Could All Because Of You be about/for Bono's mom?

[TheBrazilianFly]

He talks about being born on this song a lot, if you think about it, I think he could be talking about his mom when he says "All because of you, I am!" I mean that's the person who gave him life. Of course he could very well be talking about God too.

Here are the lyrics:

All Because Of You
==================

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am… I am

I like the sound of my own voice
I didn’t give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train

Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I’m not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am… I am

I’m alive
I’m being born
I just arrived, I’m at the door
Of the place I started out from
And I want back inside

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am


Well, what do you think?

 

[Phalanx]

Couldn't it be about God?

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Yes, I think it could too.

 

[drivemytrabant]

I have also thought about both--But I thought of Mom first actually.

 

[elfyx]

There's an old U2 joke about the meaning of every U2 song.

"What's the meaning of" - (gets cut off)

"His mom"

 

[Jaxx]

Actually, I thought the joke went more like:

Q: What the hell is Bono talking about when he says (insert random Bonoism here, e. g. "unos, dos, tres, catorce")?

A: It's a biblical reference.


As for ABOY, I'd say it's about his mom.

 

[Mark Freedman]

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

God jokes. So I'm not the only one who thinks it could about his mom..... cool.

 

[youtwohearts]

It could be about either or. I didn't get the feeling it was about his mom, personally. Maybe just the idea of birth.

 

[iota]

I only have one qualm with the mother interpretation.

"You can make me perfect again..."

Doesn't make sense if he's talking to his mom.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I only have one qualm with the mother interpretation.

"You can make me perfect again..."

Doesn't make sense if he's talking to his mom.

They say a child is born perfect. Then the world makes it ummmm.. less perfect, let's say. Maybe what he means is that only his mother could make him perfect again but he is only going to meet his mother when he dies and I guess all the bad whe have are taken fro us once we're in heaven.

 

[iota]

That reminds me of one possible explaination for a line in Mysterious Ways I heard once from someone who didn't want "if you want to kiss the sky/better learn how to kneel" to be about prayer. They said that maybe it's because when there are puddles on the ground that reflect the sky and the stars you can kneel down and touch them. Kind of a stretch.

 

[iota]

And I'm not sure who says a child is born perfect. A child is definately born human. And the world is just more humans. The biblical worldview definately doesn't say a child is born perfect, and on an album with a track called "Yahweh" the biblical worldview weighs in quite heavily.

 

[mofo82]

I only have one qualm with the mother interpretation.

"You can make me perfect again..."

Doesn't make sense if he's talking to his mom.

I'll play devil's advocate on this one (fitting when God has been mentioned in the thread)

I can see where this line could be in regards to a mother, if the idea/ belief is that when you were born you were at your most perfect, when you could find no wrong or ill, just innocence and perfection in a child. From that moment on, throughout life man/woman loses that perfection but that feeling can be restored because she (mother) saw it in him when he was a newborn. And from the mother's perspective, all because of you I am (a mother, a son, your God, your creation, etc).

It's completely subjective, but I love the ability to make/ find our meanings to their music. Again, these are all about feelings and not so much pure truths- I would never pin down a particular meaning to a song/ piece of art. It's for you to determine.

 

[iota]

Well, I think it's kind of sad to say that you were most perfect when you had the least capacity to DO anything. But if perfect equals inability than I'm glad I'm not perfect in your sense of the word.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Jesus Christ, I have heard it before it's not like I'm making it up.

 

[macphister]

I think his Dad might have helped in Bono's creation, too......you know....with the whole sperm thing.....

....and considering how the whole album is about his Dad, the "You" in "All Because of You".....could be good ol' Bob.

 

[mofo82]

What I'm saying is when you have a newborn child I believe it is harder to find imperfection, espceially if you are a mother to that child. When's the last time you've heard a mother say 'eh she's not such a perfect baby?' The way I used the word 'perfect' is less to do with 'inability' but more about 'innocence'. In my mind, innocence is lost with experience- just human nature in action. A child lacks the experience and growth to lose that innocence. Just my opinion.

 

[iota]

No, I think the song probably is somewhat about the natural birth process, but there is a dimension to it that transcends the physical, that's all. It's obvious there's a God and "rebirth" element just as easy to see as the other. Why limit a song like this by saying it's only about one thing?

 

[iota]

What I'm saying is when you have a newborn child I believe it is harder to find imperfection, espceially if you are a mother to that child. When's the last time you've heard a mother say 'eh she's not such a perfect baby?' The way I used the word 'perfect' is less to do with 'inability' but more about 'innocence'. In my mind, innocence is lost with experience- just human nature in action. A child lacks the experience and growth to lose that innocence. Just my opinion.

I know what you're saying, and I know innocence is lost when one grows up in a corrupt world, but no one teaches a child how to lie or steal toys, tattle and use crying as an attention-getting device. So no one is born perfect. They may give the illusion of being perfect because they can't do anything to disprove it, that's my point.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

No, I think the song probably is somewhat about the natural birth process, but there is a dimension to it that transcends the physical, that's all. It's obvious there's a God and "rebirth" element just as easy to see as the other. Why limit a song like this by saying it's only about one thing?

I don't think perople are limiting it. Just giving one more interpretation to it. I like the fact that it could be about others too. Bono always writes like that. Just as it could be about his mom it could be abou Ali. In this interpretation the "I am" part could mean that she makes him want to live. BVut I think that MAYBE deep inside Bono was thinking about his mom (knowing that it could be also seen as God, etc...).

 

[iota]

Oh, to hell with it. I'm getting too philosophical about one throwaway line from a very vague song anyway. It's about whatever you want it to be about.

 

[mofo82]

I know what you're saying, and I know innocence is lost when one grows up in a corrupt world, but no one teaches a child how to lie or steal toys, tattle and use crying as an attention-getting device. So no one is born perfect. They may give the illusion of being perfect because they can't do anything to disprove it, that's my point.

BOOM-CHA Exactly...what someone says, like a mother saying her child is perfect doesn't have to mean it is really perfect, yet, if you hear someone tell you enough times that you are perfect (as if you are the child being told this) you may have the feeling that you truly are perfect. That feeling can be so intense and warming that it finds its way into the physical world, even into a lyric of a song.

Healthy discussion

 

[AEON]

" I Am" is another name for God. And when Jesus is asked if he is the son of God - he answered "I Am" - which also was the actual legal reason he was crucified.

 

[mofo82]

I don't think perople are limiting it. Just giving one more interpretation to it...

... But I think that MAYBE deep inside Bono was thinking about his mom (knowing that it could be also seen as God, etc...).

I think with Bono's writing/ lyrics you must have an understanding that he's probably already related all things as creations of God and therefore it's already a given that the song IS about God. These aren't particularly my beliefs, but I remind myself when listening to U2's/Bono's music that if the idea is that God is present in all of creation, whether human or not, then the religious meaning is already there. They (Bono in particular) has said on so many occasions that God is ever present in their work, but I don't think it literally has to be said to be understood. So as much as this song could be about Bono's mom or pop, or the natural birthing process, none of these eliminates the idea of God in my interpretation of Bono's style of writing.

 

[mofo82]

AEON, I can tell we are really close to something

 

[macphister]

one of the translations of "Yahweh" is "I am"

 

[U2girl]

I think his Dad might have helped in Bono's creation, too......you know....with the whole sperm thing.....

....and considering how the whole album is about his Dad, the "You" in "All Because of You".....could be good ol' Bob.

I also think it's about his father since it seems to be the running theme of this album, but not in such um, organic way like you said.

We know they had a troubled relationship and that his father didn't think much of Bono's choice of career. I have read several interviews where Bono said it was this refusal that drove his ambition, to keep being in a band and keep being a singer in spite of that. And being succesful and have an ego about it. You could say his father helped create Bono from Paul Hewson.

 

[Jamila]

I think maybe the song starts out about Bono's parents, maybe even Ali(?) and then, TRANSFORMS itself in to a larger song where Bono comes to realize that, while he acknowledges the contributions that people have made in his life, ultimately it is
God (I AM) that is most important to all the successes in his life.

That is the GREATNESS OF BONO'S LYRICS - they are so multilayered that they can mean different things to different people at different times.

Good Discussion.

ALL BECAUSE OF YOU....

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I'm gonna argue for God/Christ on this one... mostly because of the line "you can make me perfect again"

But also, there's all the references to seeing the "you" in nature

And then the figure being perceptive even when Bono is "confused"

And then there's the whole "I am" thing, especially because of it's isolation in that particular line in the chorus.

I also think being an "intellectual tortoise" racing with the bullet train could be seen as an active attempt to understand, fully knowing that sort of knowledge is ultimately unattainable in full.

I think it does work either way, but even though I'm not personally very religious, I tend to lean to the God interp.