Love...We shine like a burning star

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theFly51

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Can anyone explain what this means:

"Love, we shine like a burning star...we're falling from the sky...tonight."

It's probably one of Bono's greatest lyric but I've heard it's from the bible but I dont know....anyone?
 
Well, I'm guessing here, but I think that Bono may be making two references to the Bible, to explain the meaning of these lines I need to take into account the first lines of the song as well, they say:

It's not secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's not secret that our world is in darkness tonight
They say the sun is sometimes eclipsed by the moon
You know I don't see you when she walks in the room

And in the chorus we get:

Love, we shine like a burning star
We're falling from the sky tonight

The references may be:
Revelation, 12-13 : "then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind."

Luke 10:18 "Jesus said to them,"I saw Satan fall from the sky like lightning" (Satan or Lucifer was at a time the morning star)


So, what I think is that Bono is talking about the world ending, because goodness is being eclipsed by evil or, at least, the human soul being blinded by it, so we're all falling from the sky.
I don't know if I have made my point clear, I've tried though.
 
Last edited:
Marien said:
So, what I think is that Bono is talking about the world ending, because goodness is being eclipsed by evil or, at least, the human soul being blinded by it, so we're all falling from the sky.
I don't know if I have made my point clear, I've tried though. [/B]

i think this insight also fits with the lines:

"It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie"
 
Marien said:
Well, I'm guessing here, but I think that Bono may be making two references to the Bible, to explain the meaning of these lines I need to take into account the first lines of the song as well, they say:

It's not secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's not secret that our world is in darkness tonight
They say the sun is sometimes eclipsed by the moon
You know I don't see you when she walks in the room

And in the chorus we get:

Love, we shine like a burning star
We're falling from the sky tonight

The references may be:
Revelation, 12-13 : "then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind."

Luke 10:18 "Jesus said to them,"I saw Satan fall from the sky like lightning" (Satan or Lucifer was at a time the morning star)


So, what I think is that Bono is talking about the world ending, because goodness is being eclipsed by evil or, at least, the human soul being blinded by it, so we're all falling from the sky.
I don't know if I have made my point clear, I've tried though.

So the line "We're falling from the sky".... we're is actually Satan and who else? Or is it just him?
 
Wow, I knew I was making a mess trying to explain what I understand in the song, let's see if I can state it clearer, but in fact I find it difficult 'cause these lines involve different clues, which I find related but not equal.

To start with, "we" from "We're falling from the sky" is the human race, us.

I think Bono is using two different images inspired on the Bible to tell us that we (the human race) are blinded by evil or, alternatively, that goodness in this world is being eclipsed by evil, so, consequently, "we are falling from the sky", a very apocalyptic sentence, which I translate to normal language as "we're being expelled from God's presence".
The great news is that in this song Bono is not speaking for himself, it is The Fly speaking, The Fly is a pub philosopher, a bar fly (do you use this expression in US?) who tries to make himself important by stating common knowledge as if it had a different relevance, most of the time speaking nonsense, that's the irony that impregnates most of Achtung, Baby and that's why many people thought U2 had lost their faith when they listened to it and when they saw burning crosses on stage at ZOOTV.
The Fly has also a lot to do with surrealism and we all know how much Bono likes surreal images (dreams of Dali with a supermarket cart, Lypton Village, etc.), in U2 by U2 he tells about having met such a guy in a popular club in Madrid, he started imitating him just to relax a bit in the Hansa sessions, but he ended up not only with a song, but with a complete character.

Well, I can't think of any other thing to make it clearer now, I hope you understand what I mean. I feel I must apologise, I can never give a short, direct answer, that's my bit of Celtic blood, I guess.
 
Marien said:
Wow, I knew I was making a mess trying to explain what I understand in the song, let's see if I can state it clearer, but in fact I find it difficult 'cause these lines involve different clues, which I find related but not equal.

To start with, "we" from "We're falling from the sky" is the human race, us.

I think Bono is using two different images inspired on the Bible to tell us that we (the human race) are blinded by evil or, alternatively, that goodness in this world is being eclipsed by evil, so, consequently, "we are falling from the sky", a very apocalyptic sentence, which I translate to normal language as "we're being expelled from God's presence".
The great news is that in this song Bono is not speaking for himself, it is The Fly speaking, The Fly is a pub philosopher, a bar fly (do you use this expression in US?) who tries to make himself important by stating common knowledge as if it had a different relevance, most of the time speaking nonsense, that's the irony that impregnates most of Achtung, Baby and that's why many people thought U2 had lost their faith when they listened to it and when they saw burning crosses on stage at ZOOTV.
The Fly has also a lot to do with surrealism and we all know how much Bono likes surreal images (dreams of Dali with a supermarket cart, Lypton Village, etc.), in U2 by U2 he tells about having met such a guy in a popular club in Madrid, he started imitating him just to relax a bit in the Hansa sessions, but he ended up not only with a song, but with a complete character.

Well, I can't think of any other thing to make it clearer now, I hope you understand what I mean. I feel I must apologise, I can never give a short, direct answer, that's my bit of Celtic blood, I guess.

No need for an apology...your explanation was very clear. I now understand what it means when you said that The Fly is speaking instead of Bono, that made it clear to me. Yes we use (at least i do) the expression Barfly.
 
It could also just refer to an individual's fall into sin/wrongdoing, streaking through the atmosphere like a meteorite in a fiery ball of failure, dishonesty, fall from grace, even fall from celebrity/admiration. The song is about a love affair so it also could be about the two lovers and their relationship crashing and burning, falling from the sky where it is wonderful and idealic to earth and reality and the end of it. This explains why the world is in darkness.

The sun/moon lines are about two different women, obviously.
 
also, to add to the meteor thing - shooting stars/burning stars are really meteors falling from the earth. It's a pretty obvious reference.
 
bono uses this a lot to signify the end of things, so while it's a relationship/happiness here, in one tree hill it's used for the end of life.
 
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