A 'crummy' question about 'Mysterious Ways'.

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mad1

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Right, well, as we know it is a religious song, and Im pretty sure someone here said Bono sings about 'she moves in mysterious ways', like God is a woman......right?

Well, if the song is about God, whether it even be about God being a woman, why belly-dancers in the video and at the Zoo concert?

see, I got confused, tinkin maybe its about the 'mysterious movements of a belly-dancer'....or is Bono trying to make God through a belly-dancer.....

I know, I know, :rolleye: I have asked a real stupid question, but what the hell, Im curious!!!!
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It's really not that bad of a question.
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IMO, the band just likes to play off on the duality of the lyrics.

BTW, I think the song is about the Holy Spirit...I think Bono has said before how the Spirit is very maternal and that's why he refers to it in the feminine voice.

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Rock 'N Roll is the sound of revenge.

[This message has been edited by Se7en (edited 04-05-2002).]
 
Originally posted by mad1:


Well, if the song is about God, whether it even be about God being a woman, why belly-dancers in the video and at the Zoo concert?


Because, to quote Bono, "I have a weakness for belly-dancers."


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What are we going to do now It's all been said,
No new ideas in the house and Every book has been read....
 
because they filmed the video in Morocko and there are loads of belly dancers???

and to me the song always sounded a bit oriental

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I'm a bass player. That's a "singer" question. Lord Adam Clayton

"The bass player's got it. The bass player's fucking got it." Bono, Boston 6-9-01
 
Originally posted by AM:
and to me the song always sounded a bit oriental


Ditto.

As for the bellydancers.. I think it was just a visual thing, not really meant as an interpretation of the song.

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"You must not look down on someone just 'cos they are 14 years old. When I was that age I listened to the music of John Lennon and it changed my way of seeing things, so I'm just glad that 14 year olds are coming to see U2 rather than group X." - Bono, 1988
 
maddie

I think teh bellydancer is a reference the Oscar Wilde play salome
 
Originally posted by Se7en:
It's really not that bad of a question.
wink.gif


IMO, the band just likes to play off on the duality of the lyrics.

BTW, I think the song is about the Holy Spirit...I think Bono has said before how the Spirit is very maternal and that's why he refers to it in the feminine voice.



I agree. I don't see it as a religious song, but a spiritual one, and I see the belly dancer as symbolic of Spirit. It also reminds me of the Goddesses of the eastern traditions (Shiva and Shakti). One of the things I love about U2's music is how universal it is spiritually. While they may be influenced by Christianity, they make it universal so that people of different belief systems can transfer the imagery to their own beliefs.


[This message has been edited by joyfulgirl (edited 04-05-2002).]
 
Originally posted by zooropa16:
Mysterious Ways has never been a religious song. In my mind, it is simply a song that worships the beauty of the feminine spirit.


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Yes, i always thought of it as a tribute to all Women.
 
I see the bellydancers as an interpretation of the song, definately. I don't think U2 has done many things simply for visual purposes... as Hamish said on the making of the Elevation DVD--if U2 wants a light blue, there's usually a reason why it's blue.
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I think this song is about man's adoration of women in general. Hence the reason Bono reaches out to the bellydancer, as if trying to be graced with her beauty. You'll also see this subjection to female beauty earlier in the Zoo TV performance when Bono kneels down before the woman-faced pendulum (on your knees boy!)

Bono has said "I've always believed that the spirit is a feminine thing... at times I do tend to idealize women. It's easy to fall into the trap of separating them into angels and devils for the sake of the drama."

Given this mentality, you can see how the spiritual and the physical become interchangeable here.
 
it's about bowel movement
hence belly dancing

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it
 
I'm remembering another Bono quote that may shed light on this. Quote based on memory, but he said something like, "Our songs are about God and women, and we often get the two confused."
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Cheryl

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You don't have to be Henry Kissenger to figure out that a more prosperous world is a more secure world; a more educated world is a more tolerant world; and a more healthy world is a more stable world, and I think that would be a fitting memorial to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11th. ~Bono on Leno, Thanksgiving 2001
 
anyone who says it's not a reiligous song..is uhm mistaken...even the reference to johnny..indicates it's religous...(john the baptist). And..Shiva...is not a goddess
 
Bono says he often writes about God and woman in the same vein...that there is a spiritual side of woman and a sexual side of God...the two are not mutually exclusive.

As for the belly dancing, I'd heard that before the tour started a belly dancer offered her services in the parking lot of the venue in which they were rehearsing. They brought her in to dance for the song as almost a joke on Bono, and he loved it and she was added to the show (Christina), later to be replaced by Morleigh.

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"Love is a verb..."
enterangell@cs.com
 
Originally posted by Angell:
Bono says he often writes about God and woman in the same vein...that there is a spiritual side of woman and a sexual side of God...the two are not mutually exclusive.

As for the belly dancing, I'd heard that before the tour started a belly dancer offered her services in the parking lot of the venue in which they were rehearsing. They brought her in to dance for the song as almost a joke on Bono, and he loved it and she was added to the show (Christina), later to be replaced by Morleigh.



Yeah, that's what it said in Flanagan's book. I think that's probably all it is, and the "weakness for belly dancers" thing.


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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

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What is he singing in the opening and near the end of the song during the Sydney video? Are these parts of other songs?

By the way, this is the best version of MW.
 
I'd always thought the "weakness for belly dancers" thing was an allusion to the dancing on the tour.....hmmm, maybe not like a reference, but I just thought this fondness was a result of seeing it on the tour (?) The quote came from the Interference video, with the MW video, and was done after the tour had started. An off the cuff thing, I suppose, is what I'm getting at, rather than a life long love of the art.

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"Love is a verb..."
enterangell@cs.com
 
Originally posted by U2fan42:
What is he singing in the opening and near the end of the song during the Sydney video? Are these parts of other songs?

I wish I knew. Some one answer this question damnit!
 
I think this song is basically dual in meaning. It's talking about the Holy Spirit and the glorification of women at the same time.

The bellydancer is a symbol or, in a way, a physical allusion of how the unfathomable the Spirit (in religious terms) moves. If you think about it, there is something mysterious about the bellydancers...their faces are even half-covered most of the time. There is something they don't want to reveal. Bono, in some bootlegs, can be heard singing, "Spirit moves within, Jehovah moves within, Yahweh moves within...mysterious ways." I've also read that Bono believes the Holy Spirit to be feminine, quoting a scripture in the Bible where it is described as the breasted one.

Anyway, it's the duality (and maybe more...who knows) of the meaning of this song that has kept my interest in it. It's definitely one of my favorite U2 songs!



[This message has been edited by dizzy (edited 04-15-2002).]
 
Johnny = john the baptists


pale light in - salome in the play is described as being pale as the moon

living underground - well i've often seen the jail cells in those days being sloped into the ground


she's slippy - in the play the tetrach slips in the blood of a syrian who commits suicide over his love sickness for salome


there are ovewhelming references to the play..I'd bust out the play and find more..but I'm too lazy


[This message has been edited by Arun V (edited 04-15-2002).]
 
Originally posted by Arun V:

Johnny = john the baptists


pale light in - salome in the play is described as being pale as the moon

living underground - well i've often seen the jail cells in those days being sloped into the ground


she's slippy - in the play the tetrach slips in the blood of a syrian who commits suicide over his love sickness for salome


there are ovewhelming references to the play..I'd bust out the play and find more..but I'm too lazy


[This message has been edited by Arun V (edited 04-15-2002).]
Arun, that's interesting! Please share more info when you're not lazy anymore.
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Or can you give me a website about the play or something?
 
I'll have to looka round...you know its a very small paperback book..it can't be more that 3 or 4 dolalrs at barnes and nobles..you may want to give it a ready..it's a very quick very light read.
 
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