Love is a temple....

[tackleberry]

"Love is a temple
Love the higher law..."

any thoughts on this particular lyric from ONE. I always wondered about this part

 

[Mrs.Clayton]

Good topic...I've been listening to "One" a lot since last tuesday...and that part always stays with me...

How about this..."love the higher law", well isn't love what really matters in this world? Even if you don't agree, you have to admit that many people believe that "all you need is love"
"Love is a temple, Love the higher law"
It's the ultimate, the #1 everything.......
I don't think I can explain it in words, but I just explained it to myself.

I never post anything in this forum, because I
1. Don't really think too deeply about lyrics
2. Don't really form opinions about lyrics

So maybe someone else can help me.

 

[daisybean]

what Mrs.C said....basically....love should come above everything. Bono's original idea of the song is a son telling his father that he is dying from AIDS, and the father rejecting the son for it. All the son wants is for his father to unconditionally love him.

 

[dizzy]

In addition, I think that when Bono says "love" in his songs, he usually refers to God. (e.g. in Beautiful Day - "Teach me love", Please - "so love is big bigger than us
but love is not what you're thinking of"; he mentioned this during the last show of the Elevation Tour -- about God not being about hate, but love and that God is love).

 

[UltravioletU2]

Temples are usually regarded as sacred. I've always interpreted the lyric "love is a temple" as "love is sacred".

Love the higher law. When we love we are held to higher standards. Break someone's heart or turn your back on loved ones, and you've done something very serious, i.e. "broke the higher law".

Love is sacred, and is to be taken very seriously.

 

[DiscoJokeX]

"love is a temple"
I think he meens that love is build up like a temple, big and proud.
"you ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl"
about entering the long built temple of love, and then showing the real side of yourself.
"and i can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt"
Kinda explains itself.

 

[wertsie]

That is actually my favorite lyric from my favorite song.

There are so many kinds of love...and that makes the lyric so true!

 

[mr_kitty]

Wow. Its interesting seeing all these interpretations. Mine is a little different. I don't usually post, but my own personal interpretation of these lyrics have made them one of my favourites. (I'm refering to "love is a temple/ love the higher law" - not the whole song).
Anyway, here goes:
A 'temple' is defined in my dictionary as "a place, (esp. a large building), given over to the service or worship of a god or gods". So lets consider a temple to be a place where we show our worship to God.
I agree with the idea that in alot of u2 songs 'love' can be interpreted as 'god'. But in these lines I think of 'Love' as being a wordly/universal, godly, 'love thy neighbour' kind of love, seperate to god himself/herself/itself.
So I've always thought the whole 'love is a temple' line as meaning that in loving one another, loving everyone, we take ourselves to a place (not literally) where we can show our worship and devotion to god.
With the 'love the higher law' line. I've always considered
the 'higher law' to simply be god. And we should love him as he does us.
How do we do love this higher law? By loving one another since 'love is a temple (where we show our devotion to God)'

Am I making sense?
To myself...?
-YES.
To others...?
-PROBABLY NOT.

Sorry It's been so long, but I'm not done.
In summary, to me, 'Love is a temple, Love the higher law' is a message of universal love. We should worship god and show our love to god by loving one another.

I've always thought those lines to be the most beautiful lyrics, and think its amazing how they've been worked into the song; so understated and perhaps looked over by alot of people. Here is (by my interpretation) such a beautiful message for everyone to hear, and Bono could be shouting it directly to us for all to heed. But in the context of the song its simply referenced to in conversation:
'You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law.
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl'

You preach this message of univeral love and acceptance for one another but you can't love an accept me? (perhaps?)

It just goes to show that there are so many different levels to 'One'.

Ofcourse my intepretation could be nothing at all like what Bono intended it to mean.

P.S.
No I'm not a Christian!

 

[dsmith2904]

I've always thought that whole section of...

You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl

...is saying to this person that they put all these conditions on love and impose all these definitions on love but they don't really get it. I think the narrator of the song (whether that's Bono or not is a whole other discussion) is realizing this person they're supposedly in love with hasn't vaguest idea of what love is all about and all they're really doing is hurting each other so now it's time to decide to end it or to figure out a way to forgive, to stop hurting each other and to go on together.

 

[cass]

great lyric indeed....I don't think it can be examined in isolation though. It is a prelude that allows the following line, it createsa complete thought/image. If you have ever been made crawl....you'd know.It's a bit like drowning in a blue sea.
Bono and lyricsmaestro

 

[cass]

hmmmm
I jut noticed the date on tackleberry's original post
woops

 

[celia]

My favourite line of one of my favourite songs...I think its a mixture of meanings of what everyone else has said, I can't decribe love but I think Bono does it in this song...I find it a very sad song full of more hurt than love though...you make me crawl...and I can't be holding on...when all you've got is hurt.

 

[Natztar]

How about this..."love the higher law", well isn't love what really matters in this world? Even if you don't agree, you have to admit that many people believe that "all you need is love"
"Love is a temple, Love the higher law"
It's the ultimate, the #1 everything.......

I thought i'd just add onto that.. even though this thread has been left for a while. This is something that Melon sort of showed me... about love.

In the Bible, Romans 13:8-10:
"You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

This would mean that love is the law, or sums up all laws, so it is the higher/highest law.

The lyric line is "Love the higher law." If "love" is the higher law, then that would mean "Love love." And if "God IS Love", then would "Love the higher law" mean simply, "Love God" ?

I dont know. Just something that sprung to my mind...