Wow. This just goes to show that the people hired to analyse lyrics should really give their jobs to the fans. You did a great job.
It's also really cool how people can hear the same song and get different meanings. So anyways, here's how I've always thought of the song.
Feel free to ignore.
When I listen to this song I always here a subtle irony in it. Almost as if Bono is showing how wrong the man in the song is by taking his ideas and singing them. I think this may have something to do with a quote I heard by Howie B.... Something like:
"There's talk of angels in the song, so I said we should put them in there. So there's this highhat of Larry's we dropped a few octaves and it flies in there to save the day."
So we have this bitter, cynical man singing, trying to convince the person he's talking to (I always see her as a young woman who's been hurt a few times, that he wants something from in some way) that there is no one coming to help her, no one cares about her etc. She has nothing and believeing different is like giving into a fairy tale- make believe world. And he says all of this in a cynical, world-weary tone, "Yeah little girl, I used to be naive like you. But you've gotta grow up someday." But it seems that this girl is stronger in her faith than he is in his doubt, despite whatever's happened to her, because she isn't giving up easily. Even though everything's against her, he still has to take all kinds of approaches to convince her that there really is nothing to have faith in, and it's better that way. Towards the end of the song we see him struggling with his message and almost wishing there was someone coming to save the day. He realises that the sad, pathetic one is not her, but himself. And maybe he does need that help. But he still doesn't believe it exsists. He's gotten himself so wrapped up
in himself that he cant see the obvious anymore- the entire time, the angels have been
right there just waiting for him to see them, but he is blind (I think that's the real irony in the song, he's trying to convice this girl that God doesn't care when the whole time he's just oblivious to the help right in front of him). The person in this song has turned his back on God, not the other way around, and God is patiently trying to get his attention. Underneath his hard exterior though, this guy wants to beleive as much as the girl already does. He's scared and lost too. He just won't admit it. I think you hear a lot of that in Bono's voice. How he keeps it more distant than usual... he really is world-weary and just... tired. Also extremely sad. The only signs of life come when he's really battling himself.
If God Would Send His Angels
Nobody else here baby
No one here to blame
No one to point the finger
It's just you and me and the rain
This is where I believe he starts to make his case.
To the girl: "Look, that's it. You've screwed up. There's no one you can put the blame on. No way to get out of it. You're all alone now and there's nothing for it. No knight in shining armor is coming to rescue you. You've got me. That's it. In this dreary place, I'm all you have. Get used to it."
Nobody made you do it
No one put words in your mouth
Nobody here taking orders
When love took a train heading south
"It was your choice, you made the decision. Now you have to live with it. We really had something, then it all went to hell and we're left with this."
It's the blind leading the blond
It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs
"All of these emotions, all of this drama. This is what you find in country songs."
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
"Are you still living in your fairy tale world? Are you still expecting someone to come for you? Send you help? Not going to happen..."
God has got his phone off the hook, babe
Would he even pick up if he could
[The rhythm really picks up here, and he tries even harder to convince the girl]
"...'cos look. Even God's ignoring you. He doesn't care, if he even exsists. He's turned his back on you just like everyone else."
It's been a while since we saw that child
Hanging 'round this neighbourhood
[I think child refers to Jesus, but I could be wrong]
"So, you're still holding out are you? We haven't seen God around here in a while. Don't be naive"
You see his mother dealing in a doorway
See Father Christmas with a begging bowl
"There's nothing holy here. Nothing sacred. Everything's fallen"
Jesus sister's eyes are a blister
The High Street never looked so low
[I've always thought the line "Jesus sister's eyes are blistered" was supposed to be kind of ironic (and not literal)- that the Healer hasn't even bothered to heal his own sister's eyes. Kind of a throw at the idea of Jesus in general.]
"You say there's a Healer. His own sister's eyes are blistered. He isn't watching out for us."
It's the blind leading the blond
"No one knows what's going on here"
It's the cops collecting for the cons
"Can't trust anyone, everyone's corrupt"
So where is the hope and where is the faith
"You say there's still hope. Well where is it? I certainly don't see it. I think you're playing makebelieve again. Stop it. You've gotta grow up. "
And the love...what's that you say to me
[continues with the Faith, Hope, and Love trilogy. One of my favorite parts of the song.]
"You say that Faith, Hope, and Love are going to outlast everything. That when everything disappears they'll still be around. Well all three seem to be gone right now, so what's going on with your little belief system. What are you going to do now?"
Does love...light up your Christmas Tree
[He's sneering now, looking down at her.]
"So you still believe in love. That's what makes your world go 'round? Lot of good it's doing you..."
The next minute you're blowing a fuse
"...'cos your love won't last. It'll leave like everything else..."
And the cartoon network turns into the news
"...and this fantasy world you've made for yourself will come crashing down on you."
[He starts breaking down here.]
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
[Bono's voice here kills me every time. It seems as if the man singing starts listening to himself and everything he's been saying... and he doesn't want it. For just a second, he realises if all of this is true... he really has no idea what to do. And the little boy voice on the last "Where do we go?" is like a scared child.]
Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score
[He thinks almost sadly about where he's been. And he remembers a time when he trusted in something bigger than himself. Jesus always helped him.]
"Yeah, Jesus was fine when I was young. I believed in him then..."
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door
[Approx. 25% of the time when I hear this song... I pause it, yell "Bono 1, Tele-evangelists 0" very loudly, then continue listening.]
"...but now I've grown up. He's just like the Santa Clause. Be real good and maybe you'll get something nice in return. He's just commercialised... he's nothing. You know I used to even have this relationship with him. Turns out you have to know the right people though. Religion. Go to go to church. Follow all the rules. That's the only way he'll pay attention."
It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs
But I guess it was something to go on
"Well this is all we've got now. I guess. I mean it'll have to be enough."
If God will send his angels
I sure could use them here right now
"Maybe I do need God. Maybe you are right about that. But he has to come to me. I'm not going to crawl to him. He's obviously not here to help, no matter how much we need him right now. So forget it.
...
...But I do need Him."
Well if God would send his angels
Where do we go
"Where do we go?"
At this point we assume the angels come into save the day, at least for the girl. Whether the man has let down his guard long enough to see reality is debatable.
Has anyone read the Chronicles of Narnia? The Last Battle...
The character Bono has created here reminds me of the dwarfs in the last chapters. They become incredibly defiant at the end. They cease to believe in God/Aslan and instead say "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs". The end of the world comes and they are in heaven, but the lies they have told themselves render them unable to see any of their surroundings, and instead they only see an old, dirty stable. No one can convince them of the Truth even though it surrounds them completely.
So even if the angels rush into save him... he might not even recognise them...
In any case, I've never tried to explain my beliefs on this song so I'm not sure if it came out right or not. Hopefully it made some sense.
*shrugs*
In any case, after typing all this up... I listened to the song again and it had me weeping for this guy. Way to go, right?
[SIDENOTE] In some of the original language, it seems at least Gabrielle has feminine attributes/ could be a "female" angel. If angels have gender.