U2's 'Horizon' sales bring band back to Earth

First-week sales of U2’s “No Line on the Horizon” brought the superstar rock band back down to Earth. The album, given the band's stature and sales history, was essentially preordained to debut atop the U.S. pop charts when it was announced last year. The only question was how many it would sell.

The Interscope album sold a brisk 484,000 copies in the U.S., according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the biggest first-week tally since Britney Spears’ “Circus” sold 505,000 copies during the holiday season last year.

But the number everyone will talk about is 840,000. That’s what U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” sold when it debuted at No. 1 in 2004. Another recent barometer, the U2-influenced band Coldplay's album "Viva la Vida," sold more than 700,000 units when it was released last year.

Though the 356,000-unit sales gap can certainly be attributed to year after year of double-digit declines in album sales, a closer look at U2’s recent sales stats suggests that “Atomic Bomb” was a bit of an aberration in the career of the Irish superstars.

“Certainly this is not the 800 [thousand] that the last album did, but that was more than four years ago -- in a different kind of economy, a different kind of music-buyer landscape, and it came out Thanksgiving week,” said Billboard chart analyst Keith Caulfield.

U2’s 2000 release “All That You Can Leave Behind” opened with sales of 428,000 copies. Prior to “Behind,” U2's highest debut in the pre-file-sharing era was 1993’s “Zooropa,” which launched with 377,000 copies. SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991.

“Behind” reestablished U2 as a force on rock radio, spawning hits such as “Beautiful Day” and “Elevation.” The trend continued into the release of “Atomic Bomb,” as the single “Vertigo” topped Billboard's modern rock chart and was the cornerstone of an inescapable Apple iPod commercial. When “Atomic Bomb” was released, “Vertigo” was a top-40 hit on the U.S. singles chart.

That kind of radio success has thus far eluded U2 with “No Line,” despite a massive U2 marketing campaign that has taken the act to the Grammys and a weeklong stint on “Late Show With David Letterman.” When Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" topped the U.S. pop chart with sales of 721,000 copies in June, the title cut was on its way to hitting No. 1 on the U.S. singles charts.

By comparison, U2’s recent release, “Get On Your Boots,” has spent only sporadically appeared on the chart and most recently was hanging on at No. 96. SoundScan reports the cut has sold 188,000 digital copies to date, a number that seems rather quaint when rapper Flo Rida is setting digital sales records with one-week totals such as 636,000.

U2's “last album was kind of an anomaly,” Caulfield says. “Could they have done more? Sure. Lil Wayne did 1 million, but I don’t think this is going to drop off the chart next week.”

Perhaps not, but the real test for U2 is likely to come this summer, when the band begins its upcoming U2360 stadium tour. A Los Angeles date has not yet been announced for the Live Nation-produced endeavor -- the first tour as part of U2's 12-year, multifaceted arrangement with the promoter. The band’s last tour, tied to the release of “Vertigo” in 2005, was the second-highest-grossing tour ever, bringing in $389 million, according to Billboard.

Economists give Obama failing grade for their effort to revive the economy

U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy from participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

Economists Give Obama an "F"

In striking contrast to President Obama's popularity with the public, a new Wall Street Journal survey of economists gives the president and his treasury secretary failing grades. WSJ's Phil Izzo and Kelly Evans discuss.

The economists' assessment stands in stark contrast with Mr. Obama's popularity with the public, with a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll giving him a 60% approval rating. A majority of the 49 economists polled said they were dissatisfied with the administration's economic policies.

On average, they gave the president a grade of 59 out of 100, and although there was a broad range of marks, 42% of respondents rated Mr. Obama below 60. Mr. Geithner received an average grade of 51. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke scored better, with an average 71.

Charts and Full Results

• See forecasts for growth, unemployment, housing and more. Plus, views on the auto industry, ranking Fed chairmen, grading policymakers and more. Survey conducted March 6-10. (Or download all data as .xls)
• Real Time Econ: Economic news and analysis
• Complete Coverage: Forecasting Survey

The economists, many of whom have been continually surprised by the depth of the downturn, also pushed back yet again their forecasts for when a recovery would begin. On average, they expect the downturn to end in October. Last month, they said the bottom would arrive in August. They estimate that U.S. gross domestic product will continue to contract in the first half of this year, with slow growth returning in the third quarter.

Economists were divided over whether the $787 billion economic-stimulus package passed last month is enough. Some 43% said the U.S. will need another stimulus package on the order of nearly $500 billion. Others were skeptical of the need for stimulus at all.

However, economists' main criticism of the Obama team centered on delays in enacting key parts of plans to rescue banks. "They overpromised and underdelivered," said Stephen Stanley of RBS Greenwich Capital. "Secretary Geithner scheduled a big speech and came out with just a vague blueprint. The uncertainty is hanging over everyone's head."

Mr. Geithner unveiled the Obama administration's plans Feb. 10, but he offered few details, and stocks sank on the news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down almost 20% since the announcement, as multiple issues have weighed on investors' confidence. The Treasury secretary has since appeared before Congress and offered more specifics but has said action on key parts of the plan still is weeks away.

"We have taken an unprecedented level of action toward economic recovery, accomplishing in weeks what took other countries years to do," Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker said. "While Wall Street and investors were disappointed when they didn't get a sweeping bank bailout, we've laid out a plan to stabilize the financial system while protecting the taxpayer and ensuring government funds are spent wisely. This crisis was years in the making, and it will take time to solve."

Treasury has started implementing a housing-recovery plan, moved forward on a joint program with the Fed to boost consumer lending, and has begun stress-testing banks in an effort to determine which institutions will need additional capital from the government. The results of the stress tests won't be known for a few weeks. Meanwhile, a key part of the plan -- a public-private partnership to take toxic assets off bank balance sheets -- remains in the planning stages.

The economists' negative ratings mark a turnaround in opinion. In December, before Mr. Obama took office, three-quarters of respondents said the incoming administration's economic team was better than the departing Bush team. However, Mr. Geithner's latest marks are lower than the average grade of 57 that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received in January.

Mr. Geithner, who is relying on a skeleton crew of advisers in the Treasury Department as the administration struggles to make key appointments to his staff, is encountering the same problems as his predecessor in dealing with the complexities of a bailout plan. Richard DeKaser of Woodley Park Research, who gave high marks to Messrs. Obama and Geithner, admitted disappointment in the delay in action but said he appreciated the magnitude of the task. "I don't know what's holding it up," he said. "But I'm assuming it's not just because they're hitting the golf course."

There was widespread initial support for the appointment of Mr. Geithner, who as president of the New York Federal Reserve had been on the front lines of the crisis since it erupted. However, in the ensuing weeks Mr. Geithner has had to deal with tax troubles and criticism from those opposed to any bailouts as well as those who think the government needs to be doing more.

Meanwhile, the economists surveyed this month predict that the economy will shed another 2.8 million jobs over the next 12 months as the unemployment rate climbs to 9.3% by December, up from the 8.1% rate recorded in February. Economists also see nearly a one-in-six chance that the U.S. will fall into a depression, defined as a decline in per-person GDP or consumption by 10% or more.

"We just keep moving the date [when the recession will end] out, hoping at some point in time we will be able to move the date back in," said Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial.

The economists didn't just single out the U.S. for criticism; 70% of participants said the response of governments around the world to the global recession has been inadequate. "The Europeans or Japanese don't seem to be doing near enough to kickstart their economies," said Nariman Behravesh of IHS Global Insight. "It could be we've done all the right things, but the rest of the world goes down the tubes."

Despite the growing criticism elsewhere, the respondents were broadly supportive of the Fed. More than 85% of the economists agreed that the central bank's proliferating lending programs are well-designed, well-executed and helping the economy. And while grades for Mr. Bernanke remain off of their 2007 highs, the average has stabilized after falling as low as 69 in the November survey.

Amid all the gloom, there is a bright spot: Four-fifths of the economists said now is a good time to buy equities, especially if the investor has a long-term view.

About the Survey

The Wall Street Journal surveys a group of 54 economists throughout the year. Broad surveys on more than 10 major economic indicators are conducted every month. Once a year, economists are ranked on how well their forecasts have fared. For prior installments of the surveys, see: WSJ.com/Economist.

Surrendering to Vision over Visibility: No Lines on U2’s Spiritual Horizon

March 10, 2009

U2’s latest, No Line on the Horizon, includes quite a bit of aural experimentation. The layering of sounds and the idea of “the sound” echo and repeat over and over. However, the exploration of the latter is a fascinating remix of themes U2 has covered before. Is “the sound” something as carnal as the babble of humanity in all its forms of expression secular and overtly sexual? Yes. Is “the sound” something sacred, reflecting the vibrations of a phenomenon that is soulful and spiritually connective? Yes.

One of the reasons this band is so entertaining, so captivating, comes from an amazing ability to combine the secular with the spiritual in a musical mix that operates on multiple levels. “Get on Your Boots” has a great beat and you can really dance to it - but it also has these weird little lyrics that can be both meaningless and/or philosophical depending on how seriously you are willing to take it all. “I got a submarine/You’ve got gasoline” - playful sexual imagery of the war between the sexes or a comment on the relationship between Western militarism and the oil rich Middle East?

Well, it doesn’t really matter because one way or the other, “I don’t want to talk about war between nations/Not right now.” One of the lessons of this album is that to everything there is a season; a time to be melancholy, a time to meditate, and a time to put on your sexy boots, realize your inherent beauty, and dance knowing that “Laughter is eternity/if joy is real.”

And here is the twist. How do we know if “Joy is real?” How do we enter eternity, the place where no line on the horizon means a world without end, a world with endless possibilities where forward momentum continually carries the soul and spirit onward? The struggle to answer those questions and then to deal with the consequences of the answers is a theme that is a continuation of the band’s previous exploration and expression of their own spirituality. They have found their answers, however, imperfect as they may seem at times, through Christianity, and so, their music and lyrics are bound to the discourse of that faith. Christian ideals float and pair with the secular in combinations unexpected and inspirational.

A perfect example of their ability to speak in duel discourses is “Magnificent.” Although the song never mentions Christ by name, and so could be interpreted to be about a person, it is also a psalm begging to be joyfully sung, to be proclaimed actually, by those who believe in the higher spirit of love that heals hurts, justifies souls, and unifies hearts.

There are several examples of this kind of “double-discoursed” song on the CD. One of the most obvious is “Unknown Caller” which could be read as a type of sinner’s prayer for the cellular age. It begins with the ambiguous phrase “Sunshine” that could be a homophonic play on “son shine,” if, that is, you read the rest of the song as a salvation story. There is the return to “the scene of the accident” where the repentant man reviews with great sorrow his current state after desperately trying to speed dial, to reconnect with anyone he’s had a relationship to previously, without a signal.

He receives a call to “Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak.” Then, the narrator receives the command lines “Force Quit and move to trash”- in Christian lingo, to repent and turn from sin. “Restart and re-boot yourself/You’re free to go” or exercise your free will and if you choose, be born again not forgetting to “Shout for joy, if you get the chance.” The last message is to “[type in your] password and enter here.” The password - the acceptance of the message - allows for a new relationship to occur, one of peace for the receiver and a promise of direction from the caller.

“I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” covers another theme familiar to Christians, the idea of pressing on in your spiritual journey. However, instead of the remorseful longing of still not finding what I’m looking for, this piece of “the sound” acknowledges the hard work of finding your way on the path, but also the joy in it as well. “Perfect love drives out all fear” - a line cribbed directly from scripture pairs with the declaration that it’s okay to appear ridiculous sometimes. It doesn’t take away from the journey or the connection to others on the path.

Here, ridiculous has a duel meaning. It could just be the right to appear silly, or in Bono’s case, the right to put on the trappings of a rock n’ roll star, but for certain Christian communities, it’s considered positive if the world “marks it strange” or thinks you are crazy or ridiculous in your faith. It demonstrates your commitment to living in an upside down kingdom where it is better to give than receive and to serve rather than be served. Like the verse in Hebrews which instructs believers to encourage each other until the day, or return, of the Lord, the song is one of joyful assurance that we will make it to the perfect light and that we’re not alone, even if sometimes the best you can hope for is to “squeeze out sparks of light” into the darkness.

Squeezing out sparks of light into darkness has been Bono’s mission, his vision, since the band first appeared in the spotlight decades ago, and of course, for the last few years, that vision has had a white hot focus on issues of disease and extreme poverty in Africa. It is in this context that “Moment of Surrender” becomes more than a song about surrender to love, to circumstance, or salvation; and yes, this marvelous song can be about any or all of those things. What it also captures is the epic struggle of not only having the faith to hear and believe, but also to act. “It’s not if I believe in love/But if love believes in me.” It’s about surrendering to the vision.

Bono has a vision. We know that because he shares it with everyone he comes in contact with. He also gets more backlash for it than one person should possibly be able to bear. This song gives us insight into what it takes to answer the call of the social prophet, and how difficult it is to stop worrying about appearing ridiculous, to stop worrying about the hypocritical money paradox that a wealthy man finds himself in when he begins to preach against poverty, and to stop worrying about the demands of celebrity. In the moments he surrenders to the vision, his desires, his money issues, his immediately recognizable persona, his visibility, all become moot. The only thing that matters is the vision.

Without that epiphany, none of the joy of the other songs is possible because Bono is always tied to the conflict inherent to who he is as performer - and who he is as a believer in a God who demands justice along with love and mercy. Without surrender, the believer is still bound by the demands of this world and its incessant need to categorize people and to set limits on vision and identity. The challenge is to see the line on the horizon, and then, go beyond it anyway. However, in order to achieve that victory, you have to surrender to what is beyond that line first.

It is important that there is more than one moment of surrender in this particular track, and that there are more moments of surrender, insight, and joy embedded into others on the CD. That repetition is vital because, as we are constantly reminded in this collection, “the sound” is complex and beastly in its ability to confuse, but it is also limitless in possibility and promise.

Flashback: Carville Wanted Bush to Fail

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, just minutes before learning of the terrorist attacks on America, Democratic strategist James Carville was hoping for President Bush to fail, telling a group of Washington reporters: "I certainly hope he doesn't succeed."

Carville was joined by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who seemed encouraged by a survey he had just completed that revealed public misgivings about the newly minted president.

"We rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I'm wanting them to turn against him," Greenberg admitted.

...In 2006, 51 percent of Democrats wanted Bush to fail, according to a FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll.

U2 Tops The Billboard 200

U2 scores its seventh No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as "No Line on the Horizon" bows in the top slot. The Interscope album moved 484,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, the best sales week for an artist since Britney Spears' "Circus" arrived at No. 1 in early December with 505,000. U2 is now tied with Led Zeppelin for the second-most No. 1s, behind only the Beatles' 19.

U2 first topped the Billboard 200 in 1987 with "The Joshua Tree," spending nine consecutive weeks at No. 1. The group followed it with four No. 1s in a row: "Rattle and Hum" (1988), "Achtung Baby" (1991), "Zooropa" (1993) and "Pop" (1997). The band returned to No. 1 again in 2004 with "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." That album was released during Thanksgiving week of 2004 and bowed with 840,000.

Heads should roll - Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him

Free Barack!

Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons -- his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship.

Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!)

First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery. Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair?

And then there was the fiasco of the ham-handed White House reception for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which was evidently lacking the most basic elements of ceremony and protocol. Don't they read the "Iliad" anymore in the Ivy League? Check that out for the all-important ritual of gift giving, which has cemented alliances around the world for 5,000 years.

President Obama -- in whom I still have great hope and confidence -- has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism.

Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.

Yes, I cringe when Rush plays his "Barack the Magic Negro" satire or when he gratuitously racializes the debate over Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is a constant subject of withering scrutiny for quite different reasons on sports shows here in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I totally agree with Rush about "feminazis," whose amoral tactics and myopic worldview I as a dissident feminist had to battle for decades. As a student of radio and a longtime listener of Rush's show, I have gotten a wealth of pleasure and insight from him over the years. To attack Rush Limbaugh is to attack his audience -- and to intensify the loyalty of his fan base.

If Rush's presence looms too large for the political landscape, it's because of the total vacuity of the Republican leadership, which seems to be in a dithering funk. Rush isn't responsible for the feebleness of Republican voices or the thinness of Republican ideas. Only ignoramuses believe that Rush speaks for the Republican Party. On the contrary, Rush as a proponent of heartland conservatism has waged open warfare with the Washington party establishment for years.

And I'm sick of people impugning Rush's wealth and lifestyle, which is no different from that of another virtuoso broadcaster who hit it big -- Oprah Winfrey. Rush Limbaugh is an embodiment of the American dream: He slowly rose from obscurity to fame on the basis of his own talent and grit. Every penny Rush has earned was the result of his rapport with a vast audience who felt shut out and silenced by the liberal monopoly of major media. As a Democrat and Obama supporter, I certainly do not agree with everything Rush says or does. I was deeply upset, for example, by the sneering tone both Rush and Sean Hannity took on Inauguration Day, when partisan politics should have been set aside for a unifying celebration of American government and history. Nevertheless, I respect Rush for his independence of thought and his always provocative news analysis. He doesn't run with the elite -- he goes his own way.

President Obama should yank the reins and get his staff's noses out of slash-and-burn petty politics. His own dignity and prestige are on the line. If he wants a second term, he needs to project a calmer perspective about the eternal reality of vociferous opposition, which is built into our democratic system. Right now, the White House is starting to look like Raphael's scathing portrait of a pampered, passive Pope Leo X and his materialistic cardinals -- one of the first examples of an artist sending a secret, sardonic message to posterity. Do those shifty, beady-eyed guys needing a shave remind you of anyone? Yes, it's bare-knuckles Chicago pugilism, transplanted to Washington. The charitably well-meaning but hopelessly extravagant Leo X, by the way, managed to mishandle the birth of the Protestant Reformation, which permanently split Christianity.

Stocks turn in worst performance for new president

The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 21 percent during Obama's first seven weeks in office. Count back to Election Day and the results are even bleaker: That afternoon, the Dow closed at 9,625. Now it stands at 6,547, a loss of 32 percent...Stockholders have lost $1.4 trillion during the young administration.

Before Obama, the worst Dow performance for the first seven weeks of a new administration was an 18 percent plunge in 1974 after Gerald Ford was sworn in, during a severe bear market triggered by the Arab oil crisis.

Ronald Reagan presided over a Dow decline of more than 20 percent from April 1981 through the end of the 1982 bear market. And in 2001, George W. Bush's first year in office, the Dow plunged from a peak above 11,000 to a low below 8,300 after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Market analysts usually play down the influence of presidents on the market but say this time could be different as taxpayer dollars prop up private companies and Obama's first proposed budget stands at $3.6 trillion, with a gaping deficit.

In this case, said Wachovia Securities chief market analyst Alfred E. Goldman, investors are saying "they have no confidence in the stimulus package doing much stimulation anytime soon. And they're greatly concerned about the size of the budget."

U2'S SACRED PILGRIMAGE: 'I FOUND GRACE, IT'S ALL THAT I FOUND'

A rock band shouldn't....

While I see the main task of this blog as tracking theologically-informed discussion of U2's work, I think I am ready to take a break from being a guide to others' Christian or Biblical reflections on No Line on the Horizon and make a few posts myself this week. Not a review, but some things that have struck me personally.

First, a more general comment on the black and white reactions to the album. One of the many very negative reviews complained that throughout it, "Bono usually sounds like he's speaking for us on subjects we wouldn't bother to consider." This comment has come to mind several times as I've gotten to know an album which definitely speaks for me, and on subjects that I consider constantly -- subjects which in my worldview are so central that I can't think of many I'd rank higher.

Now in one sense that disconnect is nothing new. It's no secret that some of the preoccupations traditionally seen as appropriate to pop culture have never been of much artistic interest to U2, whereas some of the preoccupations seen as gauche or taboo draw them in -- nor is it a secret that many people can't stand that fact. If you are one of those people, my guess is that you will especially hate NLOTH. As I have said to some friends, this is U2 distilled, 120-proof U2, synthesizing their previous work and considering very U2ey subjects in a very U2ey way. (As opposed to in a "classic U2 sound" way or a "the 90s redux" way or a "gotta get on the radio" way. See, I also think people who prefer to interpret the band through only one of the diverse titles under which they get pegged down -- U2 of the Joshua Tree, U2 of ZooTV, U2 of the Stadiums -- are less likely to enjoy this album. You gotta accept it all this time.)

But the particular NLOTH red flag to the bull, I'm beginning to think, is not just its distillation of the essence of U2 (bad enough!), but also its, if you'll forgive a technical Biblical studies term, Sitz-im-leben. This album speaks quite clearly from where the band actually stand: men nearing 50, mostly with long-term families, long-term experience in discipleship, long-term experience in staying in community, and enough perspective to have not just sorted through priorities but also reflected on different modes of addressing them. Statistically, this Sitz-im-leben is pretty rare in the West these days, and vanishingly tiny among the rock 'n' roll world. How many people today create or consume pop culture from the context of even one 33-year relationship, let along a whole gang of them? How many people today create or consume pop culture from the context of a complex spiritual worldview that's been slowly ripening in subtlety and breadth of application for even one decade, let alone three? If you already really like U2, you'll follow them there anyway and see what's on offer, but if you don't....

So no wonder listeners to whom that Sitz-im-leben is foreign, who don't resonate with its insights or imagine it having a valid place in rock 'n' roll, would find connecting with No Line on the Horizon very difficult, and see its whose essence as uninteresting and remote from anything anyone normal would "bother to consider."

This doesn't explain all the negative press, but I think it explains some, and really, it isn't that big a surprise. One of the reactions to U2 has always been "a rock band shouldn't do this." But in the end, haven't their violations of the list of things "a rock band shouldn't do" been the source of their power? From my vantage point, what's going on now is one more example.

...In my last post I talked about the perception that NLOTH deals with "subjects [many people] wouldn't bother to consider," and I commented that I am very interested both in these subjects that U2 are considering and in the way they are considering them. But let me clarify (in case the focus of this blog might contribute to any confusion on this point) that by this I do NOT mean I've been hoping to hear U2 sing about God more, or that I like NLOTH because it has many Christian references. That doesn't seem like a very reliable criterion for assessing art to me. As far as I can see, the band have brought the same basic worldview to all their work over the past three decades, whether or not recognizably Christian language was being used or identifiably "religious" topics were being addressed.

Now, naturally I am touched to hear any fellow believer giving wholehearted love to Someone I also love -- but I personally don't feel any special excitement purely upon discovering that U2 have chosen to record a song with that focus. ("Magnificent," for example, did little for me on my first several hearings, and I still don't really enjoy "Yahweh.") I don't much care how many times the texts directly quote the Bible along the way, either (although being able to recognize such allusions when they come is guaranteed to increase your appreciation of U2 songs). But what I do care about, and what so far seems to me to be near the heart of NLOTH, is seeing them (to paraphrase a former homiletics professor of mine) take the issue/moment/situation they want to present and integrate it with everything they have so far learned as Christians about the universe.

It seems to me that what U2 have to give at this point is not "We can be cooler than the Killers" or "We consider Fordham students our contemporaries" (which made me cringe on Friday). What they have to give in their chosen genre is a much larger than usual pool of resources for that integration.

Stop Helping God Over the Road - A Meditation Using Lyrics from U2’s New Album, No Line on the Horizon

U2’s NLOTH spiritual resonances (pt 3)

U2’s NLOTH spiritual resonances (part 3)

The 3rd instalment…In my mind, these 2 songs go together - they’re both counter-cultural.

- Stand up for your love which is emphatically NOT RIGHTS (Stand Up Comedy)
- [then what appears to contradict the previous quote, there is one right that does still matter] the right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear. (I’ll Go Crazy) For this is essential if one is prepared to love.

But the important thing is that they counter the culture of both the world and the church (see the little old lady below) - because of LOVE! Which in many ways puts them on a more biblical trajectory than any of us might care to realise. But then, if there is the prophetic and psalmic in the songs on this album, this should not be surprising. And someone who speaks such a message is bound to get brickbats flung at them - from everybody. Just as well there is the personal relationship that supersedes all others - a question of vision taking precedence over visibility… (Moment of Surrender). That’s not to say that Bono takes himself too seriously - fortunately there are hints that he doesn’t… (although sometimes, one might wish he would take himself even less seriously than he does!).

Stand Up Comedy

Well, this is the song that makes ‘love’ come out so big on the wordle (see previous NLOTH post). It’s repeated over and over, despite being chanted almost inaudibly. It’s ramming the point home. But this is no soppy romanticism; it’s a call, not to arms of course, but to action. Or perhaps even better, it is a call to arms opened wide.

The tempo, driving rhythm section, the almost retro 70s feel (you can almost see Steve McQueen accelerating over a San Francisco rise) all serve to galvanise and propel us out … to love. This is the MLK dream. But there is an aspect of comedy to this standing up - because self-sacrificial love gets you into the most surreal, even absurd, situations (like when Bono & Geldof find themselves visiting the former Pope, Bush & Blair).

the wire stretched in between two towers… stand up in this dizzy world where a lovesick eye can steal the view. I’m gonna fall down if I can’t stand up for your love. Presumably the imagery is of Philippe Petit, the guy who did a tightrope walk in 1974 between the twin towers of the New York World Trade Center (and who is the subject of the recent documentary film, Man on Wire). Just thinking about stepping out onto such a rope is enough to make one balk with vertigo. But I’m gonna fall down if i can’t stand up for your love, or rather if i can’t serve in your love. It is risky love - but if we’re not serving ‘your love‘ what alternative is there but falling…? Could this have anything to do with Peter stepping out of the boat onto to the water…? ≈ Matt 14:24-33

the DNA lotto may have left you smart, but you can stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart it doesn’t matter what makes us who we are (whether our genes or upbringing or circumstances); the obsessions of our culture age (beauty, smarts) are no match for the fruit of the spirit and the Christian’s trinity: I can stand up for hope, faith, love (explicit reference of course to 1 Cor 13:13, Colossians 1:5, 1 Thess 1:3, 5:8). And of course the greatest of these is love.

But then here comes a provocative challenge to the church (and it’s one of the most powerful images of the whole album): But while I’m getting over certainty stop helping God across the road like a little old lady. Ouch. A hugely suggestive image and one that’s lodged firmly in my head (and it keeps reminding me of that youtube classic that did the rounds a couple of years ago, the old lady and the airbag!!). How many of us have presumed to think God owed it to us, looked to us, depended on us? Who do we think we are? Shush now, cease to speak that I may speak (Unknown Caller). This is all reminiscent of Psalm 50 - esp v7-10 - hear, o my people, and I will speak… I am God, your God… I have no need of a bull from your stall… for I have the cattle on a thousand hills). This is a rebuke the church STILL needs to hear, as we invest in our programmes, strategies and schemes - God is bigger than all of that. To suggest that we need to get over our certainty will for some be a red rag to a bull of course - esp those who fear all things postmodern. But then, if it is a matter of thinking we’ve got everything sussed and that our own way of doing God’s business is THE way, then such certainty surely justifies such a rebuke for what is little short of idolatry. God is sovereign - so get out from under your beds, c’mon ye people, and serve… with love…

But there is an absurdity in the fact that it takes a rockstar to rebuke the church (though perhaps not without precedence in that God will use fruit-farmers, revenue-men and even donkeys if he has to). And Bono has the grace in this song to realise that. He’s the first to admit that he has a healthy ego - but my ego’s not really the enemy. He’s a small child embarking across an 8-lane highway on a voyage of discovery (presumably like the proverbial chicken who crossed to find out what was on the other side). He knows that far from giving God a hand across the road, he’s the one who needs all the help he can get. The tongue is delightfully planted in his cheek though - he’s the little Napoleon in high heels… a small man with big ideas‘. Stand up to rockstars like that, if you must. But isn’t the point even if you think they’re absurd, egotistical and presumptuous little men, don’t lose sight of the point: love? Stand up for that. Why? well it’s obvious isn’t it? because God is love! (1 John 4:8-16) C’mon ye people…

I’ll Go Crazy if I don’t go Crazy Tonight

A number of initial reactions have not taken kindly to this song, not least because of the title. It sounds a bit like the sort of improvised lyric that sounded cool at the time, but that doesn’t really say anything. But it is a multi-textured song, musically and lyrically. And like Stand Up, it’s about an almost desperate yearning to love - and without such love, I’ll go crazy. But in order to love like that, could it be that a little craziness will be involved? That’s the need to cry or spit, a sweet tooth’s need for sugar - and this, my favourite - the need for every beauty to go out with an idiot? There is a madness to love, after all - hence the sadly archaic word, lovesick (cf. The Madness of Love by one Hadewijch of Antwerp). It’s even worse when unrequited - for a girl who’s a rainbow who loves the peaceful life. For how can you stand next to the truth and not see it - oh, a change of heart comes slow.

But there is surely/inevitably a spiritual element to this as well? As one reader, Jason Primuth, nicely observed in an email to me this week with his comparison with Jesus speaking to the pair on the Road to Emmaus - Lk 24:25-27. The chorus is resonant of the pilgrimage psalms - presumably no accident, if rumours of the follow up album later this year are to be believed (apparently to be called Songs of Ascent). Just as a human (marriage) relationship is a lifelong journey, so is that of the disciple - a journey all the way to the light. Do you believe me or are you doubting?

Every generation gets a chance to change the world - remember Bono at the G8 summit - “this is our moonshot“. Any confidence we can have is because the sweetest melody is one we haven’t heard. Is that just the-crock-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow pipedream? Or something more tangible? Well, if there is a real perfect, love that drives out all fear. We’re back in the realms of that 1 John 4 passage again, (here quoting v18). And if this is precisely what love does, then it is no surprise that the right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear. Because, let’s face it, that’s exactly how a billionaire rockstar tackling global poverty looks! But so what! Who cares what the passersby think?

Love is a tough call, though. It is a mountain not a hill to climb. It takes time - a change of heart comes slow. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is shout - and go crazy and look ridiculous. And notice the shift in the final chorus: listen for me, I’ll be shouting, shouting to the darkness squeeze out sparks of light. cf. 1 John 5:5-9. But fortunately, yet again, this is no solitary journey - halfway, the song acknowledges Baby baby i know i’m not alone. She’s joined him. And the climb at the end is one where she is no longer doubting but they’re starting out together. And WE’RE going to go crazy if WE don’t go crazy tonight.

U2: No Line on The Horizon

Conversation in the media and around the blogosphere surrounding U2’s 12th studio album, NLOTH, is both ubiquitous and animated, much like the front man of U2 himself, the ever present Bono. Some of the faithful love the album and tout it as their best yet. Others….not so much. Despite the fact that I, like ever so many, have been suffering from a severe case of “Bono Fatigue,” (as my friend Matt likes to call it), I was eager to get my hands on the new record. Indeed, I had been listening to it for weeks before I bought it from my local record store Vertigo Music the day it was released.

Some Christians are hailing the album as U2’s most explicitly Christian since October. Indeed, Christians have been finding everything from the album’s cover to the lyrics thick with Christian content and symbolism.

Music is art and just as good works of art help us to see new worlds or to sometimes see the same world with new eyes, so the work of art itself is open to a plurality of interpretations, depending on the hermeneutic of the viewer-listener-reader.

Let’s start with the album cover, pictured above. It features a black and white Hiroshi Sugimoto photograph of sky meeting sea. Some interpret the cover as a testament to U2’s eschatological vision of that day when God’s kingdom has come to earth in fullness. I like that interpretation and think the cover is certainly open to it. Viewed from the perspective of the Christian story, what I really like about the photograph is the bottom half. The top half is very light and the bottom half much darker. It’s easy to view the image as a bold contrast between light (heaven) and darkness (earth). And yet. And yet one can’t help but be struck by the circle of reflected light amidst the darkness in the bottom half, pushing the darkness outward; a beautiful image I think. The Christian sees in this God’s goodness pushing back the darkness, all that drags us down. That’s grace. Gravity (darkness and sin) pulls us downward, but grace (light and love) push back against gravity and lift us up.

How does Bono himself describe the album cover? Well, not with the language and imagery I just used. He describes it in terms that are woven throughout the lyrics of the album and which, though not at odds in any way with Christian thought, are certainly not explicitly Christian either. He sees the photograph as symbolizing infinity, an image of a future open to infinite possibility. His focus is neither on the light nor the darkness, but on the vanishing point in the infinite distance, the point beyond our vision. The upcoming tour, by the way, will be called Kiss the Future.

The notion of infinity is, as I say, woven throughout the album. From the title track, No Line On the Horizon, where Bono croons

I know a girl with a hole in her heart
She said infinity’s a great place to start
Oh….

to the hymn-like confession Magnificent

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after
I haven't had a clue

to the equally confessional Breathe, where Bono speaks of the “roar that lies on the other side of silence.” I hear in all these lines an openness to the future, a denial that things must be the way they in fact are, a kind of joy in infinite possibility, and a yearning for what lies beyond. Christian? Explicitly Christian? If one is a Christian one will no doubt resonate with the themes of uncertainty in the face of infinity and that things are not now as they should be and will be in the shalomic future.

While many moments of autobiography can be detected on this album—gotta stand up to rock stars; Napoleon is in high heels; Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas, many of the songs are written, Bono tells us in the book that accompanies the deluxe editions, from the perspectives of characters he has created. The last two U2 albums—ATYCLB and HTDAB were straightforward autobiography, personal accounts of Bono wrestling with his own demons. This one less so; at least less so in terms of being written from the first-person perspective. But, as Bono himself reminds us, the mask reveals the man. And that’s no doubt true on this album.

Though not written from the first-person perspective there’s still a lot of Bono that shines through the characters he concocts for this album. What manages to shine through is humility, uncertainty in the presence of transcendence, doubt in the presence of unvarnished evil, longing, rebirth, and sheer joy, gratitude and love. If you're a Christian, all of those ideas are bound to resonate, and resonate deeply. Are they Christian? Explicitly Christian? Whatever they are they are certainly not exclusively Christian.

While Bono can be a little too full of himself for his own good, somehow he manages, I think, to convey a laudable sort of humility. This comes through brilliantly on Magnificent.

I was born
I was born to sing for you

I didn’t have a choice
But to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry
It was a joyful noise
Oh, oh…

This is not braggodocio. It’s Bono realizing that he’s been given a gift, a voice, something which, like unusually good looks, is not something one deserves credit for. It’s dumb luck or sheer blessing. And Bono, in full confessional mode, offers back to its Giver what he regards as a gift, and he does so with an obvious sense of gratitude. He even acknowledges that when he wrote the song he had in mind the Magnificat, the song that Mary sings upon her visitation to Elizabeth. Although the song as a whole is, he says, "about two lovers trying to hold on to each other and trying to turn their life into worship. Not of each other, but of being alive, of God...of spirit."

There’s another confession of humility in the full-on gaze of ego in Stand Up Comedy. There Bono sings,

I gotta stand up to ego but my ego’s not really the enemy
It’s like a small child crossing an eight lane highway
On a voyage of discovery

Bono knows his ego needs taming, but I think he’s here revealing a charming childlikeness, the smallness he feels in the face of it all and the glee we all used to take in the dare to “cross an eight-lane highway” just for the thrill of it. Bono has not lost that sense of childlike glee and adventure. The world, bent and broken though it may be, still presents itself to Bono as a vast playground or carnival, an adventure inviting him on its many rides and attractions. And he’s (sometimes) downright giddy about being in the midst of it all.

There are several places on the album that strike notes of yearning and rebirth. First, in Moment of Surrender, a song about a character Bono has manufactured, a war veteran who hasn’t been able to reinsert himself into civilian life or into his own skin or psyche for that matter. As Bono puts it, “he has dragged his wife into drugs and booze, [and] he can’t live with what he’s done to her and so he breaks down beside an ATM machine and begs God to deliver them.” The song is, I believe, the highpoint of the album. In any case, we get these chilling lyrics sung in Bono's brooding voice:

I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body’s now a begging bowl
That’s begging to get back
Begging to get back to my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control

The way Bono envisions it, it’s this same troubled soul in Unknown Caller, who ends up in some motel trying to make a call on his cell phone. Who’s he calling? A drug dealer to score more drugs? Someone for help? We don’t know. But he doesn’t get a signal. Instead, someone (or is it Someone) is reaching out to him with a stunning and completely unexpected (text) message. The message tells him to,

Go, shout it out, rise up
Oh, oh
Escape yourself and gravity
Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak
Shush now….

Restart and re-boot yourself
You’re free to go
Oh, oh
Shout for joy if you get the chance…

I can’t help but be reminded in these lyrics of Jesus in the Gospels telling those he’s healed or forgiven, “Go; you’re free. You’re healed.” One can only imagine or perhaps not imagine at all, if you yourself take yourself to have been forgiven or healed, then you know perfectly well that feeling of unbridled joy that comes with forgiveness and healing. And there are times either in private or public you "shout it out!"

And then, these lyrics from Breathe,

Every day I die again, and again I’m reborn

The ideas of yearning and rebirth permeate the album and, I think, Bono’s way of being in the world. It’s just like Bob Dylan said “That he not busy being born is busy dying.” Anyone who is not open to being born again (and again and again and again) is already dying and is in danger of turning to stone. U2 have always been open to the new, to the unexpected, to the surprising and transcendent, open to being reborn, again and again and again. That’s what make them perpetually fresh, still attractive to fans young enough to be their teen children.

My favorite feature of the album, btw, and no doubt an element owing to the genius of Brian Eno, comes at the beginning of Fez-Being Born. If you’ve heard the chorus to the first single off the album, Get on Your Boots, you’ll recognize these lyrics

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Meet me in the sound

At the beginning of Fez-Being Born, just behind the music, a barely audible Bono can be heard to sing, begging and pleading-like,

let me in the sound let me in the sound
let me in the sound, sound
let me in the sound, sound
let me in the sound.

That is brilliant! This is what Bono has been born to do. It’s the place he meets us, his fans, the place he is no doubt most himself, and the place he finds grace,

I found grace inside of sound; I found grace it’s all that I found.

Those beautiful lyrics are from the song, Breathe.

Is this U2's most explicitly Christian album? I'm not sure I even understand the question. Some of the lyrics will no doubt send chills up the spines of those of us who fit our own stories into The (Christian) Story. And Bono may no doubt have penned them from within The Story. But the lyrics and the album as a whole have broader appeal. You don't have to be a Christian to resonate with the realities about which Bono sings. I guess I get a little annoyed when Christians say things like "this is U2's most explicitly Christian album." While I'm not sure what that actually means, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth; it's like saying if you're not a Christian well, obviously, you won't really understand the album.

As to the question whether this is U2’s best album, I'm agnostic about that, too. It may be a best since album. Their best since Achtung Baby or their best since The Unforgettable Fire. Is it better than Joshua Tree? I think Joshua Tree is in a class by itself. And I think we have to wait to see how NLOTH ages before we can say where it should rank in the U2 canon.

NLOTH is a GREAT album; I LOVE it and can't stop listening to it. And I’m pretty doggone certain an awful lot of people are going to meet me in the sound when they kiss the future in Chicago on September 12. How about you? Meet me in the sound?

Theology with U2: No Line on the Horizon (2 of 2)

"Get on Your Boots" is the arena rocker of the album. It ranks right up there with "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day." Catchy. Hooky. And a whole lot of awesome. The song's theme is about the sexiness of taking action to change the world. Nobody has made working for social justice as sexy and cool as U2 have over the years. Somehow they get people excited about fighting AIDs, poverty, injustice, etc. So this song might just be their own theme song. For all those who wish to "put on their boots" in Bono's army, he gives clear marching orders in this song: "Here's where we gotta be / Love and community." That's the ultimate goal. And women have a special place in this army. The lyrics read, "Women of the future / Hold the big revelations." Bono has long argued that women have a special role in transforming the world. As one example of this, Bono told the New York Times: "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Give a woman microcredit and she, her husband, her children and her extended family will eat for a lifetime." The big mystery in this song is what Bono means by "let me in the sound." One idea is that the "sound" is an analogy for an island. Bono sings: "Let me in the sound, now / God, I'm going down / I don't want to drown now / Meet me in the sound / Let me in the sound." Perhaps, the "sound" is an island of hope, safety, and action in sea of despair, danger, and stagnation. If this is true, let all of us "in the sound"!

"Stand Up Comedy" is a love song. But it's not a sappy, predictable one. It's a hard rock love song about the importance of enacting love in our lives. It's a call to action. It's a wake up call. After opening the song by chanting the word "love," Bono sings: "I got to stand up and take a step / You and I have been asleep for hours / I got to stand up / The wire is stretched in between our two towers." In these lyrics, Bono is saying we need to get off our butts and go live our love. It's not good enough for there to be a "wire" connecting us. We need to share words and deeds of love. Love is a verb. Love is to be enacted. Love is to be lived. Love is to be wild. Lukewarm passivity must be comedically absurd for Bono. In case we miss this point, the chorus says: "Out from under your beds / C’mon ye people / Stand up for your love." So what or who is this love? Bono answers by singing: "God is love / And love is evolution’s very best day." Love is nothing short of the most important thing in the world. Love is the culmination of human development. Love is divine. In fact, I John 4:15 says, "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them." Obviously love is important for many reasons. But one reason is that love keeps our ideologies in check. In an interview, Bono says, "Zealotry and certainty are worrying for me. Love keeps religion from zealotry." Love reminds us to be patient and kind instead of boastful and arrogant (1 Corinthians 13:4). Love reminds us that people are more important than ideas. Love reminds us that God is love, and we're made in God's image. Love reminds us to honor the dignity of our differences. Love reminds us that our perspectives are just perspectives - not the Truth. Love reminds us we all "see through a glass dimly" and "know only in part" (1 Corinthians 13:12). Love reminds us to embrace paradox over certainty. All of these ideas are summed up by Bono in some of the coolest lyrics on the album: "While I'm getting over certainty / Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady." In these lyrics Bono is suggesting that we stop forcing God to be and think like us. God is God. We are not. God is enigmatic. God's name is "I Am Who I Am" (Exodus 3:14). There is mystery in that name. In fact, the Jewish name for God, "YHWH," even lacks the vowels needed to make the name pronounceable. Mystery is something to be embraced as an act of faith. In the words of Anne Lamott, "The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty. It is madness. You can tell you have created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." Bono and Lamott invite us to enact love, perhaps, in part, by finding the comedy in certainty.

"Fez - Being Born" is an odd pair of songs, even for this album. It's U2 being experimental. These songs probably won't be a concert favorite, but it's fun to hear U2 try out new sounds. The first song "Fez," combines loops of Bono singing "let me in the sound," unique beats of Joujouka drummers, haunting sounds of Sufi devotional songs, ambient sounds from the street, etc. The influence of producer Brian Eno, the father of ambient music, is very evident in this brief, multi-layered song. The second tune in this duo of songs, "Being Born," continues the experimental flavor and Arabic theory of the previous song but morphs them into an avant-garde rock song. The influence of producer Danny Lanois, who specializes in artsy rock, is most evident in this song. The major difference between these songs is that "Being Born" has lyrics. Bono sings about a journey of birth that takes him around the world. This could be about the birth of this album, which was recorded in various locations around the world. But who knows!? All I can say for sure is that this song is beautiful in all of its alt-rock-Arabic-Moroccan glory.

"White As Snow" is a hauntingly beautiful song. It has a quiet, raw power that has to be experienced. The first time I heard it I was drawn into the emotional spirit of the song and couldn't stop listening. I knew it had to be about a particular event or experience. Thankfully I came across an article that described the context of the song. Bono said it's written "from the point of view of an active soldier in Afghanistan" who is "dying from a roadside bomb." The soldier is reflecting on his life in the moments just before her/his last breath. The lyrics start out with the soldier thinking about his home and family: "Where I come from there were no hills at all / The land was flat, the highway straight and wide / My brother and I would drive for hours / Like we had years instead of days." There seems to be a longing for those simple things we all take for granted. Then the lyrics turn to the soldier's thoughts on the immediacy of her/his death: "Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all / Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon." The symbolism is powerful. Poppies are symbolic of death and are featured in the World War I poem, "In Flanders Fields." In that poem poppies became the symbol of remembrance of soldiers who had been killed. The first stanza reads: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row, / That mark our place; and in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly / Scarce heard amid the guns below." Bono is clearly emphasizing the soldier's sense of sadness by saying that poppies are the only thing growing on the ground. All of these rich lyrics are bathed in music that picks up on elements of the tune, "O Come O Come Emmanuel." This 19th century hymn is about God's promise to heal the world through the messiah. Part of that healing is taking away humanity's pain and death. The lyrics read: "O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer / Our spirits by Thine advent here / Disperse the gloomy clouds of night / And death's dark shadows put to flight / Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel / Shall come to thee, O Israel." The move from death to praise in this hymn is mysteriously significant. Perhaps this hymn is Bono's hope for the soldier. Or perhaps it's the hymn that the soldier hears while entering Heaven. In either case, the musical elements of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" overlaid in "White As Snow," makes this meaning-filled U2 song even more arresting. In my opinion, this is one of the best songs of the album.

"Breathe" opens with dueling piano and guitar. It's cool. The song seems to maintain a feisty sense of hope musically and lyrically. According to an interview with Bono, the song is an upbeat ode to the sanctuary of his internal life - and lament about the rush of the external world. Bono begins his lament by singing about a traveling salesman selling "cockatoo" (i.e. crap we don't need). He continues the lament by talking about global stocks and viruses that affect everyone. Something external is always messing with his life. This makes him want to escape the "roar that lies on the other side of silence." It gets so bad that it "takes courage to walk down the street." But then Bono manages to discover the sanctuary of his internal life. For him, this means listening to his own song instead of the "roar" all around him. Again, Bono sounds like a Quaker, discovering the gift of the "inner light." The last part of the song is a testimony to the beauty of listening to one's own song: "We are people born of the sound / the songs are in our eyes / Gonna wear them like a clown / Walk out, into the sunburst street / Sing your heart out, sing my heart out / I've found grace inside a sound / I found grace, it's all that I found / And I can breathe / Breathe now." Salvation in this sing is about being saved from the craziness of the external world and being saved for living one's own life. This isn't about being selfish. It's about being centered.
Being centered means being attentive to one's authentic self and open to the divine inside us. Scripture says that the presence of God (1 John 3:24) and the Kin-dom of God (Luke 17:21) are both found within. Bono has found his center by listening to the sound within.

"Cedars of Lebanon" is spoken word poetry set to a continuously driving song. The poem is an intimate portrayal of the life and struggles of a war journalist. It's amazing how vivid and nuanced the picture is that Bono manages to paint with his lyrics. It's like you're there. Seeing the sights. Smelling the smells. Tasting the tastes. But it's war. It's ugly. It's not something you'd want to experience. And by the end of the song, I'm not sure whether to feel sorrier for the war-torn people themselves or the journalist that has to watch it all happen. Probably the journalist, honestly. He's the one who has to see it all happen and then force it all into some easy-to-read article for people who can't possibly relate to what's happening. Bono captures the scene like this: "Spent the night trying to make a deadline / Squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline." Bono also gets at the gritty differences between the various people affected by the war: "Child drinking dirty water from the river bank / Soldier brings oranges he got out from the tank / I'm waiting on the waiter, he's taking a while to come / Watching the sun go down on Lebanon." These kinds of lyrics magnetically draw listeners into the scene. But we don't just get to peek into the life of the war journalist. We also get to hear the wisdom that he gained from his reflections on the war: "Choose your enemies carefully 'cos they will define you." This is good advice. In our interdependent world, we are as affected by our friends as we are our enemies. Friends give us something to live for. Enemies give us something to live against. They both give shape to our lives. The journalist seems to be warning us not to give so much influential power to the things and people we are against. Jesus gave similar advice when he said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Here Jesus seems to invite us to live graciously toward our enemies so that they might become friends. Apostle Paul calls this a "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18). The ultimate vision of reconciliation comes from Micah 4:3: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." This vision is that all people will be reconciled with one other. No more enemies. No more war. No more war journalists. I think that is the deeper message of "Cedars of Lebanon." Peace is cool. And so is this song.

Theology with U2: No Line On The Horizon (1 of 2)

"No Line on the Horizon" is the first song on the album. It's a different kind of sound for U2. But it's a rocker with philosophy! So I gotta love it. Some of the lyrics include: "One day she's still the next day she swells / You can hear the universe in her sea shells / She said 'Time is irrelevant, it's not linear / Then she put her tongue in my ear." The "she" in these lyrics could be referring to a woman, a female personified thought, God, etc. Who knows with U2! In any case, Bono gets his kicks from the sense that time is not linear. In non-linear time, there is no such thing as past and future. There is only a continuous flow of "now." The "past" is simply a former "now." The "future" is simply a coming "now." The only time that exists is "now." There is no great origin that we're moving from. There is no final conclusion we're moving toward. There is no coming eschatological time on the horizon. Or said in a different way, "there is no line on the horizon." There is only "now." Living fully in the "now" is ultimately important. Now is the only time we have. Now is life. Now is our home. Now is the time to enjoy life. Now is the time to fall in love. Now is the time to live life to the fullest. Now is when God is. Now is sacred. Marty Haugen emphasizes the theological importance of "now" in his hymn, "Here In This Place." The lyrics read: "Not in the dark of buildings confining / Not in some heaven, light years away / But here in this place the new light is shining / Now is the Kin-dom, now is the day." When Haugen and U2 agree on something, it must be right! Time is truly irrelevant when the only time that matters is right now. And that is a sexy thought. I can see why it feels sensuous like someone licking your ear.

"Magnificent" is a dance-rock song. Yup, there is some dance flavor to it. Not to worry, though. Edge adds plenty of the cool guitar riffs that are typical of U2. Lyrically this song seems to be about how magnificent God is. It's a praise song about singing praise. Bono sings: "I was born to sing for you / I didn't have a choice but to lift you up / And sing whatever song you wanted me to / I give you back my voice / From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise." The phrase "joyful noise" is distinctly Judeo-Christian. It's in many hymns, songs, prayers, etc. as a form of praise. The phrase is especially prevalent in the Psalms: "Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth" (Psalm 66:1). "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob" (Psalm 81:1). "O come, let us sing unto God: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before God's presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto God with psalms" (Psalm 95:1-2). "Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises" (Psalm 98:4). "With trumpets and sound of the ram's horn, make a joyful noise before the Holy One, God" (Psalm 98:8). Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth" (Psalms 100:1). Why do the Psalms and this song by U2 talk about making a joyful noise to God? Because God is...well...magnificent. God is so magnificent that people of faith, like Bono, can't help but sing for joy. God's gracious love, abiding presence, and guiding wisdom are worth singing about. Out of gratitude Bono sings: "you and I will magnify / the Magnificent." Clearly this song is a modern doxology - and rockin' song of praise.

"Moment of Surrender," is another dance-rocker. But this one is a little more haunting. The combination of chords played on an organ and lyrics cried out by Bono give this song a deep, brooding intensity. This mood intensifies the lyrical theme of surrendering to God's gracious love. Bono sings: "It's not if I believe in love / But if love believes in me / Oh, believe in me." Here Bono seems to be testifying that God's love for him is more important than Bono's love for God. Faith is not about us loving God - and then earning God's love. That is a works-based faith. Instead, faith is about God loving us - and God's love inspiring us to love God and others. That is a grace-based faith. As I John 14:9 says, "We love because God first loved us." The gracious love of God overwhelms us with gratitude and evokes our love. In short, Bono's singing about God's grace and our response. And "in that moment of surrender" to God's love, Bono "falls down to his knees." The second theological theme that spoke to me is that of rediscovering and returning to one's authentic self. The lyrics read: "I've been in every black hole / At the altar of the black star / My body's now a begging bowl / That's begging to get back, begging to get back / To my heart / To the rhythm of my soul." After searching the dark places outside of himself, Bono now wants to get back to the essence of who is inside. His search has gone from external to internal. He wants to bet back to his own heart and soul. These are significant words, Scripturally. "Heart" (lebab, kardia) means the core of one's being and "soul" (nephesh, psuche) means the life-energy of oneself. So Bono wants to get back to the core of his being and the rhythm of his own life-energy. He wants to let his authentic, true self re-emerge. After searching everywhere except within, he finally surrenders to the wisdom of his own heart and soul. Quakers may say Bono began listening to his "inner light" and "sacred center." In the end, Bono may agree with Parker Palmer, "Wisdom comes from a voice 'in here' calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given to me at birth by God." After Bono began living according to his authentic selfhood, he recognizes himself, singing: "I could see in the reflection / A face staring back at me."

"Unknown Caller" is a postmodern delight. It journeys through a slow start with chirping birds, to choppy singing in the middle, to a culmination that features one of Edge's most outstanding recorded guitar solos. The story of the song is about the transforming work of God calling humanity out of "midnight" and into "sunshine." Seems straightforward enough. But the lyrics tell this story in a postmodern, non-linear way that adds to the intrigue of the song. There are many possible ways to reconstruct this song in a linear way. So my reconstruction is just one take on the story. The story begins by talking about being lost in life. Bono tells this part of the story by singing about being "lost between the midnight and the dawning," "at the top of the bottom," and "on the edge of the known universe." During this time of being lost, the "Unknown Caller" (i.e. God) invites the person to change their life. Bono sings, "3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face." It's at the darkest time of the night, 3:33 a.m., that God calls and time stops. The symbolism of "3:33" can be carried even further if we connect it with Jeremiah 33:3. In this text God is portrayed as saying, "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." In the plot of the song, God calls the person to tell them "great and hidden things" that can change their life. To emphasize the importance of God's message, the lyrics say, "hear me, cease to speak so I may speak to you." The message is clear: the person needs to new life - a new start. In Biblical terms, the person needs to become a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This idea of change is expressed through a computer analogy in the song: "Force quit and move to trash...Restart and reboot yourself." In the song, God says the junk in the person's life needs to be removed, so s/he can begin anew. The reboot changes everything. The person moves from "midnight" to "sunshine." The lost becomes found. Transformation occurs. Perhaps this is a song about John Newton, who went from being a slave trader to an abolitionist after he began listening to the voice of the "Unknown Caller." Newton went on to write a song of gratitude that testifies to the transforming work of God the Caller, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me / I once was lost but now am found / Was blind, but now I see." Both songs - "Amazing Grace" and "Unknown Caller" - describe the life-transforming work of God in all people who are open to the call of God in their life. Hallelujah! Or, to quote this song, "Go, shout it out, raise up."

"I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is typical U2. It sounds like a song that could have been on either of their previous two albums, "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." Lyrically, the song is about resisting fear. Bono sings: ''Is it true that perfect love casts out all fear? / The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear." Here Bono is talking about his willingness to look "ridiculous" because of his choice of love over fear. This idea is based on I John 4:18-19, where it says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us." God's nature is about spreading love, not fear. By participating in God's nature, we participate in spreading love. This may look strange to some people, but Bono is saying that divine love is better than human fear. Yet choosing to resist fear doesn't mean ignoring the real obstacles in life. Resisting fear means finding the hope in the midst of struggle. Bono expresses this hopeful realism by singing, "It's not a hill it's a mountain / As we start out the climb / Listen for me, I'll be shouting / Shouting to the darkness, squeeze out the sparks of light." The "we" implies that the journey over the mountain is undertaken in community. And it's not just any community. It's a group of people who encourage each other by making "sparks of light" in the darkness. These sparks end up being enough to make a way through the dark. As John 1:5 says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." This Scripture reminds us to use Christ, the light of life, as a guide through the darkness. But Scripture also hints at another important guide that we should welcome: children. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kin-dom of God belongs." Bono also urges that we welcome the youth of the world - and listen to their ideas. He sings: "Pity the nation that will listen to your boys and girls / 'Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven't heard." The first line is a sarcastic warning to people who don't listen to new voices. The second line is what he really believes: the light of hope shines brightest in the youth of the world. In an interview Bono says, "The solution to the problems we find ourselves in will have to be found by the new generation." Let's let the children come. Let's let the light shine. Let's let the hope rise. Let's let ourselves be crazy enough to think that "every generation gets a chance to change the world."

Finding Grace Inside a Sound

Following Scripture, Reformed theology has always placed great emphasis on the ear over the eye. The gospel is called by Paul "the word of faith," a message that produces belief "by hearing the Word of Christ." The opposite of faith, of course, is not doubt but sight. A person is most faithless, therefore, not when disbelief is mingled with his belief, but when he demands to see, to experience, to feel the truth before he'll believe it. "We walk by faith," says Paul, "and not by sight."

Go ahead and roll your eyes, but I maintain that Bono understands this. U2's music often elevates faith over sight as, for example, in 1987's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," where Bono sings:

I believe in the Kingdom Come,
When all the colors will bleed into one,
But yes I'm still running.
You broke the bonds, you loosed the chains,
Carried the cross, and all my shame, all my shame;
You know I believe it,
But I still aven't found what I'm looking for.

On 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bono sings of the "grace that travels outside of karma," which, "when she goes to work, you can hear the strings." Get it? Grace is something you hear.

This theme is prevalent on their new release, No Line on the Horizon, as well. In the song "Moment of Surrender" Bono sings:

At the moment of surrender,
I folded to my knees;
I did not notice the passers-by,
And they did not notice me.

At the moment of surrender,
Of vision over visibility,
I did not notice the passers-by,
And they did not notice me.

True surrender, in other words, can only happen with "visibility" is relinquished.
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In their lead single "Get On Your Boots," Bono repeats the line "Let me in the sound!" over and over (the same line is also sampled in "Fez - Being Born"). Lest we scratch our heads over what this "sound" is, the song "Breathe" tells us:

We are people borne of sound;
The songs are in our eyes,
Gonna wear them like a crown ...
I’ve found grace inside a sound,
I found grace, it’s all that I found;
And I can breathe,
Breathe now.

Remember, Newton told us that God's grace is not only "amazing," but that it's "the sound that saved a wretch like me." This is why ears are better than eyes, and why blindness is to be preferred over deafness.