Vertigo and The Bible

[Musicarl]

Hello.

We have a user who insists the open to Vertigo is a reference to biblical passages, so the "catorce" (14) points people to verses 1:14, 2:14 and 3:14. Any truth to this?

Thanks,
Carl
Songfacts.com

 

[caragriff]

The theory that had spread a while back was:

1st Testament, 2nd Book, 3rd Chapter, 14th verse

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."


this is purely conjecture, mind you.

 

[Musicarl]

Thanks Cara. It's amazing how Bono can spark this kind of discussion by changing one word.

 

[scottyT]

that fits in pretty well with All Because of You's lyrics....

 

[Earnie Shavers]

There are plenty of theories about the counting.

It jumps from 3 to 14 to kind of give it a feeling of acceleration, a hyper lift off (resulting in a feeling of vertigo).

It counts from 1 to 14 (missing some because it, obviously, would sound ridiculous to actually count all the way) because if you take 10 studio albums + Passengers + 2 live albums, HTDAAB is there 14th release (essentially all their releases besides the 2 Greatest Hits)

Or there is a code to it (doubtful).

Or...

Bono fucked it up. And he's said as much a few times.

 

[2Hearts]

The above theory has some credibility since Exodus 3:14 is printed on the same page as the lyrics of All Because of You in the HTDAAB deluxe edition booklet.

 

[2Hearts]

Bono fucked it up. And he's said as much a few times.

I will never ever believe just Bono just goofed. He is far more intelligent than that, gimme a break. These are the first words off the first song on the album, I don't think they would just slip by unnoticed. The other band members and studio personnel are not exactly dumbasses either.

I think that Bono just didn't want to go in depth about this when asked by VH-1's reporter what it meant. Bono only admitted that the 'J33-3' gate on the cover of ATYCLB was 'God's phone number' after a reporter asked him directly if it referred to Jeremiah 33:3. If a reporter asked him "Is unos, dos, tres, catorce a reference to Exodus 3:14?", then we would most likely get the truth. I think the truth would be 'yes'.

 

[One Tree Still]

James 1:2-3, 14

(2)Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds (3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

(14)but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed

 

[Doc Ocho]

At the Dublin 2 gig, we had Ex 3: 14 written on an upside down Tricolour (Irish flag). We got a wee nod from Bono... then he started talking about Blessings and Being Blessed... I reckon we got it right!

 

[muller]

is it not albums 1,2,3 & 14 have all been produced by steve lillywhite?

 

[bono_gal]

I took a guess that the part of the song

"All of this could be yours, all of this could be yours"

Was taken from the bible, when apparantley Satan said to Jesus something like, all of the riches in the world can be yours if you kneel before me.

Hence...

"All of this could be yours (All the riches of the world)
Just give me what i want (Jesus to kneel before Satan)


That was what I grasped from it anyway.

 

[neverman]

I took a guess that the part of the song

"All of this could be yours, all of this could be yours"

Was taken from the bible, when apparantley Satan said to Jesus something like, all of the riches in the world can be yours if you kneel before me.

Hence...

"All of this could be yours (All the riches of the world)
Just give me what i want (Jesus to kneel before Satan)
that's EXACTLY what I envisioned when I heard him singing that....glad I was not alone there....

That was what I grasped from it anyway.

 

[unosdostres14]

Didn't Bono say they were just being goofy and decided to say unos, dos, tres, catorce!

 

[Zoophe]

I've read that Bono said that Vertigo is like a phone call from hell. It could be true, but with whom is Bono speaking when he sings "except you give me something i can feel" and "all of this can be yours...just give me what i want..." and "your love is teaching me how to kneel"? Have you got any ideas? I can't understand the meaning of this song, i'm a bit confused

 

[WalkOn21]

is it not albums 1,2,3 & 14 have all been produced by steve lillywhite?

I seem to remember that's the explanation the band gave.

 

[bombergirl1978]

That one sounds the most likely. A lil shout out to Steve. hehe