The brilliance of this song is in its balance between a clear theme and intentional vagueness. What we can all agree here is that this song is about "surrender". However, what we seem to have the most disagreement about (from what I have read from the posts here so far) is the moment or moments of surrender that Bono is singing about. As an artist, it disappoints me to see so many people readily dismiss this song as being about one thing, whether it be God or heroin/meth/drugs. Has it occurred to many of you that the reason why this song is able to affect so many people in the many ways that it does is because it is left intentionally vague?
This song is fun for me to listen to because my interpretation of it changes every time I listen to it; it stays "fresh" for me. Hence, I don't really have a specific interpretation to share at the moment, but I can share a few possible interpretations that still keep me guessing.
1.) "I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free" is too vague to be a Jesus reference in particular. Rather, it is probably more important to point out the contradiction that the narrator needed to bind himself in order to experience freedom. Perhaps Bono is singing about the binding sacrifice of marriage: surrendering one's self to his/her spouse. The mention of a "semi-precious stone" and "wedding" in this same stanza make this seem more plausible. Then again, it could be Jesus on the cross, or about a tweaker tying his arm to ride the "white pony" (common slang for narcotics).
2.) "Black holes" and "Dark stars" have been extensively studied in cosmology, but there are still many unanswered questions about them that might be impossible to answer. From this physics interpretation, the narrator might be surrendering to the fact that these questions might never have answers. Black holes also absorb everything everything (nothing can escape them other than Hawking radiation), so another interpretation could simply be that the reference to black holes is supposed to conjure feelings of surrender to an inescapable process. On the other hand, "being in black holes" and "at alters of dark stars" could be interpreted more figuratively in the sense that the narrator has had "dark" moments of even larger "dark" deeds. In this case, the imagery would be used to only provide texture to the lyrics. Who knows?
3.) "At the moment of surrender, of vision over visibility. I did not notice the passers-by, and they did not notice me." Could "vision over visibility" mean "to see is better than being seen"? Here, the narrator would be surrendering to humility and virtue. He is so comfortable with himself that he doesn't care what anyone else thinks of him (hence not noticing the passers-by), and so humble that he doesn't need anyone to think of him or acknowledge him for validation. All of his value is gotten internally. However, these lines can also mean the opposite in the sense that the narrator is so disillusioned, perhaps hallucinating, that he literally is having trouble seeing reality. Thus, he would have such a distant sense of self that he would be a bum and no one would notice him. A combined interpretation also exists where the narrator becomes so humble that he doesn't need anything more from life other than life itself... I call this the Taoist interpretation. In this case, the narrator has surrendered everything, even possessions, to live a life of poverty and thus be ignore by passers-by.
4.) (best for last here, I'm so excited). Lastly, I want to talk about the stations of the cross reference. Sure, the first time I heard this stanza I thought it was the narrator describing a moment in life that might have been analogous to the passion of the Christ. But then I imagined the narrator in church going through the stations of the cross like many good Christians do during Lent. I imagined the narrator being at church looking for help and spiritual strength to make it through his personal crisis: depressed and defeated. It is common for people in hard times to look to God for strength and courage, but the challenging thought here is that maybe the narrator went to church and didn't find God (ie, God, the all seeing "eye", "looking every other way"). The narrator would be so devastated after looking for God and not finding Him that all he has left is to surrender to his suffering and "count down 'til the pain stops".
The brilliance of this song is in its balance between a clear theme and intentional vagueness. What we can all agree here is that this song is about "surrender". However, what we seem to have the most disagreement about (from what I have read from the posts here so far) is the moment or moments of surrender that Bono is singing about. As an artist, it disappoints me to see so many people readily dismiss this song as being about one thing, whether it be God or heroin/meth/drugs. Has it occurred to many of you that the reason why this song is able to affect so many people in the many ways that it does is because it is left intentionally vague?
This song is fun for me to listen to because my interpretation of it changes every time I listen to it; it stays "fresh" for me. Hence, I don't really have a specific interpretation to share at the moment, but I can share a few possible interpretations that still keep me guessing.
1.) "I tied myself with wire to let the horses run free" is too vague to be a Jesus reference in particular. Rather, it is probably more important to point out the contradiction that the narrator needed to bind himself in order to experience freedom. Perhaps Bono is singing about the binding sacrifice of marriage: surrendering one's self to his/her spouse. The mention of a "semi-precious stone" and "wedding" in this same stanza make this seem more plausible. Then again, it could be Jesus on the cross, or about a tweaker tying his arm to ride the "white pony" (common slang for narcotics).
2.) "Black holes" and "Dark stars" have been extensively studied in cosmology, but there are still many unanswered questions about them that might be impossible to answer. From this physics interpretation, the narrator might be surrendering to the fact that these questions might never have answers. Black holes also absorb everything everything (nothing can escape them other than Hawking radiation), so another interpretation could simply be that the reference to black holes is supposed to conjure feelings of surrender to an inescapable process. On the other hand, "being in black holes" and "at alters of dark stars" could be interpreted more figuratively in the sense that the narrator has had "dark" moments of even larger "dark" deeds. In this case, the imagery would be used to only provide texture to the lyrics. Who knows?
3.) "At the moment of surrender, of vision over visibility. I did not notice the passers-by, and they did not notice me." Could "vision over visibility" mean "to see is better than being seen"? Here, the narrator would be surrendering to humility and virtue. He is so comfortable with himself that he doesn't care what anyone else thinks of him (hence not noticing the passers-by), and so humble that he doesn't need anyone to think of him or acknowledge him for validation. All of his value is gotten internally. However, these lines can also mean the opposite in the sense that the narrator is so disillusioned, perhaps hallucinating, that he literally is having trouble seeing reality. Thus, he would have such a distant sense of self that he would be a bum and no one would notice him. A combined interpretation also exists where the narrator becomes so humble that he doesn't need anything more from life other than life itself... I call this the Taoist interpretation. In this case, the narrator has surrendered everything, even possessions, to live a life of poverty and thus be ignore by passers-by.
4.) (best for last here, I'm so excited). Lastly, I want to talk about the stations of the cross reference. Sure, the first time I heard this stanza I thought it was the narrator describing a moment in life that might have been analogous to the passion of the Christ. But then I imagined the narrator in church going through the stations of the cross like many good Christians do during Lent. I imagined the narrator being at church looking for help and spiritual strength to make it through his personal crisis: depressed and defeated. It is common for people in hard times to look to God for strength and courage, but the challenging thought here is that maybe the narrator went to church and didn't find God (ie, God, the all seeing "eye", "looking every other way"). The narrator would be so devastated after looking for God and not finding Him that all he has left is to surrender to his suffering and "count down 'til the pain stops".
...Then again, it's too vague to say for certain.