I was moved to tears when I watched the U2 video last night. I got to thinking, eternity is so long, WHO WILL I SPEND IT WITH? I really wish my wife will be the one forever. One can just not know until the inevitable comes, and all the questions I’ve asked in this life will be finally answered or simply overwhelmed by the Larger Truth.
Where The Streets Have No Name
I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel, sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We’re still building
Then burning down love, burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you…
(It’s all I can do)
The cities a flood
And our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled into dust
I’ll show you a place
High on ta desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
(It’s all I can do)
This song, in addition to the exquisite vocals of Bono and the progressive rock sound of this legendary band has very powerful imagery that contrasts the world as we made it and the world that is our final home.
“Dust cloud, poison rain”, these are the byproducts of the modern world, which is full of bickering over scraps and perishables, of people who are so afraid to risk the heart for love.
“We’re building this burning down love” is Bono’s way of using the words of destruction against itself, deliciously oxymoronic and ironical. Of course we have to burn down “The walls that hold me inside” so very metaphysical!
We have to “reach out and touch the flame”, signifying that eventually, we will all be living flames (souls), flames that we could not reach, touch, understand, and forgive while the living body imprisons it and subjects it to all sorts of human shallowness.
“The cities aflood, our love turns to rust”, of course what floods the world? Materialism, hedonism, selfishness. The love that is inside us becomes inutile in the face of this flood. That is why we have to rise above these petty desires, going “High on the desert plain”.
I cried when I heard “And when I go there, I go there with you. It’s all I can do”. Because, I thought of my wife, will she be with me until that time? A myriad of emotions coursed through me, fear, anxiety, longing, pain of being human, helplessness, hope, and a prayer to the Most High. I hope my prayer will be answered.
For U2, it is really a gift to have composed this song, this poetry that somehow answers the question of human emotional and spiritual enthropy.
A very beautiful, beautiful piece. The human mind never ceases to amaze.
krkbaker Said:
on April 20, 2007 at 4:37 pm
I’m going to agree with you on that this is a great song. The Joshua Tree album is supposedly one of the more spiritual albums of U2. Bono is certainly interesting. Raising some controversy here in the last couple of years with his humanitarian efforts and politcal platforms. That being said, a lot of their work is well written, well played, and well sung. As far as the deeper meaning behind it all, well we all hope that we will be with the one we love forever, meaning death do not part us. It’s just something we never know. I struggle with the same stuff, now more than ever. There is one poem I wrote called ‘The Storm’ and most people thought it was about a storm, but it actually is a conversation between myself and death. Great post. Kim
tomachfive Said:
on April 21, 2007 at 2:44 am
Dear Kim,
If you don’t mind, I have an urge to see your “Storm”. It sounds fascinating. Sometimes, if we could just talk to death, just pour out everything at it for taking away the second chance, but I’m afraid it would say we’d thank it for being there in the first place.
The song is so lovely and heartfelt, and Bono sings with so much soul in there, that he gives the answer for the urban anomie we experience every now and then, to distance ourselves from the modern life that sometimes becomes too close for comfort, placing itself between those we love. I am glad that you share the hope for eternal companionship. I dare say that if we are left with no one, then there is God, who is also beautiful. Hope is a very strong creative force in us that it can also be a foresight of things to come.
I so gladly recommend to you to listen to it, if you have the time. It is very retro, but, for rock songs, some retros were the voice of the youth’s disillusionment with technological and urban promise.
Elated,
Tom
krkbaker Said:
on April 21, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I will pull out the cd and give it a listen today. It’s been awhile. I didn’t remember if you’d read that one or not, sorry to make you repeat it but I left you a comment. I will let you know if I have anything profound hit me from today’s listening. Kim
tomachfive Said:
on April 21, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Thank you very much, Kim.
Manoj Khatri Said:
on May 10, 2007 at 10:34 am
You know Tom, I feel that contemplating eternity is beyond the scope of our tiny little brains… and minds. But love is the only glimpse of eternity we can get in human form. In absence of ego, true love feels like a cosmic insurance policy against death. Yet I experience such glimpses of absolute truth once in a while, only momentarily. But those moments are bliss…and very energising. They keep me sane.
tomachfive Said:
on May 11, 2007 at 12:55 pm
That’s true Manoj, somehow, a glimpse into the sublime and profound are few, but they have tremendous power for us. You are philosophical, I like that.
Manoj Khatri Said:
on May 13, 2007 at 4:19 am
And you are no less philosophical my friend
tomachfive Said:
on May 13, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Thank you, Manoj.
Raymond Stolp Said:
on August 10, 2007 at 1:03 am
“I am your nurse… and you are my hospital.”
Raymond Stolp, 2003
See Ray’s greatest live performance here:
cheng Said:
on August 27, 2007 at 9:58 am
Excellent resource you\’ve got here!!! Will definately be back!!!u
sonyarose Said:
on October 1, 2007 at 11:00 am
You are a very passionate soul. May all your dreams come true for you sincerely. I grew up with U2, one of my favorite bands in the world. How incredibly amazing Bono is … he received the Liberty Medal this past Friday in Phili … what he said to follow the honor was so powerful … what he said about “freedom” … Thanks for being a soul who reaches out … who feels free to. Appreciated~
Sonya, I am humbled by your words. I too had my ups and downs with U2 in the background. Some bands have songs that heal and this one is most reckoned. Thank you for the visit, and I wish too that you will be strong always, for happiness arrives on the strong. May you feel my love across this cyberspace.