I've lived in AZ all my life and have heard it called "God's Country" quite a few times. A Sahuaro cactus is best described as a crooked cross. Now it may not be the only meaning of the song, some of the best songs have infinit meanings. It's just what the song means to me.

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Great song. Musically, I love how that beat goes from a hard bassline to an immediate reply of the drumline. Mullen and Clayton drive this song for me. The lyrics are very impressive and I think they do reflect U2's experience in the American Southwest on the literal level and America and Ireland on the "other" levels. I drove many many miles in Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio listening to this song.

Peace

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I think the "She" being referred to is the statue of liberty, representing America. "She stands with a naked flame", or torch, in her hand. "Like a siren, she calls to me" to leave Ireland and come to America. And in this verse:

She is liberty
And she comes to rescue me
Hope, faith, her vanity
The greatest gift is gold

The last two lines are dissapointment in arriving to find only vanity and materialism ("gold") in America.

Instead of fufillment of his ideological "dreams" while in Joshua Tree, Bono found that "Sleep comes like a drug" in America, and that people are too drugged (by luxuries, by television, by religion) to join him in humanitarian activism.

I guess what we think what it means might have no bearing on what it was originally written for, but then its open to interpretation. innit? So here goes:

When I first started figuring out this song, I symbolised it quite literally. As I look at it its not specifically about Ireland or migration to USA. It seems to have a connection with old times - the Gold Rush fever to be specific.

The first two paragraph seem to refer to a gold rush town which expand but eventually run dry taking with it the dreams of many who follow it. But the greed passes on to the next town which has opportunity.

Now that can be applied to any city, any country, any passion, any love you had. You dream, you follow something with all your heart, you loose it somewhere in between till another dream inspires you and ignites your imagination.

I would personally not associate with opportunity, I think I would associate it with thoughts, dreams and passion.

When Bono speaks of the Sons of cain he means our black brothers and sisters. They are the sons and daughters of cain. Read genesis

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This song is about the Irish immigrating to America people!

Have you seen the video? It's full of immigrant images and the disilliusionment of discovering that
once in America, the streets really were not paved with gold, as was rumored. My family immigrated from Ireland 4 generations ago, and we have an old old article from the 1800 from a newspaper in Illinois that interviewed one of my Great Great Grandmothers, and she discussed that very thing...coming from Galway Ireland she and her husband thought the streets of New York would be paved with gold, they soon discovered the truth and headed out of NYC to the midwest.
Pretty cool! I am so proud to Irish/American and a proud U2 fan. I LOVE THIS BAND, I cannot say how much they have touched my life spirititually with their incredible music and hearts!

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the main theme is disillusionment -
whether its about ireland and america or not

We analyzed this song pertaining to Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, in English class. It was an interesting way to look at it, but I don't think it really hit the nail on what the meaning of the song is.

I agree that the song is about a person coming from their native land (most likely Ireland, but since Ireland doesnt have deserts, it could refer to another country. Then again, maybe by 'desert', Bono has in mind a place that's empty and barren to the person living there, which could be just about any settlement that a person's not happy with), to America, hoping that life there is better. The idea of ribbons and bows is a flowery image--this country is, in the person's mind, a beautiful land that has all of these great opportunities and seems really appealing. Sirens, in the Odyssey at least, were women who sung out and lured men towards their rocks. The idea of this better land 'sings' out to the person, and beckons him to come.

The chorus refers to how immigrants dream of the better life while coming to America, and it soon becomes easier to dream than to get those dreams accomplished. In reality, many of the dreams lie broken (sad eyes, etc). By 'In God's Country', I don't see as much of a religious underlining as more of another indication of how grand the American dream is--this land that is perfect and overflowing with dreams. It almost becomes a sort of ironic description--the land has the broken dreams and 'crooked crosses', and yet we still call it God's Country, as if it was perfect and all dreams were realized.

I don't really have much to say on the 'Set me alight...' stanza. Havent thought much on that one.

'She is Liberty' seems to relate to the Statue of Liberty, and how the idea of her beckons to the singer to come to America and achieve all that he hopes to. He describes the positive traits that she stands for 'Hope, faith', but these seem to be mostly in his mind. The tone changes with 'Her vanity...The greatest gift is gold'. This is more like the singer finally realizing how business works in America (or has worked; I keep thinking that this song relates more to the 1800s-early 1900s than does now) and that it's not that everyone's dreams come true in this land--money and power are what are most important to succeed.

And yet, what does the singer learn at the end of the song? Nothing, really. He sees the flame of the Statue of Liberty, and is entraced by it. However, he does not stand with her nor near her. He's instead next to 'the sons of Cain'. Now, from what I know of Biblical allusions/stories (correct me if I'm wrong), Cain was branded with a mark that never really seemed to have a positive effect, other than keeping him alive. In the New Testament, I believe, there are some negative connotations with Cain and his descendants. Although they are said to have created musical instruments, brass, and metals (so they have had some important achievements), in all they are looked down upon. I think this means that even though the singer is in the presence of the Statue of Liberty, he stands not with her but with the sons of Cain--people who go unnoticed, who are shunned from society, and have broken dreams--because he finds his place there. Although the idea of the majesty of the Statue is lovely and enrapturing, the singer knows that it is not him, and that no person can ever amount to the granduer of that symbol. He has no place being an equal by standing next to her, so instead he stands with the people more like him. Yet, even though he knows he cannot have all dreams fulfilled, and that he cannot be like this wonderful symbol, he as well as the sons of Cain, in their hardships and lack of glory, still reach out to that image of perfection, because they are so in love with the idea of it that they can never let it go.

I think that's pretty much all I've gotten out of it. Sorry for the long comment, but I really wanted to get my thoughts out there for this song. Bono's a very talented artist.

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