Christian Rock?

November 26, 2006 9:59 AM

What do you get when you combine the Jesus and U2? U2-charist, of course!
posted by blaneyphoto (30 comments total)

People who believe in U2 are funny.
posted by found missing at 10:24 AM on November 26, 2006

All bow to the great Bono!
posted by drleary at 10:58 AM on November 26, 2006

I can imagine Jesus on a crucifix, wearing an iPod, and pleading for the right hand of the father to turn off shuffle.
posted by furtive at 11:04 AM on November 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

There was an online attempt recently to come up with one song by U2 that wasn't referring to things spiritual and no one was able to do so...

Does that include covers?
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:11 AM on November 26, 2006

I think the difference between Bono and Jesus is that Jesus doesn't think he's Bono.

Thanks a lot, XQUZYPHYR. Now I have to get up and get a paper towel to wipe the coffee off my laptop screen.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:46 AM on November 26, 2006

... and Jesus never found it necessary to roll out greatest hits packages every three years.
posted by tsarfan at 12:07 PM on November 26, 2006

There was an online attempt recently to come up with one song by U2 that wasn't referring to things spiritual and no one was able to do so...

Anything can seem 'spiritual' if you stretch it enough. What's so spiratual about this or this this song almost has a humanist bent.

Anyway.
posted by delmoi at 12:15 PM on November 26, 2006

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.
posted by Balisong at 12:45 PM on November 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

That's the letter 2 and the numeral U.

And these guys are from England and who gives a shit!? the loudspeaker spoke up and said "CHRISTIANITY IS STUPID. GIVE UP. GIVE UP."
posted by loquacious at 1:02 PM on November 26, 2006

I can't believe that nobody's yet linked to this spiritual revelation.
posted by washburn at 1:46 PM on November 26, 2006

I believe the better question is:
Does St. John the Baptist have any chance of being as cool as The Edge?
posted by ColdChef at 3:21 PM on November 26, 2006

Okay, it's a funny idea, and yes, Bono has an ego the size of his celebrity (oh wait...), but are you people seriously against Christians giving money to stop the AIDS epidemic? Most of the churches around here spent election season trying to stop young women from being able to get abortions -- I wish U2 would distract them.

I was, on the other hand, bothered by their decision to use Powerpoint...
posted by obliquicity at 4:32 PM on November 26, 2006

And these guys are from England and who gives a shit!?

Ireland, actually.
posted by jonmc at 4:42 PM on November 26, 2006

And these guys are from England and who gives a shit!?

Ireland, actually.

It's Casey Kasem you gotta tell it to.

And what's with these crazy Episcopalians, anyway? Don't they know Elvis is already deified, for real?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:51 PM on November 26, 2006

Does St. John the Baptist have any chance of being as cool as The Edge?

With a mountain of digital delay, yes.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:53 PM on November 26, 2006

i'll never forgive U2, or island, for relentlessly pursuing Negativland.

COMMUNISM IS GOOD
posted by joeblough at 6:20 PM on November 26, 2006

CHRISTIANITY IS STUPID. GIVE UP.

Thanks, joeblough. Escape From Noise is an amazing album.
posted by SansPoint at 8:45 PM on November 26, 2006

I organized one of these services at my church. It was a powerful, uplifting experience that brought much needed attention to global poverty and the MDGs. We raised funds for Heifer International, since part of the deal is that you get to use the music for free as long as you give the collection to an organization that works to achieve the MDGs.

There's more info at my church's website here.

There are frequently comments here to the tune of "Christians are crazy and destructive and liberal Christians need to get out there and show they're not as bad as the rest of them." Here is an example of a group of Christians doing just that and it's met with the same tired reaction.
posted by Biblio at 9:13 PM on November 26, 2006

I fully support the effort (and second Biblio that this is exactly the sort of good things liberal Christians do all the time), but the pun is in questionable taste.
posted by jb at 3:49 AM on November 27, 2006

I think the difference between Bono and Jesus is that Jesus doesn't think he's Bono.

So you believe in Jesus, then XQUZYPHYR? I mean, you used the present tense, suggesting Jesus is alive somewhere not believing he's Bono... has He risen, XQUZYPHYR?

Is it really fair to mock Bono because some Episcopalians are bad at interpreting song lyrics? At least they're raising money for the poor with these. Christians can't get any slack on MeFi, I guess. When the good ones are just going about thier business, they're bad for not always yelling down the evangelicals, and when they do something good, they deserve mockery.
posted by eustacescrubb at 5:30 AM on November 27, 2006

But we aren't misinterpreting the lyrics. Bono isn't exactly shy about his faith and readily admits that his songs are influenced by scripture. Is there really anything so strange about a church using songs like "Yaweh," "40" or "Mysterious Ways" at the appropriate place in the liturgy?

And I don't think the "U2charist" pun is in questionable taste. I haven't met an Epsicopalian yet who had an issue with it, and most have been delighted by the idea.
posted by Biblio at 8:38 AM on November 27, 2006

delmoi, maybe you should have read the latter third of that "humanist" song (or looked up the story behind it, for that matter).

God I need your help tonight

Beneath the noise
Below the din
I hear a voice
It's whispering
In science and in medicine
"I was a stranger
You took me in"

According to this chronologically ordered list of Bible references in U2 songs, that's a reference to Matthew 25:34-35. Bono has used that verse to get fundamentalist conservatives to support causes like the ONE Campaign.

The story behind "Miracle Drug" is buried in a sidebar on that Blender page, but here's the paragraph:

Bono: “We all went to the same school and just as we were leaving, a fellow called Christopher Nolan arrived. He had been deprived of oxygen for two hours when he was born, so he was paraplegic. But his mother believed he could understand what was going on and used to teach him at home. Eventually, they discovered a drug that allowed him to move one muscle in his neck. So they attached this unicorn device to his forehead and he learned to type. And out of him came all these poems that he’d been storing up in his head. Then he put out a collection called Dam-Burst of Dreams, which won a load of awards and he went off to university and became a genius. All because of a mother’s love and a medical breakthrough.”

U2 are not a Christian rock band by any stretch, but they do use more Biblical references than any other mainstream band I've encountered, and a few Christian rock bands as well. "Miami" and "New York" happen to be two exceptions, but as that list shows even the B-sides are teeming with verses.
posted by Saellys at 8:48 AM on November 27, 2006

Oh, and back when I led worship at a small Nazarene church I often played "40" for special music. I don't think most of the congregation even knew it was a U2 song, seeing as how the lyrics are just the psalm.
posted by Saellys at 8:50 AM on November 27, 2006

I think the difference between Bono and Jesus is that Jesus doesn't think he's Bono.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:09 PM CST on November 26

The problem with Jesus Christ is that he thinks he's Bono.
Posted by Father No on April 6, 2006 05:09 PM.
posted by forwebsites at 2:22 PM on November 27, 2006

Please tell me I'm not the only one that thought of John Turturro in The Big Lebowski when they first read this post.

Nobody fucks with the Bono, man.
posted by crashlanding at 11:47 PM on November 27, 2006

I think delmoi is partly right -- "Miracle Drug" is a humanist anthem*, but it's just not a secular humanist anthem. Since humanism was traditionaly a Christian movement (see: Erasmus, Thomas More, etc) I don't see a contradiction. In fact, I'd say that "humanist" is a good word to describe U2's music in general. They are humanists in the original sense of the word.





*Time will disappear
While love and logic keep us clear
reason is on our side, love
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:03 AM on November 28, 2006

Oh, Biblio, I didn't mean you were misinterpreting U2's lyrics, but the authors of the linked website surely are:

They have always been a Christian band, but avoided signing with a Christian label because they didn't want to preach to the choir. "You" in their songs is often God. Sometimes it is God addressing us.

Not only do they get the biography wrong (U2 were never interested in being a "Christian" band, not because they were worried about preaching to the choir, but because they wanted to make it BIG; the choice for the band was rather 'make it big as a rock band' or 'quit music altogether' -- Edge and Bono did almost quit -- see Eamon Dunphy's excellent biography of the band, or the band's own U2 by U2) but I'd say that U2 songs in which God/Jesus is a character (either as the speaker or as the "you") are in the minority.
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:09 AM on November 28, 2006

... I'd say that U2 songs in which God/Jesus is a character (either as the speaker or as the "you") are in the minority.

Does God or Jesus have to be a "character" in a song for it to have genuine spiritual significance? There's a disturbing (to me) trend in contemporary worship music where, in many songs, God is never even mentioned. Those songs are entirely about how we feel after being shown His grace, mercy, and love. Most of those songs don't even include an actual Biblical reference. At least U2 has that going for them. Much of their back catalogue is liable to be more enriching than the watered-down hymns you'll hear in a casual Sunday service.
posted by Saellys at 3:20 PM on November 28, 2006

Does God or Jesus have to be a "character" in a song for it to have genuine spiritual significance?

No, but God/Jesus does have to be a character in a song for this statement, made by the inventors of U2charist, to be true:

"You" in their songs is often God. Sometimes it is God addressing us.

The point I was addressing wasn't whether or not U2's songs have "spiritual signififcane" but whether or not the inventors of U2charist are good at interpreting U2's songs. It's a minor point, but it was challenged above, by Biblio, to whom my comment was addressed.
posted by eustacescrubb at 4:40 PM on November 28, 2006

I didn't say anyone would have been offended by it - I meant it was in bad artistic taste, i.e. a groan-worthy pun (possibly two groans).
posted by jb at 3:27 AM on November 29, 2006