An Atomic Prayer

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U2Soar

War Child
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
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Ontario,Canada
A co-worker of mine is going through a very difficult time. And she really enjoys U2’s new album. Last week, I did something I’ve never done before. I was looking over the lyrics of U2’s album “Atomic Bomb” and I noticed how some lines here and there could be words of a prayer to God. On Tuesday, I went through all of them (including the b-sides) and selected lyrics that I thought could form a sort of a conversation between a person and God.

An Atomic Prayer

Soul to self: “Lights go down, it’s dark. The jungle is your head. Fear is taking over every thought. The night is full of holes. As bullets rip the sky. Of ink with gold. There's no one there behind their eyes. They're in the business, beautiful lies. And though your soul. It can’t be bought. Your mind can wander……

I was drinking some wine... and it turned to blood. What's the use of religion... if you're any good. I’m ‘round the corner from anything that’s real. I’m across the road from hope. I’m under a bridge in a rip tide. That’s taken everything I call my own. I’m on an island at a busy intersection. I can’t go forward, I can’t turn back. Can’t see the future. It’s getting away from me. I just watch the tail lights glowing.”

Soul: “God I need your help tonight. I know that we don’t talk. Don’t leave me here alone... I’m sick of it all. I don’t know if I can take it. I don’t know if I can make it. Where is the justice in this world? The wicked make so much noise. The righteous stay oddly still. And I wonder where is the love? Where is the love? I need some release, release, release. We need. Love and peace. Love and peace. I’m waiting on the crumbs from Your table. Hello, Hello. I’m at a place called Vertigo. It’s everything I wish I didn’t know. Except You give me something I can feel, feel. I can feel Your love teaching me how. Your love is teaching me how, how to kneel…”

God: “You're gravity... searching for the ground. You're silence... searching for a sound. Your heart is aching... your heart is my home. Listen to me now. I need to let you know. You don’t have to go it alone. Sometimes you can’t make it on your own. Little sister, I know that everything is not ok. Little sister, don’t you worry about a thing today. Take the heat from the Sun. Don't trade your dreams for some small change. Guard the Flame, or better, leave it naked. The only pain is to feel nothing at all. Baby slow down, Please stay a child somewhere in your heart. I’ll give you everything you want. Except the thing that you want. And you’ll never be alone. Don’t you worry about your mind. Don’t you worry about your mind. You should worry about the day. That the pain it goes away. Listen to me now. I need to let you know. You don’t have to go it alone. Sometimes you can’t make it on your own. There is no failure here sweetheart. Just when you quit. I am you and you are mine. Love makes nonsense of space. And time… will disappear. Love and logic keep us clear. Reason is on our side, love… Oh you look so beautiful tonight. In the city of blinding lights. The songs are in your eyes. I see them when you smile. I’ve seen you walk unafraid. Come on now show your soul. You’ve been keeping your love under control. Everywhere you go you shout it. You don’t have to be shy about it, no.”

Soul: “I... I can't escape myself. I hear you talk. I was rippin' the stitches. Two fists to rub. I'm in the ditches. You heard me in my tune. When I just heard confusion. Some people got high rises on their backs. I’m not broke but you can see the cracks. You can make me perfect again. I’m alive. I’m being born. I just arrived, I’m at the door. Of the place I started out from. All because of You. All because of You. I am! Getting out from under my bed, now. I'm going to say the things I should have said, now. Getting closer. Getter to close to what's true. Gonna find myself in You. Love has come again. Love's got to be with the weak. Only then love gets a chance to speak. Love is justice, not charity. Love brings with it a clarity. I fear nothing. Fear nothing. Love has come again. I'm alive again. Alive...I am alive, I'm born again and again.

Soul and God: “Beneath the noise. Below the din. I hear a voice. It’s whispering. "I was a stranger you took me in.”” ("Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40)

Soul: “Take these shoes. Click clacking down some dead end street. Take these shoes. And make them fit. Take this shirt. Polyester white trash made in nowhere. Take this shirt. And make it clean, clean. Take this soul. Stranded in some skin and bones. Take this soul. And make it sing. Yahweh, Yahweh. Always pain before a child is born. (“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” John 16:21-22) Yahweh, Yahweh. Still I’m waiting for the dawn. Take these hands. Teach them what to carry. Take these hands. Don’t make a fist. Take this mouth. So quick to criticize. Take this mouth. Give it a kiss. (“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth - for your love is more delightful than wine.” Song Of Solomon 1:2) Yahweh, Yahweh. Always pain before a child is born. Yahweh, Yahweh. Still I’m waiting for the dawn. Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up. The sun is coming up on the ocean. This love is like a drop in the ocean. This love is like a drop in the ocean. Yahweh, Yahweh. Always pain before a child is born. Yahweh, tell me now. Why the dark before the dawn? Take this city. A city should be shining on a hill. ("You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14) Take this city. If it be your will. What no man can own, no man can take. Take this heart. Take this heart. Take this heart. And make it break.”
 
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Hi Mrs.Springsteen I'm happy that you enjoyed it. I composed this one last night.

This is a conversation with God composed from the lyrics of U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind album (and b-sides):


A NEW YORK PRAYER

Soul to self: “In New York, freedom looks like too many choices. In New York, I found a friend to drown out the other voices. You thought you'd found a friend to take you out of this place. Someone you could lend a hand in return for grace. Voices on a cell phone. Voices from home. Voices of the hard sell. Voices down a stairwell. I hit an iceberg in my life. You know I'm still afloat. You're out of luck and the reason that you had to care. The traffic is stuck and you're not moving anywhere. You're on the road but you've got no destination. You're in the mud, in the maze of her imagination. You love this town even if that doesn't right true. You've been all over and it's been all over you…..”

Soul to God: “I've got no home in this world. Just gravity. Luck and time. I've got no hope in this world. Just You. And You are not mine. I was unconscious, half asleep. The water is warm 'til you discover how deep. I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall. It's a long way down to nothing at all.”

God to soul: “And if the darkness is to keep us apart. And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off. And I know it aches. How your heart it breaks. You can only take so much. And if your heart should crack. And for a second you turn back. Oh no, be strong. And if the night runs over. And if the day won't last. And if your way should falter. Along that stony pass. It's just a moment. This time will pass……I’m still standing. I'm still standing where you left me. Are you still growing wild. With everything tame around you? I send you flowers. Good flowers for your heart. I know your garden is full. But is there sweetness at all? Life should be fragrant. Rooftop to the basement. I never thought you were a fool. But darling look at you. You gotta stand up straight. Carry your own weight. These tears are going nowhere baby. You've got to get yourself together. You've got stuck in a moment. And now you can't get out of it. And you are such a fool. To worry like you do. I know it's tough. And you can never get enough. Of what you don't really need now. Don't say that later will be better. Now you're stuck in a moment. And you can't get out of it. Go lightly down your darkened way. Go lightly underground. I’ll be down there. I won’t rest until you’re found. Let Me love you, let Me rescue you. Let Me lead you to where two roads meet. O come back above. Where there is only love. Only love... Let Me love you true, let Me rescue you. Let Me lead you to where two roads meet.”

Soul to self and to God: “And you become a monster. So the monster will not break you. And it's already gone too far. You say that if you go in hard. You won't get hurt. So I try to be like You. Try to feel it like You do. But without You it’s no use. I can’t see what You see. When I look at the world. Heaven on Earth, we need it now. I'm sick of all of this hanging around. Sick of sorrow, sick of the pain. I'm sick of hearing again and again. That there's gonna be peace on Earth. Jesus can you take the time. To throw a drowning man a line. When the night is someone else's. And you’re trying to get some sleep. When your thoughts are too expensive. To ever wanna keep. When there’s all kinds of chaos. And everyone is walking lame. You don’t even blink now do you. Or even look away. Jesus can you take the time. To throw a drowning man a line. I can’t wait any longer. I can’ wait 'til I’m stronger. Can’ wait any longer. To see what You see. When I look at the world. Tell me, tell me, what do You see? Tell me, tell me, what's wrong with me? Love, lift me out of these blues. Won't you tell me something true. I believe in You. Touch me, take me to the other place. Teach me Love, I know I'm not a hopeless case. Reach me Lord, I know I'm not a hopeless case.”

God to soul: “And love is not the easy thing. The only baggage that you can bring. Love is not the easy thing. The only baggage you can bring. is all that you can't leave behind. Packing a suitcase for a place. A place that has to be believed, to be seen. Oh! Oh! Walk on! Walk on! Leave it behind. You got to leave it behind. All that you fashion. All that you make. All that you build. All that you break. All that you measure. All that you feel. All this you can leave behind. All that you reason. All that you sense. All that you scheme. All you dress-up. All that you've seen. All you create. All that you wreck. All that you hate. See the Bird with a leaf in Her mouth. After The Flood all the colours came out. Daaaaaaaay. It's a Beautiful Day. Don't let it get away. It's a Beautiful Day. Don't let it get away. What you don't have you don't need it now. What you don't know you can feel it somehow. What you don't have you don't need it now. You don't need it now, don't need it now. Here today. And gone tomorrow. Crack the bone, get to the marrow. To be the bee. And the flower. Before the sweetness turns to sour. Be the arrow. And the target. Put your head over the parapet. Be uncool. Yes, be awkward. And don't look in the obvious place. The soul needs beauty for a soul mate. Get down off your holy cloud...Always. God will not deal with the proud...Always. Well if you dream then dream out loud...Always. Eternally yours...Always. When you stop seeing beauty. You start growing old. The lines on your face. are a map to your soul. When you stop taking chances. You'll stay where you sit. You won't live any longer. But it'll feel like it. It's not why you're running. It's where you're going. It's not what you're dreaming. But what you're gonna do. It's not where you're born. It's where you belong. It's not how weak. But what will make you strong. Come to know yourself...Always. Don't find yourself in someone else...Always. Turn each song into a prayer...Always. Now and forever. For always.”

Soul to God: “Grace, takes the blame. Covers the shame. Removes the stain. Grace finds goodness in everything. What once was hurt. What once was friction. What left a mark. No longer stings. Because Grace makes beauty. Out of ugly things. Grace finds beauty in everything. Grace finds goodness in everything. You take a stranger by the hand. A man who doesn't understand. His wildest dreams. You walk across the dirty sand. And offer him an ocean. Of what he's never seen. Maybe I was blind, alright. I might have closed my eyes. Maybe I was dumb. But what I forgot to say. If You didn't know. Is never let me go. You run from love and don't believe. Unless it catches you by the ear. And even then... you struggle. From Red lsland across the strand. Your footprints still they're in the sand. Everything else... washed away. Never let me go. Never let me go. Every chip from every cup. Every promise given up. Every reason that’s not enough. Every knee not ready to bend. Is falling, falling at Your feet. I’ve come crawling. Now I'm falling at Your feet. All the information / All fall down. All the big ideas / All fall down. All the radio waves / All fall down. Electronic seas / All fall down. Had to never gain / All fall down. Had to simply be / All fall down. To know when to wait / All fall down. This blessed simplicity / All fall down. In hope shall I trust / All fall down. And how might I be still? / All fall down. Teach me to surrender / All fall down. Not my will, Thy will...All falling at Your feet. Oh, I'm falling at Your feet. Grace, takes the blame. Covers the shame. Removes the stain. Grace finds goodness in everything. What once was hurt. What once was friction. What left a mark. No longer stings. Because Grace makes beauty. Out of ugly things. Grace finds beauty in everything. Grace finds goodness in everything.”

“I'm not afraid of anything in this world. There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't already heard. I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid to live. I will not forsake, the colours that You bring. The nights You filled with fireworks. I am still enchanted by the Light You brought to me. I still listen through Your ears, and through Your eyes I can see. You elevate my soul. You make me feel like I can fly. So high, elevation. It's in Your voice, I can feel it, I can tell it. It's in Your voice, has me ringing me like a bell. Peace of mind, peace comes dropping slow. I'm in the mind, to let go of control. Oh, lift me up. Who can stop us now. Can't slow us down. Levitate. Spirit come on down, no I'm not coming down. Levitate, elevation.”
 
Your welcome MrsSpringsteen!

This is a conversation with God composed from the lyrics of U2’s POP album:

A WAKE UP PRAYER

Soul to self: “Looking for to save my save my soul. Looking in the places where no flowers grow. Looking for to fill that God shaped hole. Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash. Looking for a sound that's going to drown out the world. Still looking for the face I had before the world was made. If beauty is truth. And surgery the fountain of youth. What am I to do? Have I got the gift to get me through the gates of that mansion? If perfume is an obsession. And talk shows, confession. What have we got to lose? Another push and we'll be through the gates of that mansion? The banks feel like cathedrals. I guess casinos took their place. Chance is a kind of religion. It's who you know that gets you through the gates of the Playboy mansion. Just back from the video store. Got the car and the car chase. What's he got inside the case? I want a close up of that face. Here comes the car chase…………..

Tonight the moon is playing tricks again. I'm feeling sea sick again. The whole world could just dissolve. Into a glass of water. If God will send his angels. And if God will send a sign. And if God will send his angels. Where do we go? Where do we go? Jesus never let me down. You know Jesus used to show me the score. Then they put Jesus in show business. Now it's hard to get in the door. God has got his phone off the hook. Would He even pick up if He could? It's been a while since we saw that child. Hanging 'round this neighbourhood. You see his mother dealing in a doorway. See Father Christmas with a begging bowl. Jesus sister's eyes are a blister. The High Street never looked so low. So where is the hope and where is the faith? And the love...what's that you say to me? Does love...light up your Christmas Tree? The next minute you're blowing a fuse. And the cartoon network turns into the news. Hey if God will send his angels. And if God will send a sign. And if God will send his angels. Would everything be alright?”

Soul to God: “Jesus, Jesus help me. I'm alone in this world. And a fucked up world it is too. Tell me, tell me the story. The one about eternity. And the way it's all gonna be. Wake up, wake up dead man. Jesus, I'm waiting here boss. I know you're looking out for us. But maybe your hands aren't free. Your father, He made the world in seven. He's in charge of heaven. Will you put in a word in for me. Wake up, wake up dead man. Jesus, were you just around the corner. Did You think to try and warn her. Or are you working on something new. If there's an order in all of this disorder. Is it like a tape recorder. Can we rewind it just once more. Wake up, wake up dead man.”

God to soul: “You're looking for The One. But you know you're somewhere else instead. You want heaven in your heart. Heaven in your heart. But you take what you can get. 'Cause it's all that you can find. But you know there's something more. You know you're chewing bubblegum. You know what that is. But you still want some. 'Cause you just can't get enough. Of that lovie dovie stuff. Do you feel loved? Do you feel love? Do you feel loved? There's an insect in your ear. If you scratch it won't disappear. It's going to itch and burn and sting. You want to see what the scratching brings. Afraid of what you’d find. If you took a look inside. The more you take the less you feel. The less you know the more you believe. The more you have the more it takes today. You’re living, living next week now. You know you’re going to pay it back somehow. You haven't been to bed in a week. You'll be dead soon then you'll sleep? You already knows it hurts. But you’re living like it's the last night on earth. The last night on earth. Well, you don't care what it's worth. You’re living like it's the last night on earth. You get to feel so guilty, got so much for so little. Then you find that feeling just won't go away. You're holding on to every little thing so tightly. 'Til there's nothing left for you anyway. You wanted to get somewhere so badly. You had to lose yourself along the way. You're taking steps that make you feel dizzy. Then you learn to like the way it feels. You hurt yourself you hurt your lover. Then you discover. What you thought was freedom is just greed. You got to give it away / You got to give it away. So you never knew love... until you crossed the line of grace. And you never felt wanted... 'til you'd someone slap your face. So you never felt alive... until you'd almost wasted away. You got to give it away / You got to give it away. So love is big. But love is not what you're thinking of. So love is hard and love is tough. But love is not what you're thinking of. You could only feel your own pain. You got to give it away / You got to give it away. Please... please... please...Get up off your knees. Please... please... please... Live it out. Get up off your knees now. Live it out.”
 
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