He was an affluent man (an ancient celebrity?) who couldn’t find any worldly thing that could make him truly happy – despite power, material possessions and sensory pleasures. He may be suffering from the kind of spiritual fatigue and longing that the writer of Ecclesiastes experienced. He sounds like a believer who is world weary. Whatever the case, the she singer has run, crawled, scaled walls – it’s been a journey. This promo photo is from 1982, shot during their “New Year’s Day” music video shoot in Sweden. Throughout their career, U2 have been photographed in locations that can look like spiritual landscapes. But at the same time he seems to be pulled into some kind of temptation with the reference to holding the hand of the devil. Maybe it’s something he can’t find it here on earth – is the kingdom of God not fully yet revealed on earth? Or could the singer in some sort of spiritual warfare between faith and doubt? In the line “I have spoke with the tongue of angels/I have held the hand of a devil,” could refer to the famous passage on love from Corinthians I. The singer believes in “a kingdom come” and a Jesus who “carried the cross of my shame.” And to make sure it’s clear about his faith he adds “you know I believe it.” But still, something is missing as the famous chorus points out. Just the title tells you what it’s all about: something’s missing.īut there’s something more than just a void. A song for our times: faith, doubt and seeking The album was massively successful and contained “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” a song about a believer living with a void. The iconic album cover for U2’s” 1987 album “The Joshua Tree” was taken by Anton Corbjin. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” But the ups and downs and numerous phases of Dylan’s career make him far less consistent in his spiritual recordings.Īlthough it’s best to view U2’s entire body of work as a spiritual journey, here’s are a list of ten of their most significant spiritual songs. The only figure who rivals them in making spirituality a central part of their musical career is Bob Dylan. No matter how one feels about Bono cozying up with dubious politicians and business moguls, the band’s music is unassailable as a spiritual body of work. They’ve addressed both the individual spirit and social justice elements of Christianity in a consistent way that probably no other band has. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Bono said “the problems of the world are the problems of the human spirit.” That’s a good way to defiine a statement of purpose for U2’s music. And they may even quote more Bible verses in their songs than the average Christian band. Even when they record a cover of a mediocre R&B song like “Everlasting Love” it instantly sounds like a gospel rock song. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if some songs are about a partner or about God. It’s difficult to find a song of theirs that doesn’t seem spiritual in some way. There seems to be no separation between their music and their spirituality. But U2’s entire career is steeped in spirituality. Many musicians have a spiritual component to their music. Some of his conversations about it have been published in books such as “Conversations with Bono.” (Photo courtesy Riverside) In the past decade Bono has been more open about his religious beliefs in interviews.
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