Religion almost destroyed U2.

In the early 1980s some of U2’s members belonged to a prayer group in Ireland called Shalom.  Some of the prayer group members believed Christianity and rock music weren’t compatible. Singer Bono and the other U2 members thought about it. For a short time U2’s future was uncertain. The members of U2 – barely in their 20s — wrestled with a serious question: could Christians sustain their spirituality in in the secular rock world?

U2 didn’t quit making music. But the band didn’t lose their religion. More than three decades later U2’s musical career is probably the greatest marriage of spirituality and rock music.

Many musicians have a spiritual component to their music. Or they go through spiritual phases. But U2’s entire career is steeped in spirituality. There seems to be no separation between their music and their spirituality. It’s difficult to find a song of theirs that doesn’t seem spiritual in some way. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if some songs are about a partner or about God. Even when they record a cover of a mediocre R&B song like “Everlasting Love” it instantly sounds like a gospel rock song. And they may even quote more Bible verses in their songs than the average Christian band.

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Bono said “the problems of the world are the problems of the human spirit.” That’s a good way to define a statement of purpose for U2’s music. They’ve addressed both the individual spirit and social justice elements of Christianity in a consistent way that probably no other band has.

Although it’s best to view U2’s entire body of work as a spiritual journey, here’s are a list of ten of their most significant spiritual songs. Some obvious, others not so obvious.

1. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

A song for our times: faith, doubt and seeking

Just the title tells you what it’s all about: something’s missing.

But there’s something more than just a void. The singer believes in “a kingdom come” and a Jesus who “carried the cross of my shame.” And to make sure it’s clear about his faith he adds “you know I believe it.” But still, something is missing as the famous chorus points out.

What hasn’t he found?

Maybe it’s something he can’t find it here on earth – is the kingdom of God not fully yet revealed on earth? Or could the singer in some sort of spiritual warfare between faith and doubt? In the line “I have spoke with the tongue of angels/I have held the hand of a devil,” could refer to the famous passage on love from Corinthians I. But at the same time he seems to be pulled into some kind of temptation with the reference to holding the hand of the devil.

Whatever the case, the she singer has run, crawled, scaled walls – it’s been a journey. He’s seen a lot. He sounds like a believer who is world weary.  He may be suffering from the kind of spiritual fatigue and longing that the writer of Ecclesiastes experienced. He was an affluent man (an ancient celebrity?) who couldn’t find any worldly thing that could make him truly happy – despite power, material possessions and sensory pleasures. But he too believed in God. And he too couldn’t seem to find what he was looking for. Maybe because the world seemed to have opposite priorities from what he believed was important.

It’s this complex combination of faith and doubt that makes this song perhaps U2’s most topical spiritual song. It shows there’s always doubts, always longings, always incompletions.  Believers are seekers too.

2. “40”

No U2 concert seems to end right unless it’s with the song “40.” Here’s a performance of it from 2005:

Deliverance must come, but how long?

The legendary tale about the recording of this song goes like this: U2 had 40 minutes remaining in their recording session for the album War before the next band was scheduled to come in. So they opened the Bible to Psalm 40 and created a song based on the psalm – with revisions and a lift of a line from Psalm 6.

The result turned out to be a poignant closing song to their album and to many of their concerts. The cry of “How long?” connects to one central theme of the Psalms: How long before deliverance?

The song also reminds us the psalms originally were set to music. They were some of the first spiritual songs. Bono wrote about the importance of the psalms – and the effect of the chorus of “How Long?” in an introduction he wrote to an edition of the Psalms released in 1999:

“40” became the closing song at U2 shows, and on hundreds of occasions, literally hundreds of thousands of people of every size and shape of T-shirt have shouted back the refrain, pinched from Psalm 6: “How long (to sing this song).” I had thought of it as a nagging question, pulling at the hem of an invisible deity whose presence we glimpse only when we act in love. How long hunger? How long hatred? How long until creation grows up and the chaos of its precocious, hell-bent adolescence has been discarded? I thought it odd that the vocalising of such questions could bring such comfort — to me, too.”

3. “Yahweh”

Looking at the darkness before the dawn

The song is addressed directly to God (Yahweh is one of the Old Testament names for God).  And like the Psalms, it’s a conversation with God where the narrator asks to be transformed — and then works something out about the nature of God through the prayer.

The singer wants to be purified, to be instructed, and to be filled with faith. In a series of lines that start with “take this” the singer asks God to be transformed in everything from his exterior clothes (representing his way of living and all of his choices?) to his interior soul.

But some things don’t seem to be transformed yet. The answer to why comes in the chorus in one of the song’s most poignant lines: “always pain before a child is born.”

The singer is in a state of expectation of transformation where he’s “waiting for the dawn.” But then he asks “Why the dark before the dawn?” What a powerful question. It’s one many people of faith ask. We expect the dawn of transformation will come. But we still wonder why the darkness is there before that happens.

In the final part of the song there’s an allusion to the Gospel of Matthew about the city on a hill. Is it a holy city or any city the singer may be? Whatever the case, it takes the song from the personal to the communal. He concludes with a final request to God that begins with the word “take”: “take this heart and make it break.”

The song “Yahweh” breaks our hearts too with its prayerful dialogue about transformation, faith and accepting the pain and darkness of life.

4. “Until The End of the World”

A different voice: The Gospel According to Judas

In a brilliant device, this song is from the point of view of Judas Iscariot. The first verse focuses on the Last Supper, the second on his betrayal of Jesus, and the third is about the emotional turmoil in the aftermath of his deceit – where Judas has regret and seems to seek forgiveness.

But this song is about a lot more than a clever shift of a point of view of the gospel story. By giving us Judas’ perspective, it asks us to consider Judas’ role in the crucifixion. Is this a necessary step for Jesus to get to the cross? Or is Bono giving us Judas’ viewpoint to make us think about how all of us may have the tendencies of Judas? Are we all capable of betrayal and breaking hearts of those who are closest to us? Is the cycle of togetherness, betrayal and forgiveness a spiritual cycle we must embrace? And does Judas deserve forgiveness – even if may take “until the end of the world”?

The Edge’s scorching guitar work – with its churning and howling sounds – reflects the turmoil of the lyrics.  Add to that he ominous reference to the “end of the world” – with all of it spiritual implications  — and it’s easily one of the standout songs in U2’s immense catalog. And a song that asks to consider serious spiritual issues about both the betrayal in the gospels and the betrayals we experience in our own lives.

5. “Mercy”

Here’s the studio version of U2’s song “Mercy,” an outtake from the How To Build An Atomic Bomb” album:

A transcendental spiritual transformation

Every major musician or band seems to have a legendary unreleased song or album.  This outtake from How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb has become the Great Unreleased U2 studio song. Rumors always circulate that it may yet turn up on an upcoming album — and a far inferior live version was released on a limited edition live EP – but this studio version remains the best version that’s circulated.

It’s so perfect, so important a song that it hopefully it will be released in this version and mix and not tampered with.

It contains a common theme in U2 songs – which is the desire for spiritual transformation. “Mercy” is about the transcendental power of love to overcome the singer’s spiritual dryness, the doubts about organized religion, and feeling out of sync with one’s true self . The song is nothing less than a total refreshment of spirit – something U2’s song “Gloria” is also about.

“Mercy” begins with a list of opposites that outline a soul out of kilter and a world that seems upside down. All kinds of things are off, opposite, and not what’s expected (the best line may be “you wanted violins and you got Nero.”)

But Bono soon declares “love has come again” and there’s a shift to a spiritual transformation.

That comes through love which “hears when I lie” and “puts the blue back in my eye.” After this transcendental surge of the spirit of love the singer is “alive again.” The final words of the song are “I’m born again and again and again.” There is no end to the power of love to heal, transform and lift the spirit.

But it doesn’t stop with just his transformation. The singer lists all the things that love can do: “the enemy of misery,” “love is justice, not charity,” “love brings with it clarity.” A key line is “love’s got to be with weak.” We all can be weak from feeling lowness of spirit or outrage at the injustices of the world. But “Mercy” shows how this weakness can be overcome through a transcendental spirit of love.

6. “Grace”

A poem to one of Christianity’s most important beliefs

One of the central tenants in Christianity is grace. It’s the belief that it’s a gift from God that instills a spirit of salvation that overcomes sins.

This song is an ode to grace which is a “thought that can change the world” and “a pearl in perfect condition” as Bono sings. It contains a sparse and soft instrumentation reminiscent of a Velvet Underground ballad from their third album.

Bono makes the distinction between grace and karma saying that “grace travels outside of karma.” He points out a central distinction between Christianity and Eastern religion. According to Eastern religion, the process of karma will take multiple lifetimes to achieve. But grace is a kind of instant karma of forgiveness. Bono sings about this when he says “what left a mark no longer stings/because grace makes beauty out of ugly things.”

Bono was reportedly influenced by Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? This beautiful song reminds us how important grace is to Christianity.

7. “Gloria”

Elevating the spirit

This is a song about the need to be rejuvenated and lifted up. And the singer turns to God to be elevated.

The chorus of this song is so soaring and musically so triumphant that it’s easy to forget what the purpose for transcendence is. The singer is in a state of spiritual paralysis or deprivation. He’s unable to sing, speak or move. “If I had anything to give, I’d give it to you,” the singer says as if he’s drained of inspiration.

While the singer appears to be spiritually dry, he also knows where to turn to be uplifted. The chorus – partly in Latin – is a call to God. October is often considered to be the most overtly Christian of U2’s album (a very debatable point), and this is an soaring introduction to the rest of the album which is more subdued and much more musically challenging than this surge of energy.

8. “A Celebration”

Here’s an energetic performance of “A Celebration” from a British TV show in 1982:

An apocalyptic dance

Long ago this dynamic song ended up in the category of obscure U2 songs. That’s because it was a single released between the October and War albums. (It was finally issued on CD on the expanded version of the October album.) Somehow it got lost in the gap between those two albums. But it shouldn’t have. It remains one of the band’s best songs — and an important link between the spirit of the two albums: October being an album of energetic and sometimes joyous faith while War focused on social justice through a Christian lens.

The singer believes in the atomic bomb and in World War III, but the signer isn’t afraid. He’s joyful. He believes in another power that can overcome that. He knows that “I believe in the powers that be, but they won’t overpower me.”  He believes that in the trumpets of the Walls of Jericho bring down walls , “in the city’s children,” and “in the cells of Mount Joy there is an honest man.”  It is as the title says “a celebration” — with the reminder throughout the song “that you could go there.” There’s references to dancing and it seems to be a dance of joy. It’s such a joyful song of faith overcoming fear. Even the idea of an apocalyptic nuclear bomb or World War III cant’ shake his faith. The most revealing line may be “I believe in what I’m doing.” Because of that, he can dance, celebrate and be fearless and hopeful.

This song is so uplifting because it contains both the joyous faith of October and the righteous anger of War. But will they ever perform this gem in concert again? It hasn’t been played live since a gig in Tokyo in 1983.

9. “The Wanderer” 

The path to redemption

In some ways this song covers much of the same territory as “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Like the narrator of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, the singer is a world weary searcher. But there’s a difference: there’s much more aimlessness than what’s found in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

This is a tour of an almost post-apocalyptic dystopian world with a singer who drifts and rambles through “a city without a soul” and the “capitals of tin.” It’s a dangerous world where “they say they want the kingdom but they don’t want God in it.” It’s a world where families are torn apart and where it’s difficult to find your own identity.

This song is like Ecclesiastes meets Bruce Springsteen’s song “Hungry Heart” (with opens with “Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, jack/I went out for ride and I never went back/Like a river that don’t know where it’s going/I took a wrong turn and I just kept going.”) Like the restless person in “Hungry Heart,” the singer of the song tells someone he’s going out to buy newspapers, but ends up on an epic search.

The restless spirit here goes back to Hank Williams songs such as “Lost Highway” and “Ramblin’ Man.” But that spirit is contained within this song’s blippy electronica sounds with Cash’s deep country voice. The world weary searching voice of Cash combined with the modern electronic sounds illustrates that the searching in this song is both ancient and contemporary.

But it’s more than just searching. The key to the song is in Cash’s mid-song narration where he states: “I went out there in search of experience/to taste and to touch and to feel as much as a man can before he repents.” Like the younger brother in the parable of “The Prodigal Son” he will turn home when he reaches rock bottom.

10. “When Love Comes To Town”

Blues Power: Salvation and sin

In his acclaimed book The Spirituals and the Blues, theologian James Cone said there are two types of music derived from the African-American spiritual tradition. There’s gospel when you felt close to God, the blues when you feel far from God. So it makes sense that U2 detours into the blues here with one of the heavyhitters of the genre: B.B. King.

Most of this song is about the life of sin that the singer has lead. He was a lost wandering soul “lost at sea” (a common metaphor in the Bible for being spiritually shipwrecked). He was combative and possibly had bouts of violence. He made promises to women and then left them.

Because the theme is sin, it’s no surprise that the song features the story of the biggest sinner who had the most powerful conversion in the New Testament. Perhaps this verse refers to Paul, who persecuted Christians and then suddenly was converted:

“I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide.”

This song is about the power of love and spiritual conversion to turn lives around — even the worst of sinners.