Wednesday 14 January 2009

U2 and the book of Revelation

It's great when someone does the hard work for you!
@U2.com have identified a long list of Biblical references in U2 songs.
Here's the ones which relate to the Book of Revelation.

"Tomorrow"
  • "Somebody's knocking at the door...Open up, open up, To the lamb of God"
  • Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will eat with him, and he with me."
"Running To Stand Still"
  • "Sweet the sin, Bitter the taste in my mouth"
  • Revelation 10:10 "And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
  • "Wipe the tears from your eyes"
  • Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes..."
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
  • Revelation 22:1 "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city."
  • Revelation 22:21 "The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass."
"The Playboy Mansion"
  • "Then there will be no time of sorrow, then there will be no time for pain"
  • Revelation 21:4: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
"The Wanderer"
  • "I went out walking through streets paved with gold"
  • Revelation 21:21: "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass."
On the subject of "The Wanderer", here's the version of it sung by U2 at the Johnny Cash tribute. An 'apocalyptic' song in so many ways:
I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye
Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
Wonderful stuff.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Simon
Been following your blog for a little while now and always find it interesting. There's a great website called
u2sermons.blogspot.com which is based on a book called 'Get up off your knees' which has various sermons based on U2 songs.
Here's hoping the new album 'No line on the horizon' (to be released early March) will also be laden with biblical imagery!
Blessings,
Andy
revandy.wordpress.com

Simon Woodman said...

Hi Andy,
Thanks for the link to u2sermons.blogspot.com. It's interesting reading, although weirdly I can't add it as a feed to Google Reader (???). I'll try again another day...
Simon.