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ONE love, blood, life
I often like to think of U2 albums as stories, or chapters if you will in a greater story, told throughout U2's career, and in this story there is a main character, the one singing. I have paranthetically referenced song titles to make clearer my point of view. I think that sometimes, a song's meaning can be on thing when it's standing on it's own and another thing in the context of the record - I'm saying this so that you don't think I'm ignorant of what some of the songs I mention are about when they stand alone. So, I'd like to share my view of what our main character has gone through over the most recent three records. Mind you, I am not Christian(or any other religion), but the character obviously is, hence any Christian message in my portrayal of the story.
Pop is the story of our character's life spiraling out of control. The relationships in his life are torn at best, destroyed at worst(Mofo, IGWSHA, Gone). He is using drugs out of control, and hookers aren't foreign to him(DYFL, Last Night On Earth). Internally, he is morbidly unhappy, lost, and not sure if life is worth living anymore, and is desperately searching for some kind of direction to have/take in life(IGWSHA, Mofo, WUPDM). This is the story of him descending in life, one thing on top of the other, until he has hit rock bottom, and the story of someone who still cares about him into rehab, which at first he takes to mean that this person doesn't care for him. Of course he is wrong(Please - "love is hard and love is tough but love is not what you're thinking of"). In the end he is in rehab, in the beginning de-tox period, and is praying for help and to not feel so alone(Wake Up Dead Man). It is his darkest hour.
ATYCLB is the story of our character when he is out of rehab, but still living a very structured life by his own will. He isn't ready to be going to parties, see his old friends, really do anything that is in any way linked to his old lifestyle, for fear that he doesn't have the strength to do so and avoid relapse. His life follows a formula(mirrored in the safeness and unadventuresness of ATYCLB's music). He is nonthless relieved and happy, and joyful, however, just to be able to live without depending on these things and without being depressed and lost anymore(Beautiful Day, Walk On). Part of him however wishes he could live a free-er, less formulaic life, and he has to keep telling himself he will get there eventually(Stuck In A Moment). People in his life might try to help him but in the end it doesn't matter until he is really ready to be that free, because what he's been through has permantly changed the way he sees everything(WILATW - "I can't see what you see when I look at the world"). In the end, it is the story of him trying to reconcile the departure of the hell he used to live in and trying to regain the freedom he used to have(Kite - "I know that this is not goodbye" is perhaps goodbye to freedom and fun).
HTDAAB is the story of our character finally broken free of the fear of relapse, the fear of his old life. He can now once again life life exactly how he pleases without having his past hang over his shoulder all the time, yet everything in his past was neccessary to give him the wisdom that he has gained when it comes to seeing the life he used to have and not getting lured back in. This knowledge will enable him to be free-er, more mature, and happier than ever. This is the story of him finally reaching a place in his life where he is not afraid to be himself again for the first time in years, and wants everyone to know it too(Vertigo - "Hello, hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo", OOTS - "Everywhere you go you shout it, you don't have to be shy about it"). He feels like he's grown up a lot and and is just a little bit closer to what life is about for him and what he wants out of his life(One Step Closer To Knowing). In the end, he is thanking his lord whoever it may be for allowing him to have healed fully and to have reached this place in his life, and it is a thanks of utter joy(ABOY, Yahweh).
Pop is the story of our character's life spiraling out of control. The relationships in his life are torn at best, destroyed at worst(Mofo, IGWSHA, Gone). He is using drugs out of control, and hookers aren't foreign to him(DYFL, Last Night On Earth). Internally, he is morbidly unhappy, lost, and not sure if life is worth living anymore, and is desperately searching for some kind of direction to have/take in life(IGWSHA, Mofo, WUPDM). This is the story of him descending in life, one thing on top of the other, until he has hit rock bottom, and the story of someone who still cares about him into rehab, which at first he takes to mean that this person doesn't care for him. Of course he is wrong(Please - "love is hard and love is tough but love is not what you're thinking of"). In the end he is in rehab, in the beginning de-tox period, and is praying for help and to not feel so alone(Wake Up Dead Man). It is his darkest hour.
ATYCLB is the story of our character when he is out of rehab, but still living a very structured life by his own will. He isn't ready to be going to parties, see his old friends, really do anything that is in any way linked to his old lifestyle, for fear that he doesn't have the strength to do so and avoid relapse. His life follows a formula(mirrored in the safeness and unadventuresness of ATYCLB's music). He is nonthless relieved and happy, and joyful, however, just to be able to live without depending on these things and without being depressed and lost anymore(Beautiful Day, Walk On). Part of him however wishes he could live a free-er, less formulaic life, and he has to keep telling himself he will get there eventually(Stuck In A Moment). People in his life might try to help him but in the end it doesn't matter until he is really ready to be that free, because what he's been through has permantly changed the way he sees everything(WILATW - "I can't see what you see when I look at the world"). In the end, it is the story of him trying to reconcile the departure of the hell he used to live in and trying to regain the freedom he used to have(Kite - "I know that this is not goodbye" is perhaps goodbye to freedom and fun).
HTDAAB is the story of our character finally broken free of the fear of relapse, the fear of his old life. He can now once again life life exactly how he pleases without having his past hang over his shoulder all the time, yet everything in his past was neccessary to give him the wisdom that he has gained when it comes to seeing the life he used to have and not getting lured back in. This knowledge will enable him to be free-er, more mature, and happier than ever. This is the story of him finally reaching a place in his life where he is not afraid to be himself again for the first time in years, and wants everyone to know it too(Vertigo - "Hello, hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo", OOTS - "Everywhere you go you shout it, you don't have to be shy about it"). He feels like he's grown up a lot and and is just a little bit closer to what life is about for him and what he wants out of his life(One Step Closer To Knowing). In the end, he is thanking his lord whoever it may be for allowing him to have healed fully and to have reached this place in his life, and it is a thanks of utter joy(ABOY, Yahweh).
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