Saturday, February 07, 2009
One, But Not The Same
A well crafted pop song is a simple thing: all it needs is an unforgetable melody and some simple, universal lyrics. Easy, right?
Over the years I've had "flirtations" with other songs, but I always come back to "One" by U2. I think that it is the best pop song of all time.
Now, Bono has his detractors, and I admit the guy can be a real turd when he starts running his mouth. But screw Bono, man. I ain't talking about Bono. I'm talking about the song.
If it was good enough for Johnny Cash, it's good enough for me. And who knew a well-crafted song better than Cash?
Over the years I've been sure, several times, that I knew what this song was about. I've though it was about the last stage of the grieving process. I've thought it was about failed marriage(s). I've thought it was about reaching a fork in the road with an old friend.
And I was right and wrong each time. This is one of those perfect little songs where the lryics are 100% applicable to a number of life's milestones.
Today, I'm certain that the song is about the agonizing loss of religious faith:
"You say
Love is a temple,
Love a higher law,
Love is a temple,
Love the higher law.
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl.
And I can't keep holding on
To what you've got
When all you've got is hurt."
I've been on the other end, I've looked down my nose at people who've stopped going to church. It's a lot easier on that end, let me tell you. I wouldn't wish the loss of religious faith on anyone. It's a lot like cancer, based on my experiences with both.
No idea what the band hoped to communicate with this strange video... the black and white, the drag, etc.
But I know exactly what they wanted to get across with the song. I've known so many times, for so many different reasons, and I have a feeling that there will be more reasons to come.
Yeah, "One" by U2 is the best pop song ever.
Permalink -- Posted by Darrell at 18:39 
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
Yeah, that has to be rough. I was raised Catholic, sent to a Catholic high school, and I don't think a weekend has ever gone by without attending a mass. So it's all ingrained and intertwined with who I am. When I had my Meckel's Diverticulum, a lot of relatives and family friends coming to visit were throwing quotes at me like "this too shall pass" or "God never throws anything at us we can't handle". At the time, as I lay there weak from blood loss suffering embarrassing internal bleeding, it wasn't much comfort.
Granted, a birth defect isn't cancer, and I don't know how I'd handle that. Anytime blood comes out of any orifice that it shouldn't come out of, the "c" word is always the first thing you think of, even though doctors never come out and say it. I had my moments of doubt and plenty of "Why me?"s. Fortunately, it turned out to be correctable by surgery, literally cutting out part of my guts. It was an ordeal, especially the recovery, lying there with a tube running into my stomach through my nose, siphoning everything until my intestines healed. Longest and worst period in my life. I thought it would never end, but it did. I thought I would never be the same, but I was. I took all those quotes away with me, along with the Nietzschean "What does not kill me makes me stronger". And these days, I often think of our friend Mr. Hetfield's version, "What don't kill ya, make ya more strong!"
Faith is a personal thing, something we each must decide for ourselves. Too many people pervert it, use it to judge and put others down, forgetting "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." When my mom, one of the two most morally influential people in my life lost her cousin unexpectedly a few years ago, she wondered aloud, "How can there be a God if THIS happened?" We all have those moments.
I won't judge you, and I certainly won't look down my nose at you. I feel bad about everything you're going through, both physically and spiritually, and hope you don't mind if I still pray for you.
My word verification for this is "sacre"; interesting....
Post a Comment
Granted, a birth defect isn't cancer, and I don't know how I'd handle that. Anytime blood comes out of any orifice that it shouldn't come out of, the "c" word is always the first thing you think of, even though doctors never come out and say it. I had my moments of doubt and plenty of "Why me?"s. Fortunately, it turned out to be correctable by surgery, literally cutting out part of my guts. It was an ordeal, especially the recovery, lying there with a tube running into my stomach through my nose, siphoning everything until my intestines healed. Longest and worst period in my life. I thought it would never end, but it did. I thought I would never be the same, but I was. I took all those quotes away with me, along with the Nietzschean "What does not kill me makes me stronger". And these days, I often think of our friend Mr. Hetfield's version, "What don't kill ya, make ya more strong!"
Faith is a personal thing, something we each must decide for ourselves. Too many people pervert it, use it to judge and put others down, forgetting "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." When my mom, one of the two most morally influential people in my life lost her cousin unexpectedly a few years ago, she wondered aloud, "How can there be a God if THIS happened?" We all have those moments.
I won't judge you, and I certainly won't look down my nose at you. I feel bad about everything you're going through, both physically and spiritually, and hope you don't mind if I still pray for you.
My word verification for this is "sacre"; interesting....
Links to this post:
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
