When Did You Know U2 Had a Christian Who Wrote the Lyrics?

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the iron horse

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A friend of mine loaned me "October"

This was the early 80s

I knew after one play on that beat-up phonograph I had at the time,

that the person singing and writing those lyrics was a Christian.


It was like a very instant spritual connection

You know your sisters and brothers when you get that connection.


That is my very brief story.
 
I was about 15 and a friend of mine, who was a big U2 fan, called me up.
"Bring your Bible over," he said.
This was a strange request coming from him.
I brought it over and he played "Until the End of the World" for me. A chemistry teacher of his explianed that the lyrics were from the Bible and gave him some verses to look up in the Gospels.
We looked up each verse and compared them to the lyrics in the album's booklet.

This day meant so much to my own personal spiritual journey. It was like my world was turned upside-down, but in a good way. I realized you could be a Christian, but still be cool. :wink: More importantly though, I realized you could bring glory to God through art and expression, and you didn't have to write crappy Chrisitian music to do it. God wanted to hear you in an honest way.
 
It was intuitive, before my own spiritual awakening. I remember not being into music (mid 90s), because they all seemed phony, or too into their own image. I heard the first three from Joshua Tree, esp. ISHFWILF, and my ears perked up.

"Who's this?" I asked my brother. It was the REAL music I had been waiting for--plaintive and restless. They seemed genuine. I have no doubt that I was sensing their spiritual passion.

Explicitly, it actually took me a while. Since I first was into the music, all I heard was songs about women, e.g. WOWY and Mysterious Ways, and even Streets. When I finally started thinking about them, I was like "Oh, they're spiritual songs."
 
It was pretty intuitive for me as well...I was listening to quite a few christian rock bands at the time but when I heard Gloria on the radio kinda drew me to U2 as well....
 
I started listening to U2 when I was in 8th grade in late 2001. I had seen an interview with them on MuchMusic and I thought there was something different about U2. Their songs were very comforting to me and there was a certain something that was better than other bands' songs. I didn't know that they were Christians until I saw VH1 Legends that November, and the Boston concert as well, and I realized that that was what made them seem different all along. Then I really liked them and felt as if I had discovered something totally awesome that no one else was aware of. Then I got on the Internet and realized that I wasn't the only one. ;)
 
War was the first album I ever heard, it was a definite instant spiritual thing for me, not even definitively Christian .

At the time I was so young I didn't even realize the obvious things like 40, but I knew I had never heard anything like that..and I still haven't
 
As soon as I really listened to the lyrics of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
 
Bono would tell you that he's a "believer" - he doesn't think that he can wear the hat of "Christian" very well.

I would listen to how he describes himself.

:yes:
 
Jamila said:
Bono would tell you that he's a "believer" - he doesn't think that he can wear the hat of "Christian" very well.

I would listen to how he describes himself.

:yes:

Hmmm.... Well, he describes himself as someone who believes in the divinity of Christ. If that's not a Christian, I have no idea what is.

As to Bono being uncomfortable with the label "Christian", or "wearing that hat", there are many Christians who would say the same thing, in their humility. Yes indeed, it's a hard thing to
live up to, but that doesn't mean it's a hard thing to own up to. You might want to check his exact wording.
 
biff, you know as well as I that in many interviews and in many speeches Bono has specifically stated that he's a "believer" and that he is hesistant to label himself as a Christian because he's not sure that he can live up to that title.

He has been saying this consistently since the 1980's. Anyone who has read Bono's interviews and/or listened to his speeches knows this.

Again, instead of speaking for him, we should simply listen to how he describes himself.

If anyone can post a direct quotation and the source from which they got it where Bono says anything different from what I just stated, feel free to post it here.

Otherwise, I think I have adequately stated what Bono has historically said about himself.

:angel:
 
Jamila said:
he is hesistant to label himself as a Christian because he's not sure that he can live up to that title.


Yes, but it is also a title he has said he "aspires" to (his word).

Here's a quote from the New York Times cover story:

"Bono remains religious, and not in the cosmic, New Age sense you expect from rock stars. He describes himself as a "meandering Christian," and his four children attend the Church of Ireland, which is Episcopalian (and thus splits the difference between his mother and father)."

Goodness, he used the "C" word!
 
Geez, what's with all the arguing:huh: ...in the 20-odd years I've been reading articles, etc. he's used both terms. (sheesh!)



The terms "believer" and "Christian" tend to be interchangable anyway...
 
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biff said:


"Bono remains religious,

IIRC he doesn't like that term either :whistle:


biff said:
and not in the cosmic, New Age sense you expect from rock stars. He describes himself as a "meandering Christian," and his four children attend the Church of Ireland, which is Episcopalian (and thus splits the difference between his mother and father)."



As far as I am aware his kids actually attend a Catholic Church.

biff said:
Goodness, he used the "C" word!
:yikes:
 
The Fiddler said:


As far as I am aware his kids actually attend a Catholic Church.


Well, it is the New York Times. Given their record lately, who knows?

(I do recall an Interferencer a while back saying she saw Ali and all of the kids going to a church not far from their home. I asked her specifically what denomination, and she said Catholic. I was surprised, as both Ali and Bono were raised Protestant. But maybe they want their kids to "fit in", as the country is so overwhelmingly Catholic. :shrug: And yes, I agree that "religious" is not a word Bono would favour.)
 
The Fiddler said:
I thought Ali was Catholic, is she not?

Nope, Protestant. Bono's made jokes about how extremely Protestant she is.
Also, they were married in the C of I.
 
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I did hear somewhere that Bono and Ali take their children to both a Protestant church *and* to a Catholic church that is near their home...which if true certainly falls in line with a statement he made to an interviewer once about being equally at home worshiping in a revival tent, cathedral or mountain top. :shrug:
 
Getting back to the original question...(!?!) I knew the minute a after listening to the first U2 album I ever bought back in 1989 i.e. Rattle and Hum and saw the movie. The references to God and faith in both are too numerous the resite and I'm sure I don't even need to!:cute:
 
davidtpark said:
My faith was renewed with All That You Can't Leave Behind and the Elevation Tour

Same here.

That album and especially the tour was an incredibly spiritual experience for me.

2000-01 was a very tough time for me, and I can't even put into words how much the album, and seeing them in concert meant to me, and my faith.
 
^ That's very beautiful. I feel in a similar way towards the whole band and "discovering" them, you know. Because at first I thought all the songs were about girls :lol: then I don't know how, I suppose through interviews and stuf, I realised it wasn't that way :)
 
When I first starting getting batty over U2 (when I heard Elevation back in May 2001) I hadn't a clue. Only until I saw the Legends special a few months later did I find out. It was great because at the time I was stepping away from ccm and then getting into U2 heavily and it was just great timing (alot was going on in my life at the time anyways). It was a total surprise for me. I've gotten so much more from U2 than any other "Christian" singer or band. Great spiritual food. :)
 
"To claim the victory Jesus won
on Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Which I didn't notice the earlier times I listened to it. If you listen to In the Name of Love CD in which Christian bands sing U2 cover songs, the band which does Sunday Bloody Sunday, emphasizes the above lyric a lot more.
I had a spiritual experience at the concert I went to on November 8,however, I did not convert to christianity. the COEXIST theme was very powerful, and the oneness I felt that night made me hope if the world could live as one, all would be better, we could put aside our differences and create so much more positive things. But with the monotheistic religions' insistence that they have the one true path, I don't see unity happening soon. Too bad.
 
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