Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The 10 most "Christian" U2 Songs

U2.  How cool is it that one of the longest-lasting, stadium-shaking, bastions of rock-and-roll greatness happens to be Christian?  Or, at least religious…or, spiritual…or, something.  Their new album, No Line On the Horizon, is freshly upon us and ready to provide more doses of potentially Biblical lyrics.  There’s almost 30 years of U2 history floating around.  In this small mound of Bono lyrics, we find religious analogies piled up on top of each other.  What rises to the top?  Where does Bono shine through at his most Christian…at his most “I’m spiritual, but don’t organize me”?  Provided below are the ten best U2’s songs where Bono’s spiritual side comes charging through, both guns blazing, with songs that seem so heartfelt that everyone who “gets it” wholeheartedly believes that every song in the U2 catalog is about “it”.  These next 10 songs should offer a glimpse of what’s so special about U2. 

  1. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (The Joshua Tree)
  2. Grace (All You Can’t Leave Behind)
  3. Yahweh (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)
  4. The First Time (Zooropa)
  5. The Wanderer (Zooropa)
  6. 40 (War)
  7. When Loves Comes to Town (Rattle & Hum)
  8. North & South of the River (B-Sides; 80s-90s)
  9. Until the End of the World (Achtung Baby)
  10. Drowning Man (War)

6 comments:

Brett said...

1. Don't you have a Deuteronomy paper to work on?

2. You're feeding my cynicism.

3. “I’m spiritual, but don’t organize me” was a stroke of genius.

4. Isn't the album name "No Line on the Horizon"?

Joshua said...

1. Yes...but, I couldn't resist the one opportunities for my blog to be mildly current...a new U2 album doesn't happen every day.

2. Two posts in a row involving cynicism...arguably all of them.

3. I'm glad I recovered from "this moron doesn't even know the name of the new album" to "genius" so quickly.

4. Yes...and, I fixed it. ...you handled that very graciously. You must have been influenced by that Christian U2 music (...can't get away from the cynicism).

Unknown said...

Great list! I'm spiritual and at least keep my sock drawer organized. Maybe that's what makes me a liker of U2.

Justin said...

how come "sexy boots" didnt make the list!?

Harry said...

A top 10 of "Christian" U2 songs and NOTHING from "October"???

Joshua said...

Harry - Good point. Gloria or Tomorrow should probably have made the cut. I was shooting for most explicitly Christian in their lyrics. Although, it's been a while...I think I might switch things around a little if I re-made the list.

Josh