I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

[BabyGrace]

This song, one of my all-time faves, I was not that crazy about at first for some reason. I loved the lyrics from the start, but couldn't connect with the music.

I'm not sure why anymore because it has become one of my favourite U2 songs, and one of the most soothing songs I know of, just in the way it makes my soul feel full and at peace, if that makes any sense. To me it is the perfect spiritual...

I was curious how other people feel about this song, particularly musically, but also lyrically, and how they came to love it/relate it to their lives. It doesn't specifically relate to mine except for the fact that it pretty much sums up how I feel about God a lot of the time

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You make yourself vulnerable to change in your life. But in the end, you've got to become the change you want to see in the world.
-the B-man

[BabyGrace]

hmm I didn't mean what I felt about God really, more what I feel about religion and my own belief. Sorry just realized what Id written

[U2002revolution!]

i feel the same about this song, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, the title says it all for me ....just hearing the title you know what the song is basically about.
its just, well, one of those songs that everyone can relate to
these lines esp. touch a chord:

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running


You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

...its like no matter what... your still searching, its a song that bleeds the frustration of life (tho of course its not a 'angry' song), donno, how to explain it, its just "one of those songs"
the same goes for Streets (i esp. love the lines that i put in my sig.)
its one of the ultimate relate-able songs i think!


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' I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name. . .'
.:. U2: Rock's Unbreakable Heart!

Love is...cold steel/Fingers too numb to feel/Squeeze the handle/Blow out the candle
Love is blindness.../A little death/Without mourning/No call/And no warning...

[Thanks Coach P]

[BabyGrace]

"its a song that bleeds the frustration of life"

so true, that's a great way to describe it... I know exactly what you mean though, it is an accepting song, accepting of the emotion it is putting forth I guess. Perhaps that's what gives it that "full" feeling.
I'd like to hazard a guess that we end up searching our whole lives, which is why it is relatable...



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You make yourself vulnerable to change in your life. But in the end, you've got to become the change you want to see in the world.
-the B-man

[The Wanderer]

this was the song that hooked me on U2 at age 11, so it will always be dear to my heart, I never tire of hearing it, and over time it has gained more and more significance for me

[mebythesea]

I wanted to share how Bono introduces it, for any of you who may not have heard this, on the Rock's Hottest Ticket bootleg (Chicago 1987). I find this a beautiful example of his understated way of giving testimony to his faith.

Larry and Edge start into the backing riff so everyone will know what song it is, and Bono says,

"The last few weeks have been, uh, really something for U2. We've seen our record go to the top of the American charts. Even Time magazine's gonna put us on the cover. And you know, even though we've worked for this, worked hard for this for the last few years, it was never our ambition necessarily to be number one, to be on the cover of Time magazine. And, I don't know about you, but I feel good about the fact that -- I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

I just love the way this intro gives a specific angle on the meaning of the song, that success and fame will never satisfy your heart -- and I have to say when I heard it, I thought "and the fact that, unlike practically every other band, you guys knew success wasn't what you were truly looking for before you got it, is why you're still together and making music 15 years later."

[Salome]

I love this song

what I love about it most is that even though he still hasn't found what he's looking for it seems that he knows he will find it some day
this positive feeling the song gives you is what makes it so special for me

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[follower]

Let me tell you something, last week my son's English teacher chose I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For to be analysed in class (the boy is studying present perfect tense and the song is plenty of it...but this is something you already knew ). My son already knew the song, of course, but for the first time he got into the lyrics and we discussed it for a few minutes when he got home. I tried to explain all the metaphors and the expressions he hadn't understand and he said that the song is indeed a great one. This weekend I got to hear him singing the song in the shower, LOL. Just wanted to share this silly story with you all (I'm a proud mom who loves to brag about my offspring, always )

I have always loved ISHFWILF, for its lyrics and uplifting melody. My fave version is from the Popmart concert in São Paulo. Right in the beginning of the song Bono said some beautiful words in Portuguese, 4 sentences that means a lot to me...it goes like this: your country is beautiful, your people is beautiful, your voices are beautiful, we won't forget about you.



[This message has been edited by follower (edited 03-18-2002).]

[Lilly]

Originally posted by follower:
São Paulo

follower: i always wonder this, does your computer put the thing over the a for you? 'cos U.S computers don't really have that option.

ISHFWILF, yea....I didn't like it as my 'favorite' U2 song for a long time. In fact, I didn't even really feel it until this fall. I had a terrible day and I played the version off R&H in my car on the way home from school. Something about it just grabbed at me! I knew this song, but not in this context at all! It was so inspiring and beautiful and hopeful and above all it was honest. I could relate to its frustrations -- something you rarely find so well articulated in a 'pop' song. oooooo, I love U2.

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Every question possesses a power that does not lie in the answer.

[follower]

Originally posted by Lilly:
follower: i always wonder this, does your computer put the thing over the a for you? 'cos U.S computers don't really have that option.

You mean, like this? ã, â, á, à, ä

yes, they are all in my keyboard, LOL. Portuguese is plenty of those signs, they change the sound of the vowel. In fact I think the only latin language with more signs like those is French.
That particular thing is called til and it makes that nasal sound "são", different from "sao", got it? I hope, LOL

[BabyGrace]

thanks for responding guys. you know what amazes me about this song? That it became so popular, actually in the same way it amazes me about Stuck...I don't know why but I don't see why either song appeals to the masses, all I do know is it says something about people that it does, and just look at the way it appeals to an entirely new generation like with your son, Follower. this song is timeless

Lilly, it's funny, I first connected with the R&H version while listening to it late at night during a thunderstorm..I know, I can be silly! but the first time the album version really touched me was earlier this year. I've whined about it on this board a bit, but I had a bit of depression earlier this year..nothing serious and it only lasted about 6 months or so (just normal stuff-you all know what Im talking about). So I was lying in my room one night on the floor, and I had the lights out and I was just crying because I felt hopeless for no reason, had no clue how to turn it around--and basically I felt sorry for myself. Suddenly some inspiration hit me, and I put on ISHFWILF and I have never been so soothed by a song in my entire life; I felt like God was speaking straight to my soul through the music, and I felt hope seeping in..probably because it is such a positive song as Salome said.

mebythesea, I do like that intro too, I've never heard it; and follower, yours is beautiful too. Isn't it amazing how the music of four Irish boys can so touch people from everywhere in the world?

oh and Wanderer, I hope you don't mind me saying, you were a really mature 11 year old! I couldn't even understand the song enough to appreciate it fully at 16. I wish I could say this is the song that hooked me on U2 but I went for the more sensational music of Streets particularly, and also WOWY
One and ISHFWILF were interests but kind of in the background for me then, it's funny how they've become two of my U2-faves.

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You make yourself vulnerable to change in your life. But in the end, you've got to become the change you want to see in the world.
-the B-man

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by Salome:
I love this song

what I love about it most is that even though he still hasn't found what he's looking for it seems that he knows he will find it some day
this positive feeling the song gives you is what makes it so special for me

It's funny, but if there's one thing I love about the studio version of ISHFWILF (not one of my favourite U2 songs) it's the ambiguity. There's something about the sound of that song, the music, the harmonies, that gives it a touch of melancholy and makes it very ambiguous, to me. He's not sure if he's happy or sad about not having found what he's looking for. I haven't seen it live but I don't greatly enjoy listening to live recordings of it. It would probably be great if you were actually there but it always just sounds like a big happy singalong to me and the darkness and ambiguity of the studio version is gone. I absolutely can't stand the gospel version on R&H for some reason. It's probably my least favourite moment on a U2 album of the 80's (unless that's Love Rescue Me ) I also do NOT like the Vegas ISHFWILF video!

That's just my take.

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Your sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars
Carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes


[This message has been edited by scatteroflight (edited 03-19-2002).]

[Lilly]

Originally posted by BabyGrace:

Lilly, it's funny, I first connected with the R&H version while listening to it late at night during a thunderstorm..I know, I can be silly! but the first time the album version really touched me was earlier this year. I've whined about it on this board a bit, but I had a bit of depression earlier this year..nothing serious and it only lasted about 6 months or so (just normal stuff-you all know what Im talking about). So I was lying in my room one night on the floor, and I had the lights out and I was just crying because I felt hopeless for no reason, had no clue how to turn it around--and basically I felt sorry for myself. Suddenly some inspiration hit me, and I put on ISHFWILF and I have never been so soothed by a song in my entire life; I felt like God was speaking straight to my soul through the music, and I felt hope seeping in..probably because it is such a positive song as Salome said.

Oooo, that is soooo familiar....too familiar. Feeling sorry for yourself sucks a lot. It's funny you brought up 'Stuck' though, 'cos that is THE song that saved me. I wouldn't be here today without that one, I owe so much to it. The fact that I didn't really get into ISHFWILF until earlier this year was natural with my spiritual evolution. After a while listening to October I started reassessing my faith system and my beliefs. And sometimes when you do that you get that 'this is so much bigger than I can EVER hope to comprehend and I feel lost and alone' kind of feeling. And hearing Bono belt it out that he, who was raised to be religious and is quite open with his beliefs, hadn't figured it out gave me SO MUCH hope! I wasn't the only one! And that was more comforting than mom making you chicken noodle soup when you have a cold! (Sorry, I'm home sick today...I really want soup!)

follower: I know what they are, and how they change the sound and whatnot. I have been speaking French for 5 years and when it comes to writing compositions in French, when we have to type it it's so stupid 'cos we have to go through the whole thing and write in all of the accents and circonflexes and cedilles. I was just thinking that they probably make keyboards with those things on them, 'cos who wants to write those it all of the time!


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Every question possesses a power that does not lie in the answer.

[truecoloursfly]

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is such a jumble of things -- fiery things, crackling, like short circuits -- in my head and heart, it's almost hard to react to it as a "song." At its centre, and at the centre of the electrical shock that was The Joshua Tree, are these lines:
You broke the bonds and you
loosed the chains
carried the Cross
and my shame

And my shame

You know I believe it
Bono shouts out those lines as if his life depends on them. What a naked confession, what a bald declaration -- only to be with you... of a rocky love affair with Christ. In the pure language of rock'n'roll, as if it's Jesus' own language! Which it is, like every other.
That's song's about unapologetic spiritual..Christian, even!... struggle. By the time it was a single, I wasn't even listening to the radio, only to the album, but the fact that it was a big hit flabberghasts me, too, BabyGrace.

There's something about the sound of that song, the music, the harmonies, that gives it a touch of melancholy and makes it very ambiguous, to me. He's not sure if he's happy or sad about not having found what he's looking for.

I really relate to that, scatteroflight.
I'm a sucker for black gospel, so I loved the R&H version. It illuminates the celebration side of it, the joy of the hunger... The PopMart version (I've heard Mexico City and Sao Paolo) is, to my ears, all about the sadness, the separation. First time I saw it, actually, I couldn't help but cry -- Bono seems so lost and searching through that whole concert, and then he sings ISHFWILF like the ANTI-anthem, turns it all around ... his voice is shot anyway, but I think he intentionally does not sing "soaring" notes. He delivers it like a guy whose Lover's left him, worn out at 4am with the bottle in front of him mostly empty...
"Only to be with you..." this song is more like a thematic template to me, all U2's pure colours that shine brighter or dimmer, one and then another, through everything they do. It's the U2-feeling...or better, if someone asked me to turn my own walk with God into a song, I'd just play that.
(If someone asked me about my walk with God generally, I'd play them Bad, and then we'd talk.)

namaste, all
Deb D


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I wanna walk with you along an unapproved road

the greatest frontman in the world - by truecoloursfly: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=1575