As the semester starts....

My guess is that pretty much everyone who follows this blog would also be following @U2, but just in case you aren't, this week's "Off the Record" column is worth a look for a link to yet another college course on U2 and theology ("U2 and Theological Mission" with professor Marty Folsom, an offering in the Masters in Theology and Culture program at Northwest University in Washington) as well as an interesting post on Pop, making that Ephesians 5 connection with "Wake Up Dead Man," by a history professor at Montreat College in NC. 

One line

Steve Taylor has a perceptive comment on the addition of one line to the U22 version of "Until the End of the World," reflecting on the way small changes in U2's live performances deliberately recast the meaning and referent of a song to open up new ways in which it applies, or can be applied. (And, as he says, so often this is about remembering, widening the community to include someone from the past.) It makes a great addition to his excellent list of things worship leaders can learn from U2. Believe me, this insight can profitably be drawn upon by even the most "stick to the book" liturgical congregations -- think offertory sentences, an extra subordinate clause in intercession invitations, an inserted phrase in the way the peace is bidden. It doesn't take much. Or rather it does, but the "much" it takes is called intentionality.

On the tightrope

Mark at Quaerentia shares several examples of music that "deftly walks the tightrope between realism and optimism" and consequently has been of help to him in times of depression. Not surprisingly, U2's work turns up on the list, but not in the way you might think. (Incidentally, Mark has collected some of his previous Quaerentia writing on U2 at a Q U2 link here. I'd forgotten his U2 album Wordles, which are very interesting if you haven't seen them.)

I just heard about a new article called "Soundtracks of Acrobatic Selves: Fan-Site Religion in the Reception and Use of the Music of U2," which appears in the October 2011 issue of The Journal of Contemporary Religion. Free viewing of the actual text isn't possible for 12 more months (even from within an academic gateway with a subscription, it seems), but the abstract says that the article analyses 40 pieces posted on a fansite in response to U2 songs, looking at how such online reflection "may contribute to the development of religious/spiritual exploration in contemporary Western societies." The authors are Clive Marsh and Vaughan S. Roberts.

The Screwtape Songs: Bono, C.S. Lewis, and Zoo-Era U2 : U2 Interference – U2 Fans, Pop Culture Webzine, & More

Perhaps it's Tim Neufeld week here at U2 Sermons! Check out this article called The Screwtape Songs: Bono, C.S. Lewis, and Zoo-Era U2 over on the fansite Interference. It gives an interesting overview of Bono's use of C.S. Lewis' work at various points in U2's career. Thanks also to Tim for the hat-tip on my series of posts on "The Fly" in the Vertigo era, the Zoo and Elevation eras, and the transition between the two. (If you only have time for one of those, read the one on the Vertigo era.)

Original verses to "The Wanderer"

The manuscript of "The Wanderer," which all four members of U2 signed and gave to Johnny Cash after he recorded the vocal for Zooropa, has been put up for auction. It's three pages, and most of the lyrics are as they stand on the album, but there were a couple of verses that were cut, which you can see here. I'm intrigued by the presence of imagery that's reminiscent of "Where the Streets Have No Name":
I went out walking to places not yet named
Where people dreamed instead of schemed
And no one was ashamed.
And then there's a sort of "conviction" verse too. Check it out.

Zooropa – exile and restoration

A thoughtful quick trip through Zooropa from Bob's Bloggery:  Thinking about U2’s Zooropa – exile and restoration.

Spoiler re: North American setlist but one that probably everyone already knows by now

Don't read if you are trying to avoid hearing about additions to the setlist.

I was interested to note discussion online about "Your Blue Room" which showed a sort of consensus that the song was thoroughly sexual, along with some lamentation that U2 just don't do that kind of thing anymore. I've always heard the song as intimate, yes, but deliberately ambiguous as to its context. This made me go have a look at Niall Stokes' book to see what commentary there was on it, and the initial quotes are typical Bono: "On one level it's purely carnal, but on another it's a prayer." "It's an incredible thing to say to your lover or your Maker, your instructions, whatever the directions..." etc.

But there were also added comments about the context: "Perspective is an incredible thing... You get moments of clarity every now and then, when you see things for a second and they make sense. I think religious experiences are like that. You see things from a higher perspective and you feel reassured by that. You quickly forget why -- but it did make sense. [And here's what made me take notice...] The astronauts had that kind of experience, and I think that's to do with perspective."

I'm not entirely sure what the connection with the song is intended to be here, but of course (from what I hear not having seen a show live yet), there are real astronauts in "Your Blue Room" this time around. The line also echoed some comments in an interview with the Edge which I recently skimmed (can't remember where; anybody?) that touched on the theme of how a faith commitment enables you to look at life from an overview sort of perspective, as if you were lifted above to see an entire landscape rather than your little issues. (That is my paraphrase.)

From everything I hear it seems as if this show has way too many themes going on, but perhaps this throws a sliver more light on one of them?

Lessons

Jonathan Blundell shares a list of 10 spiritual lessons he has learned from U2, drawing on songs as far back as "Rejoice" and as recent as "Breathe." He asks his readers for additions, and I thought I'd make a few, focusing mostly on things it seems to me are especially characteristic of the band's message (i.e. not generic spiritual truths). Here's a quick list of some prominent U2 Lessons off the cuff (more input welcome):

-- "When I was three, I thought the world revolved around me. I was wrong." Or, to quote Rick Warren, "it's not about you." The de-centering of the ego, of the presuppositions, of the self-drama, is lifelong work. One of the good, tedious and therefore useful ways to work towards this is fidelity in community. "If I want to live, I've got to die to myself one day." Another is a sense of proportion in a world in which, say, your icemaker breaking one afternoon is not on a scale with 6000 people dying the same day of malaria. (Also cf the recent interview in which Bono talks about being allergic to people who have one painful thing happen to them and walk with a limp for the rest of their lives.)

-- You could cite so many songs for this one: Surrender is exquisite. Do not be confused by this fact and conclude that surrendering in and of itself is good. Who or what you surrender to is all-important. And yet you must surrender.

-- Listen to what you want. Speak it out until you get to a true statement. When you do, God will be there. "What do you want?" from ZooTV. "I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside." "I want... I want you... I want you to be back tomorrow." "You want heaven, heaven in your heart." "Looking for to fill that God-shaped hole." And then, the mature "I want the lot of what You've got and I want nothing that You're not."

-- "I wanted to meet God and you sold me religion," "love is big... but love is not what you're thinking of," and again, a zillion other lyrics and interviews: Religion is to be distinguished from God. The former is probably about as likely to be an idol and a force for division and hatred as not. Confusing the two can be lethal.

-- "We eat and drink while tomorrow they die," (which I still think is the most brilliant Bible allusion in the entire U2 oeuvre) "with the real battle yet begun: to claim the victory Jesus won." Also related is Bono's: "If you are not committed to the poor, what is religion? It's a black hole." Being a follower of Jesus entails implementing Jesus' victory in the real world. (See next point)

-- KINGDOM NOW! Let's have a little bit of the age to come NOW! Inaugurated eschatology NOW!

-- And finally, a point of personal privilege: When agony comes to you, process it in a mode as similar to "One Tree Hill" as you can muster. Don't give up until you've seen its resolution all the way out at the outer ring. (See above point)

U2 - Mofo / Top Chrétien

The French-language site Top Chrétien posts a U2.com video of "Mofo," along with a moving reflection on the song's spiritual message from a reader who lost his mother to cancer.

Catch up

Someone sent me this link some time ago and it was swamped in the NLOTH flood. I've linked this blog before, and in this post a UCC pastor reflects on U2's reinventions of themselves, and his favorite "Dirty Day," as paradigmatic for congregational leadership.

"Are you joking?"

As the "love it/hate it/it'll grow on you" commentary on "Boots" continues, kudos to whoever on U2Start had the idea to go way back in Usenet archives and dig up some fan reactions from 1991 to "The Fly." My fave: "If 'The Fly' is any indication of the rest of Achtung Baby and U2's musical direction, I think we can fashion 4 caskets, and label them: Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry. U2 is dead. What an unimaginative piece of garbage."

She feels the ground is giving way/ she thinks we're better off that way

I had flagged this to link and then forgot about it. Tim at Occasio reflects on the economic crisis with help from "Last Night On Earth."

Pop as Paradiso?

From earlier this summer, here is a pretty unusual and interesting reading of U2's Pop as the first step on what the author sees as the band's return to conservative dogmatism and artistic safety. Excerpt: "If Achtung and Zooropa are the Inferno and the Purgatorio (and I don’t think they intentionally are), then Pop is the Paradiso — the boring one full of high-minded metaphysics and moralizing. 'Discotheque' is the only fun track on the album, and this song is interrupted by a reminder that it’s time to get right with the great disco ball in the sky."

Looking back to look forward

Leading up to the expected release of U2's new album this fall, Josh Hurst is doing some posts on U2's older work. You might want to look at the post on October... or here's a sample of Hurst's interesting take on "U2– The Lost Classics: Zooropa":

"Part of Zooropa’s message is that surfaces can be deceiving, and this song cycle is much more than meets the eye. In fact, it’s the most unified and cohesive album-length statement the band has ever made, and it’s achievement is singular: It’s a concept album about the Prodigal Son, or, as the last song terms him, 'The Wanderer.' More specifically, it’s an album about how we’re all prodigals, lost in a world that’s bent on seeing our demise, and it’s only by the grace of God that any of us stand a chance. The title cut sets the tone, as its druggy, narcotic haze eventually peels back to find Bono reciting some lines from then-current marketing campaigns before revealing the heart of what the album is all about: 'And I have no compass, and I have no map/ And I have no reason, no reason to get back… And I don’t know the limit, the limit to what we’ve got.'"

ever seen a theological reflection on "Dirty Day"?

Well, here's one, or more accurately the first of three quite substantial ones, from the blog "when love comes to town," along with thoughts on "Exit," "Last Night on Earth," and other "shadow side" U2 songs along the way to talking about beauty in ugliness. A very nice job picking up on the literary background, and on complementary echoes from other poets, pray-ers, and musicians. Part 3 has some good material on Christian understandings of aesthetics in general. Thanks to James for letting me know he was doing this. Excerpt (from Part 3):

That is what I hear the more I listen to U2's take on incarnational spirituality: when they are wounded by the ugly cruelty of the world - think: "Peace on Earth," "One" or "Acrobat" - when they are perplexed by how to live authentically in a culture that reduces creativity and humanity to commodities - think: "Vertigo," or "Last Night on Earth" - when they are using "judo" to move the energy of hate, violence or greed into something new and potentially healing - think: "Grace," "The Fly" or "Peace, Love or Else" - there is always a deep commitment to faith, hope and love - with the greatest of these being love.

"Contentment and moderation have no place in this story."

Tim reflects theologically on the meaning of the current USA "economic stimulus payments" (a topic he's been posting some important and thoughtful stuff on the past several days - check out his other posts) with the help of "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car."

Oscar the Pastor weighs in

Since we started collecting material for the book in late 2002, I sometimes worry that now, 5 years later, the chances are pretty low of my coming across any sermon interacting with U2's older material that doesn't choose the usual songs and ring the usual changes on them. Well, hang on. How about a Christmas Eve sermon using "Lemon"?

"a one-way ticket out of Eden"

The publisher was kind enough to send me a copy of Steven Catanzarite's U2's Achtung Baby 33 1/3 book, and I thought I'd say a few words about it. Essentially, it's a song by song meditation on the album, which takes the unusual step of superimposing a narrative about two characters over the top. I was initially pretty skeptical about that concept, thinking it fixed the songs' situational meaning too much -- but I wouldn't for a minute let it put you off the book. The situations in which he puts the characters are certainly plausible enough, and if you've never thought about the album as a sustained story or rock opera, it throws an interesting light on it -- and at some moments is very succesful indeed (his contextualization of "Love Is Blindness," for example.)

I've been trying to figure out a good way to describe the theological sections. I had first thought to say "popular-level," but my concern with that term is that so much of what passes for popular theology is pablum, and this isn't at all. It's strong enough meat, just dealt with in a non-specialist way.

The book engages a narrow range of conversation partners who say what to theologically-trained readers (only) will be predictable things. The style is a bit old-school homiletical, if the homily were being delivered to people who hadn't done much thinking about basic Christian concepts like the Fall before. This milieu explains the decision not to include asking how other theological conversation partners would frame the same questions: it's more like a confirmation class, a "we believe" rather than a "there are three ways theologians have talked about...." And in fact I think it's quite successful for that audience: presenting with naturalness and clarity in the marketplace how basic concepts of classical Christianity relate to the themes on Achtung Baby.

My favorite thing about the book, however, is neither the specificially theological parts (though they are vital to the work) nor the narrative. It's the insightful writing about the songs themselves as songs, not as disembodied lyrics. If I had to pick one sentence to illustrate what I mean, it would be "'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses' begins with the din of things falling apart." I also quite like several of the chapter titles, particularly the first: "Straight Outta Eden."

There's a review of this book on Amazon that makes the ridiculous claim that the spirituality of 90s U2 has been "left almost untouched," and that the other books talking about U2's spirituality are "centered around the band's early days and Bono's latter-day humanitarian efforts" -- oh, really? I can't name one such book. In fact, a couple of the previous Christian book-length treatments are notable for their fannish gushing about the 90s. However, the book does fill a new space -- that of a sustained meditation on what many think is U2's greatest album, and one that is alert to its spiritual, relational, and musical depth.

As I write this, it strikes me that the book is devotional-book sized. It (plus an iPod) might make a nice 8-day retreat companion for somebody who wasn't quite sure about the Christian thing, but wanted to go somewhere sacred and try something spiritual. I'm sure several monasteries would be sympathetic.

Remember Lot’s wife

St. Matthew's Unichurch in Perth, Australia offers a relatively recent (but undated) essay called "U2 in the dark: A Christian view of Achtung Baby (1991) and Zooropa (1993)." It essentially goes straight through each album and offers comments on each song.