The First Time--I threw away the key

[ltcf]

I don't get this song. Somebody please help.

Up until the end, this is the perfect Christian faith promoting song. Beautiful descriptions of the Holy Ghost, the Son, and the Father. Very sacred.

Then you get the twist

"But I left by the back door
And I threw away the key "

What's going on here? I've read what I could find on this verse on the internet and here are some theories.

1. Bono is turning his back on and rejecting God. If so, is he lamenting this bad decision? Or is he proud of it? The tempo picks up and the voice becomes louder, so I think it's something he's proud of--being overt about it.
2. Bono feels guilty to be in God's presence and turns away.
3. Bono feels uplifted in God's love to go back and face the world instead of staying in the mansion.

#3 is the only possible meaning that could make this a positive ending, but it doesn't seem logical.

I really want there to be a positive interpretation of that last sentence. Is there one?

 

[cristiano]

I think there's not. I've already read somewhere Bono saying that this music is about someone losing his faith.

 

[MumblingBono]

I've always felt there was a darkness to that song, the ominous way the keyboards are layered underneath throughout the verses, sort of a foreboding of the dark ending.

Great song, great album

 

[pattip2000]

I know on at least a few live recordings I’ve heard him sing something like “oh but grace threw it back to me” after singing “I threw away the key a few times” that really changes the meaning in my mind there.

 

[stammer476]

I remember an interview when he said that the song, while in the first person, was actually from someone else's perspective. He was writing a narrative about a friend's decision.

Then, there's the additional line, "but grace gave it back to me" that I heard in person, which would me make think it's really about him afterall.

It's probably both. This is Bono, afterall, it's not like a song can only be about one thing.

 

[INDY500]

The song speaks to me about how easily most of us find love in the affections of family (philos) and the sensual attraction between the sexes (eros) but find the unconditional love of God (agape) so hard to accept. Sentimentality based love is much simpler than a love based on devotion which is why most of us "throw away the key" to the gift of heavenly love many times over.

 

[Rachel D.]

I've heard that it's not about Bono, but is rather from a third person perspective. Also, that it's a sort of allusion to the Prodigal Son parable.

I know on at least a few live recordings I’ve heard him sing something like “oh but grace threw it back to me” after singing “I threw away the key a few times” that really changes the meaning in my mind there.

Wow, I've never heard about that. Maybe he was trying to clarify the meaning of the song since people often interpret it as him denouncing his faith. I've noticed him altering lyrics in live performances before in a way that clarifies them (I can't think of them off the top of my head, though).

 

[pattip2000]

I've heard that it's not about Bono, but is rather from a third person perspective. Also, that it's a sort of allusion to the Prodigal Son parable.



Wow, I've never heard about that. Maybe he was trying to clarify the meaning of the song since people often interpret it as him denouncing his faith. I've noticed him altering lyrics in live performances before in a way that clarifies them (I can't think of them off the top of my head, though).

Another one I can think of is in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, I’ve heard him say many times:
“You broke the bonds
and you loosed the chains
carried the cross, took my shame
you took the blame
you know I believe it”

He is signing the gospel right there if you ask me.
I’ll try and upload an example of both when I get a chance.

 

[thefly12]

It has been mentioned that the song is about the parable of prodigal son - to expand on that idea, I have also read where Bono says "The First Time" is the story of the prodigal son with a twist... which could explain how/why the "son" doesn't rejoin the father at the end, unlike the parable.

Also (since alternate lyrics have been mentioned), at the Atlanta Vertigo concert, Bono sang something along the lines of "but I left by the backdoor, and I threw away the key, only grace can get it back for me..."

www.staringattheson.com
Exploring the spiritual side of U2

 

[Rachel D.]

He also sings "Teach me, Lord," live in "Beautiful Day." I just watched one of my DVDs the other day and noticed that.

 

[nightninja56]

i know in the zooropa era, bono was in the middle of a faith crisis (see Pop), and later on, he found his faith and added those lyrics live

 

[Liesje]

I used to think the song was about a faith struggle. After seeing the Million Dollar Hotel, it's almost impossible for me to think of it in any other context, even though the song came before the flim.

 

[oscar08]

i know in the zooropa era, bono was in the middle of a faith crisis (see Pop), and later on, he found his faith and added those lyrics live

I don't think he was in a middle of a faith crisis..I think he always questions his faith! Like most people do, we have questions! It's like when Achtung Baby came out, people thought U2 have lost there faith because there showing burning crosses on the TV Screens during Zoo TV!(Bullet the Blue Sky) That was complete rubbish!

 

[ltcf]

I know on at least a few live recordings I’ve heard him sing something like “oh but grace threw it back to me” after singing “I threw away the key a few times” that really changes the meaning in my mind there.

I'd like to find a copy of a time he sang it that way and add it to my U2 Faith collection. I just heard a version of Bad with First Time embedded in the middle that was amazing, but Bono sings "I threw away the key...for love" in that one and then goes back and forth with the audience on LOVE. Anyone know where I can find the adjusted live version?

 

[U2isthebest]

I'd like to find a copy of a time he sang it that way and add it to my U2 Faith collection. I just heard a version of Bad with First Time embedded in the middle that was amazing, but Bono sings "I threw away the key...for love" in that one and then goes back and forth with the audience on LOVE. Anyone know where I can find the adjusted live version?

On most of the "Vertigo" tour performances he says "Only grace can get it back for me" which I love! Let me give you a Youtube link...I don't know of an audio one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rNYmDAG-ts

 

[achtunganton]

i think its about losing faith...the first verses are about the protection under God then he loses faith and "throws away the key", and in the Vertigo tour he added "grace can give it back to me", so its clearly(in my mind) about the loss of faith
*a*

 

[Liesje]

I've heard that it's not about Bono, but is rather from a third person perspective. Also, that it's a sort of allusion to the Prodigal Son parable.

I totally agree. I thought there was a faith struggle element to it and also thought maybe it was an actual allusion to Bono's relationship w/ other people to some extent. Then I watched Million Dollar Hotel and the Prodigal Son thing came on like a lightbulb. It makes perfect sense in the context of Bono's film. The Prodigal Son idea seems to fit more than it being an autobiographical song about Bono's faith or relationships.

 

[Irvine511]

Another one I can think of is in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, I’ve heard him say many times:
“You broke the bonds
and you loosed the chains
carried the cross, took my shame
you took the blame
you know I believe it”

He is signing the gospel right there if you ask me.
I’ll try and upload an example of both when I get a chance.

yes, but he still hasn't found what he's looking for.

it's about the inadequacies of religion, it's many, many shortcoming.

i also think "the first time" is about the call of the world, of real, tangible experience instead of spiritual asceticism, the need for one to go out into the world and to actually sin and to taste and to touch and to see as much as someone can.

Grace means much more if you've actually sinned, if it's actually saved you from something.

 

[coemgen]

Grace means much more if you've actually sinned, if it's actually saved you from something.

We've all actually sinned though - we each have something we need to be saved from already.

 

[Irvine511]

We've all actually sinned though - we each have something we need to be saved from already.

so live your life in a bubble trying to make sure you don't sin any further?

 

[coemgen]

No. I was saying that it's something we all already need. We don't need to go out and sin to receive Grace, we need to seek forgiveness for what we've already done. Does that make sense?

 

[redhotswami]

I want a jacket like Bono's

 

[Irvine511]

No. I was saying that it's something we all already need. We don't need to go out and sin to receive Grace, we need to seek forgiveness for what we've already done. Does that make sense?

but i didn't do anything when i was born.

it's taken me nearly 30 years to get some good sinnin' under my belt.

 

[tkmacdon]

I do not think this song glorifies losing faith; in fact, I think it is one of the most religious songs I have ever heard.

In one interpretation, the three people mentioned represent the Trinity, but they could simultaneously be interpreted literally. In either case, the song is about finally discovering the love that is right before your eyes. The speaker had lived in ignorance, since he threw away the key, but he now sees the error of his ways.

Moreover, when he sings "I threw away the key", each repetition sounds progressively more regretful. In the last, his voice is straining (on the verge of tears), with the melancholy piano in the background. He had walked out on God, yet he now feels all the love God has given him. That is where grace steps in; God loves him despite his departure from the heavenly mansion. This accounts for the huge shift in tone between "I threw away the key" and "For the first time, I feel loved"; grace bridges the huge gap between God and His faithless children (this is why Bono explicitly mentions grace in live versions). Therefore, this song is so religious because it celebrates major types of love (romantic, filial, parental, religious) while emphasizing grace, the crux of Christianity.