If God Will Send His Angels

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oliveu2cm

Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
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Well VelvetDress and I are back again.. with quite a lot of ideas bursting at the seams and awaiting your feedback! :)

This "analysis" is for If God Will Send His Angels

(I'm going to post all the lyrics first and the analysis to follow.)



Nobody else here baby
No one here to blame
No one to point the finger
It's just you and me and the rain

Nobody made you do it
No one put words in your mouth
Nobody here taking orders
When love took a train heading south

It's the blind leading the blond
It's the stuff, it's the stuff of 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

God has got his phone off the hook, babe
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

It's the blind leading the blond
It's the cops collecting for the cons
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

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

It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs
But I guess it was something to go on

If God will send his angels
I sure could use them here right now
Well if God would send his angels
Where do we go

I don't want to lie
(Where do we go)
I don't want to have a feel for the song
And I want to love, and I...
(Where do we go)
And I want to feel alone
 
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


The opening of this song, musically, is very watery, very fluid. Not even a real rhythm until Adam kicks in. Very wishy-washy, indecisive,
introspective. Exactly the opposite of Mofo's sounds, IGWSHA does not sound confrontational at all. Even the delivery of the lyrics in this song is NEVER confrontational or angry or bitter. Very, very subdued. The stark contrast is that the lyrics are quite confrontational.

This amazing sense of being alone in a room together, which is perhaps the LAST place they want to be, because suddenly there is no distraction and they must face the issues at hand. It'salmost as if you can completely see it as him talking to himself. There is no one else there at ALL. Possible.

These verses begin rather hopeless, as if it is the *end* of the line. Finally have to confront your demons- it's just you and me and the rain.
Nowhere to run, nowhere hide and it's almost as if the character doesn't even care enough to hide.


Nobody made you do it
No one put words in your mouth
Nobody here taking orders
When love took a train heading south


Here is an instance of Wanderer coming back- "to taste and to touch and to feel as much" ... this is the aftermath of the wanderer. He's confronting what he did- and saying, no one made you do it, it was alll your decision. This goes along with the sense he is addressing himself rather than a lover (almost as if he is sitting in front of a mirror, drink in hand, accusing his reflection of his sins that he cannot face in the light.)

Nice line "when love took a train heading south" South could be down (to Hell?) or a sexual allusion (has he sexually strayed? does it matter at this point?)

It's the blind leading the blond
It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs

So does it = religion/faith here or love/relationships itself? The obvious question that follows is what IS the stuff of country songs? Unrequited love, the end of love, melodrama. Many country songs are wrought with contradiction (i.e. "You were the first thing that I thought of when I thought I drank you off my mind".)


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

In this stanza we get the question and the title. The chorus is so filled with longing. But again, he hardly emotes his actual emotions in this song,
which is interesting for Bono because he nearly always goes completely bonkers in some point of a song. But here, completely gentle delivery that belies the sentiment of what he wants to convey. That in itself is interesting, since he hardly does it.

God has got his phone off the hook, babe
Would he even pick up if he could

What bitter lines! "Babe" is so dismissive here, like "don't even bother" And yet complete resignation in the way he sings it. The most damning part of this couplet is the 2nd line. It's one thing for God to be temporarily incommunicado, but quite another to wonder if he even gives a shit.

It's been a while since we saw that child
Hanging 'round this neighbourhood

Some people think child refers to Jesus. It could also refer to Bono himself, long time since HE hung around the "religious" neighborhood. but if
God's got his phone off the hook it also makes sense that it's Jesus who has been MIA.

You see his mother dealing in a doorway
See Father Christmas with a begging bowl

Father Christmas, another name for God.. begging people to a) come to him or b) give his Church money... and another instance of a woman turning tricks... this time a mother, who is someone who should really be there with her Son, not "dealing in a doorway" And Father Christmas = Santa Claus as well. The guy who normally gives is instead begging. Each of these two images is completely contradictory, like the world turned on its head (which perhaps is/would happen if God really didn't give a shit. Or if a person *thought* God didn't care, this is how they would see the world for sure.)

Jesus sister's eyes are a blister
The High Street never looked so low

Perhaps Jesus sister's could be prostitutes? I mean his sisters are every woman- especiallly in how Bono sees it. "my sisters, my brothers".. I
think this is the first time I understood this line, b/c you can't take it to be LITERALLY his sister, but figuratively in the sense of humanity, the women's eyes are blisters, which also conjures up a drug addict's glazed statement (again, if there is no God would everyone look this way?)
They are all dealing in the doorway, with a God who's got his phone off the hook. So drugged out hookers. Again the country music-like contradiction in "the High Street never looked so low". This is a pretty desolute landscape he is painting here. High Street you think of brokers
with lotsa lotsa money, wearing their suits, and sleeping with prostitutes.. so low.... He's already conveyed two elements of street live (dealing and begging) and prostitution fits right in.

The sound of the rhyhm between sister and blister is a biting sound also.


It's the blind leading the blond

This here made me think of the spiritually blind or the emotionally blind (those High Street men) leading the blond (women) to go have sex with her....

It's the cops collecting for the cons

Absolute corruption, evil just spreading in the low nations / areas. Again someone who is supposed to be protecting you (the cops) turning their
backs on you instead.

So where is the hope and where is the faith

Now he's getting impatient, but again singing very patiently. Where is it? What is UP? All of a sudden he's looking for it. if this place was
supposed to be filled with love- where is it? if religion was supposed to be the answer, why isn't there any hope or faith left? The airplane zoom sound has always interested me here. I believe, like Edge's seagull-like guitar on Kite, that it would be intentional. He is asking "where" and we hear the sound of an airplane.

And the love...what's that you say to me

Beautiful how he sings this line, with no breath in between.
And he's asking what's that? Love?

Does love...light up your Christmas Tree

Nice relationship back to Father Christmas. Is this what that person he was talking to above said to him? or is he retorting? I love this line- I
think it's brilliant. Simple but brilliant.

This begins another landscape painting to me...


The next minute you're blowing a fuse

Double entendre... literally blowing an electric fuse, or figuratively flipping out? The electric fuse relates well back to the lights on the Christmas Tree, which have now blown a fuse. We're getting a total living room scene here, which is expanded in the next line as well.

And the cartoon network turns into the news

We're presented with a sense of trying to bury his head in the sand with the cartoon network, but reality steps in and spoils his avoidance game. Bono's "obsession" with the television comes into play 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


He is completely lost here. First he asked "would everything be all right", but here he is at a total loss - where do we go? Repeats it twice,
forlornly the second time. This character has an elemet of sitting on his bum and complaining, looking around at all the hopelessness and (hypocritically) blaming God for not doing anything. (this relates smoothly back to the inaction that we find in nearly every line of Staring At The Sun.) He's just waiting for God to rescue him. Like the story about the guy stranded on the roof of his house during a flood, and he sends away the helicopter and boat, saying "God will rescue me" and then God said "Whassup with you? I mean, I sent you a helicopter and a boat!!"

This reminds me of their recent Much Music interview where Bono states (paraphrasing) that God often gets the bad rap on things that may be
our fault.

In this stanaza we again hear the airplane zoom sound connected with a "travel" phrase - "where do we go". This HAS to be intentional!

Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score

He's reminiscing sadly. and the words are tinged with regret... He used to be a good guy, He used to be on my side, I used to be sure of it"...

Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it's hard to get in the door

Here's another great stanza.. putting Jesus in show business, the commercialization of Jesus, of Christmas.. and now it's just hard to get to the
real stuff, it's like MUSIC- oh yeah like commercializing Music, having the n'syncs and brittney's.. well is there room for U2 and other bands like them? And who's THEY? the High Street people? the Show Biz people? The "hard to get in the door" thing relates perfectly back to the
*rich* having to stoop to get through the Jerusalem gate (eye of the needle).

It's the stuff, it's the stuff of country songs
But I guess it was something to go on

"But I guess" is key here, more so the words " I guess" - take that out and you have a much more positive, firm statement "it's something to go on" add that "i guess" , you know he really doesn't believe it, he really doesn't think it'll work.. but he has no other options.. just so hopeless. He still doesn't get it. He still doesn't know, and he's like, whatever, I guess so.

If God will send his angels
I sure could use them here right now

The first admission of needing God coming when the song is nearly over. But he's not even trusting or brave enough to ask God directly. He just states his need without even bothering to ask, like there's not even any use asking. (Sorta makes you wanna kick this guy's butt!)


Well if God would send his angels
Where do we go

Where do we go? he knows the angels are not going to literally come.. what's he supposed to do? where is Humanity going w/o those angels's helps?

I don't want to lie
(Where do we go)
don't want to have a feel for the song (??)
And I want to love, and I... (??)
(Where do we go)
And I want to feel alone (??)

The lyrics on Pop say "scant singing" here and we are not sure these are the correct ones. The "i don't want to lie" part is pretty clear to hear..translating to no empty promises just to make himself feel better.. he's NOT going to believe just b/c it makes himself feel better- he
almost wants that PROOF about God.

Musically, the ending is like someone just ambling down the street. (B whispermumbles at 5:16-5:20 which I never noticed before)

Sidenote after type this over again: the use of the term "Angels" like.. God sending his Angels.. not God coming directly to help, but using Angels which mean many different things to different people. Some people believe in angels without believing in God.. Angels are a more facile concept to believe than in God, especially to this character who is so lost. Then also, how we were saying earlier that he's too weak or distrustful to even ask God directly for help (he's like "I sure could use them!" but doesn't actually ask)....maybe he's too weak to even indirectly ask for The Biggie: God ... he has to indirectly mention that he could really kinda use the angels. Completely copping out.....

Another thing - God has his phone off the hook, so maybe the character is feeling like the angels would be more accessible.

As an FYI, someone once told me that every angel mentioned in the Bible was male. Funny huh. No doubt there really were men transcribing that thing! sn't that odd, since our contemporary conceptualization of angels is almost strictly female! Wow. I just thought of something else,
too, out of this train of thought. Maybe he feels more able to reach out to the angels, who we think of as female, than to God, whom in this song
is attributed male pronouns.
 
whew. that is good stuff...and I do want to comment on it.

But I think I'm going to have to sleep on it. :huh:
 
In the immortal words of Joe Dirt, or Joe Dirte as he liked to be called, "Daaang"...translated into..."Awesome, to the point of having to sleep on it as well". Me thinks you two could have written a better book than the "Into the Heart" book I own on possible lyrical interpretations of U2's songs. Great job girls!

Chris
 
oliveu2cm said:
[B
So where is the hope and where is the faith

Now he's getting impatient, but again singing very patiently. Where is it? What is UP? All of a sudden he's looking for it. if this place was
supposed to be filled with love- where is it? if religion was supposed to be the answer, why isn't there any hope or faith left? The airplane zoom sound has always interested me here. I believe, like Edge's seagull-like guitar on Kite, that it would be intentional. He is asking "where" and we hear the sound of an airplane.
[/B]

I can't edit this page (after 20 min I guess..?) anyway I wanted to add that reading this line again (lol) it makes me think of Bono in the streets and the gutters with the people Jesus spent most of his time with... but *Still* not finding answers (hence the where is the hope, where is the faith)

arg sorry that's so unarticulate.

glad u both are interested in it though! :)
 
Wow

spanisheyes said:
Me thinks you two could have written a better book than the "Into the Heart" book I own on possible lyrical interpretations of U2's songs. Great job girls!

Chris

I agree. Whoa Olive, that was amazing. I was reading it last night and I had to listen to IGWSHA over and over.
 
Re: Wow

dizzy said:


I agree. Whoa Olive, that was amazing. I was reading it last night and I had to listen to IGWSHA over and over.

Thanks Dizzy. :) VelvetDress and I are quite enthralled with delving into Bono's lyrics ~ yeah it would be astounding to do something with all of our ideas and analyses!!!

yeah. lol. we have a bunch of stuff just craving a home.

I've had a hard time listening to Achtung Baby after we did that big one because of what a scary time that was, which you don't really see until you start to read between the lines. Bono is brilliant though. I'd argue that until I go blue in the face :)

anyway thanks for your reply :) VelvetDress is travelling but I know she will be excited to see this when she can.
 
What a coincidence Carrie! If God Will Send His Angels was theme for discussion in one of my local lists a couple of weeks ago. We have something called "song of the week" in which the ones who know English (or seems to know, like me ;)) explain and discuss the lyrics to the others. We avoid simple translations, it definitely does not work, mainly when you're talking about Bono's work. Just thought you and VelvetDress would like to know about that.

Great job you both have done. I loved it. Keep it going! :yes:
 
Re: Re: Wow

oliveu2cm said:


Thanks Dizzy. :) VelvetDress and I are quite enthralled with delving into Bono's lyrics ~ yeah it would be astounding to do something with all of our ideas and analyses!!!

yeah. lol. we have a bunch of stuff just craving a home.

I've had a hard time listening to Achtung Baby after we did that big one because of what a scary time that was, which you don't really see until you start to read between the lines. Bono is brilliant though. I'd argue that until I go blue in the face :)

anyway thanks for your reply :) VelvetDress is travelling but I know she will be excited to see this when she can.

No problem. I love it when people analyze U2 songs, 'cause while reading them, I also get new insights of my own. Bummer that I don't have much time to go online as much as I want and hehe, I kinda suck at explaining. :D
 
Just a side note, but I have three recordings of this song (Pop, the single, and COA soundtrack) , plus the video on DVD (City of Angels). I seem to recall one of these versions having a much clearer version of the scat singing. I can't look them up cause my CD's, etc. are packed away. But, you may want to check this out if there is question about the lyrics in this section.

Great interpretation, by the way. I love Bono's lyrics.
 
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.
 
brunerhyme said:
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...

Yes, I love the whole series and that book was always really intriguing. Fascinating parallel you've drawn there. :up: We can really blind ourselves to the reality around us. "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!"

I think one of my favorite parts of that book is the description of heaven. How it is Narnia, but the way Narnia ought to be. And "further up and further in"...no end to it. :yes:
 
brunerhyme said:
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.
:)

Thank you very much. Sorry I did not get to this sooner- I only saw it now! And I love different interpretations, and would never ignore!! :no:

Very interesting and concise idea of it being only one conversation between Bono and this girl, and it definitely has much to support this. And I liked how you worked the rhythm into the analyses- this is very important and sometimes I forget to listen to the songs as I think about them! :huh:

brunerhyme said:
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."



:up: :up: I love this

brunerhyme said:

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.]

I loved both of these points, too!!! The fantasy breaking down and also the scared voice of a little boy.. wonderful. him being the little boy relates back to the whole child thing. Plus watching TV and how you believe what's on TV when you are a child to be the truth (and TV greatly affected Bono, especially the moment America put a man on the moon)

brunerhyme said:


[Approx. 25% of the time when I hear this song... I pause it, yell "Bono 1, Tele-evangelists 0" very loudly, then continue listening.]

:lol:


Thanks very much! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I've never read the book but maybe I will.
 
sulawesigirl4 said:


Yes, I love the whole series and that book was always really intriguing. Fascinating parallel you've drawn there. :up: We can really blind ourselves to the reality around us. "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!"

I think one of my favorite parts of that book is the description of heaven. How it is Narnia, but the way Narnia ought to be. And "further up and further in"...no end to it. :yes:

I think part of the reason I associate IFWSHA with Narnia is because I was rereading the books the first time I heard the song. And then if Howie B's quote was right, and there really were angels there the entire time...

Yes the old Narnia/new Narnia is great. I remember crying the first time I read it (I was 7 or eight) because all I saw was this great place disappearing, but now it's, to me, the best part of the entire series.

I love all of his allegories. His description of heaven in The Great Divorce is brilliant I think.
 
oliveu2cm said:

Thank you very much. Sorry I did not get to this sooner- I only saw it now! And I love different interpretations, and would never ignore!! :no: [/B]

:) I had never even attempted to explain my feelings on this song before and I wrote all this down as soon as I read your post, so I'm glad it's clear enough for people to actually understand. :huh:

It is great fun looking at :bono:'s lyrics.
:yes:
Thanks very much! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I've never read the book but maybe I will.

Great books. I've read them ten times over and I still get something new out of them every time. They seem extremely simple and direct, but there's more depth/meaning in them than most "spiritual" books.

:yes:
 
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