I have not found a band that divides people as much as U2. There are the fans that think the band died after The Joshua Tree album, others who have never even listened to them hate them because suddenly a new U2 album appeared in their iTunes overnight without their permission, other think Bono is too self-righteous and talks too much. Me? They’ve been my favorite band since I was a kid, and I’m always finding more in their songs and music.
If you ask me what my favorite song of all time is, without hesitation, I’ll tell you it’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. No other song has resonated with me at different stages of my life like that one.
U2’s history is rooted in a mix of punk rock and religion. If you listen to Bono’s lyrics, you will find repeating themes and symbolisms, and at face value, many of their songs are about love, the struggle of relationships, and other personal issues. But…when you dissect the words, more often than not, you’ll find U2 are the biggest Christian rock band ever. They don’t get labeled as such due to hidden nature of the meanings and religious struggles they embody.
This song embodies that struggle, and it’s one I am all too familiar with. No matter how often I go to church, read the Bible, research Christ or meditate on it as a believer, I am never quite fulfilled as I wish I was.
“ I have climbed the highest mountain, I have run through the fields, only to be with you” Bono writes, and for the casual listener, it sounds like a love letter to someone that isn’t happy in a relationship, as if they have done all they can to prove their love only to not have it reciprocated. How I take it, the “you” isn’t a person, it’s God.
The part that hits me the hardest is the second verse. Bono sings, “I have spoke with the tongue of angels, I have held the hand of the devil…it was warm in a night I was cold as a stone” which to me and my life is applied as I can talk the talk, but sometimes when it’s convenient I don’t choose the right thing, I choose the easy thing. Walking the walk has always been a struggle for me.
The song took on a whole new meaning when I saw the movie “Rattle And Hum” where U2 went to Harlem to visit a choir there that was singing it as part of their worship services. And in these days of racial unrest amidst the death of George Floyd, the lyric “I believe in Kingdom Come, where all the colors bleed into one” is more relevant than ever. That is what the Black Lives Matter moment is looking for and still hasn’t found.
Wicked Good Music 