marik
Refugee
I am well aware that songs are open to many different interpretations, and usually mine don’t really stray too far off the public opinion. Especially with U2 songs -but on the Pop album there has always been one that stood out to me as very clear in my mind, although interestingly enough, most don’t seem to talk about it in the same way. And so, I share with you what I hear in the song “Staring at the Sun”.
“Summer stretching on the grass… summer dresses pass.” Picture a couple sitting on a blanket on some grass. Perhaps a park, maybe a beach. They are not alone though, as the man’s eye seems to always notice the other summer dresses walk by. The woman notices the man noticing the summer dresses.
“In the shade of a willow tree, creeps a-crawling over me, over me and over you.” It’s a nice summer day in a nice summer park – at situation that would seem at first glance to be perfect. But it’s not, there are bugs/creeps crawling on them both/relationship.
“Stuck together with God’s glue, it’s gonna get stickier too” God’s glue is the only thing keeping them together. What is God’s glue though? Is it the stickiness of sex, that perhaps they still have on them from a roll in the grass, or is God’s glue fate and destiny that keep them together? Either way, it’s gonna get stickier/more complicated for them.
”It’s been a long hot summer, lets get under the covers, don’t try too hard to think, don’t think at all” Tension had be looming all summer, but rather than deal with it, they distract themselves with sex- under the covers- and ignore the problems. ‘Don’t think about it, baby’.
“I’m not the only one, Staring at the sun, afraid of what you’d find, if you took a look inside.” More ignoring of the problems of the relationship, afraid to look at themselves in the mirror- individually, or as a whole.
“There’s an insect in your ear, if you scratch it won’t disappear. It’s gonna itch and burn and sting, do you wanna see what the scratching brings.” The insect is the temptation the man sees. The summer dresses he sees everywhere he looks. He knows it won’t go away, but if he scratches the itch he knows it’ll hurt him, his lover, and their relationship.
“Waves that leave me out of reach.” It’s gonna be like a tide that pulls him away from his lover.
“Will we ever live in peace?” Will the temptation go away? Or if he falls to it, will their relationship survive it?
“Cause those that can’t do often have to, And those that can’t do often have to preach.” Those that can’t stay faithful or ignore temptation, still demand it of their partner.
The third verse strikes me as more a comment on terrorism/military (like most seem to think), but of course this military could be re-defined as the battle within the relationship.
The beauty of Bono’s words are that you hear them in so many different ways. And yet, they are not mutually exclusive. Multiple meanings can ring true at the same time.
Looking forward to any and all, comment and thoughts.
“Summer stretching on the grass… summer dresses pass.” Picture a couple sitting on a blanket on some grass. Perhaps a park, maybe a beach. They are not alone though, as the man’s eye seems to always notice the other summer dresses walk by. The woman notices the man noticing the summer dresses.
“In the shade of a willow tree, creeps a-crawling over me, over me and over you.” It’s a nice summer day in a nice summer park – at situation that would seem at first glance to be perfect. But it’s not, there are bugs/creeps crawling on them both/relationship.
“Stuck together with God’s glue, it’s gonna get stickier too” God’s glue is the only thing keeping them together. What is God’s glue though? Is it the stickiness of sex, that perhaps they still have on them from a roll in the grass, or is God’s glue fate and destiny that keep them together? Either way, it’s gonna get stickier/more complicated for them.
”It’s been a long hot summer, lets get under the covers, don’t try too hard to think, don’t think at all” Tension had be looming all summer, but rather than deal with it, they distract themselves with sex- under the covers- and ignore the problems. ‘Don’t think about it, baby’.
“I’m not the only one, Staring at the sun, afraid of what you’d find, if you took a look inside.” More ignoring of the problems of the relationship, afraid to look at themselves in the mirror- individually, or as a whole.
“There’s an insect in your ear, if you scratch it won’t disappear. It’s gonna itch and burn and sting, do you wanna see what the scratching brings.” The insect is the temptation the man sees. The summer dresses he sees everywhere he looks. He knows it won’t go away, but if he scratches the itch he knows it’ll hurt him, his lover, and their relationship.
“Waves that leave me out of reach.” It’s gonna be like a tide that pulls him away from his lover.
“Will we ever live in peace?” Will the temptation go away? Or if he falls to it, will their relationship survive it?
“Cause those that can’t do often have to, And those that can’t do often have to preach.” Those that can’t stay faithful or ignore temptation, still demand it of their partner.
The third verse strikes me as more a comment on terrorism/military (like most seem to think), but of course this military could be re-defined as the battle within the relationship.
The beauty of Bono’s words are that you hear them in so many different ways. And yet, they are not mutually exclusive. Multiple meanings can ring true at the same time.
Looking forward to any and all, comment and thoughts.
