In 1976 a band formed in Dublin, Ireland. In 1978 they took the name U2. BOY, their first album, came out in 1980 and
included the song ‘I Will Follow’. Their
second album, OCTOBER (1981), included ‘Gloria’. THE JOSHUA TREE (1987, Island Records) was the
band’s fifth studio album. It was
produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.
So, how did the album get it’s name?
According to Wikipedia.org, photographer Anton Corbijn “told the band
about Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), hardy and twisted plants in the deserts
of the American Southwest, and he suggested their use on the sleeve. Bono was pleased to discover the religious
significance of the plant’s etymology.
Early settlers, according to Mormon legend, named the plant after the
Old Testament prophet Joshua, as the tree’s stretching branches reminded them
of Joshua raising his hands in prayer”.
THE JOSHUA TREE won a Grammy for ‘Album of the Year’. Also, in 2001, CCM Magazine named it the
sixth greatest album in Christian music.
On the album, U2 is: Bono (lead vocals, harmonica, guitars), The Edge
(guitars, backing vocals, piano), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen
Jr. (drums, percussion).
‘Where the Streets Have no Name’ is a passionate rock song
that anticipates Heaven: “I want to feel sunlight on my face/I 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 (2X)/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”. ‘I
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ is a moving rock anthem of one who is
seeking and searching: “I believe in the Kingdom Come/Then all the colours will
bleed into one, bleed into one/But yes, I’m still running/You broke the
bonds/You loosed the chains/You carried the cross/All my shame (2X)/You know I
believe it/But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for (2X)”.
‘With or Without You’ was the album’s lead single and the
band’s first #1 hit in the U.S. and Canada.
This rock ballad is sung with great feeling and is my favourite U2
song. Some of the lyrics are: “With or
without you (2X)/I can’t live with or without you/And you give yourself away
(2X)/And you give, and you give/And you give yourself away/My hands are tied/My
body bruised, she’s got me with/Nothing to win and nothing else to lose”. ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ is the heaviest track
yet and includes these mysterious words: “In the locust wind comes a rattle and
hum/Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome/You plant a demon seed,
you raise a flower of fire/See them burning crosses, see the flames, higher and
higher/Bullet the blue sky (2X)/Bullet the blue (2X)”.
‘Running to Stand Still’ is a tender story song: “She runs
through the streets with her eyes painted red/Under black belly of cloud in the
rain/In through a doorway she brings me/White gold and pearls stolen from the
sea/She is raging/She is raging and the storm blows up in her eyes/She will
suffer the needle chill/She is running to stand still”. The Arklow Silver Band play brass on ‘Red
Hill Mining Town’, a song about holding on to Christ: “From Father to Son/The
blood runs thin/I see faces frozen still against the wind/The seam is split, the
coal face cracked/The lines are long, there’s no going back/Through hands of
steel and heart of stone/Our labour day has come and gone/And you leave me
holding on in Red Hill Town/See lights go down/I’m hanging on/You’re all that’s
left to hold on to/I’m still waiting”.
‘In God’s Country’ is a pop/rock song with some biblical
terminology: “She is Liberty and she comes to rescue me/Hope, faith, her
vanity/The greatest gift is gold/Sleep comes like a drug in God’s Country/Sad
eyes, crooked crosses in God’s Country/Naked flame/She stands with a naked
flame/I stand with the sons of Cain/Burned by the fire of love (2X)”. ‘Trip Through Your Wires’ is about a lady: “I
was broken, bent out of shape/I was naked in the clothes you made/Lips were
dry, throat like rust/You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust/No more
water in the well/No more water, water/Angel, angel or devil/I was thirsty and
you wet my lips/You, I’m waiting for you/You, you set my desire/I trip through
your wires”.
‘One Tree Hill’ finds The Armin Family on strings. These words seem to comment on war and the
End Times: “I don’t believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts/While bullets
rape the night of the merciful/I’ll see you again/When the stars fall from the
sky and the moon has turned red/Over One Tree Hill/We run like a river, run to
the sea/We run like a river to the sea/And when it’s raining, raining
hard/That’s when the rain will break my heart”.
‘Exit’ is an experimental rock track: “Hand in the pocket, finger on the
steel/The pistol weighed heavy/His heart he could feel/Was beating,
beating/Beating, beating, oh my love/Oh my love (3X)/My love/Saw the hands that
build can also pull down/The hands of love”.
Last up is ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’, a sombre, quiet ballad about
casualties: “Midnight, our sons and daughters cut down, taken from us/Hear
their heartbeat, we hear their heartbeat.../In the trees our sons stand
naked/Through the walls our daughters cry/See their tears in the rainfall”.
I believe at the time THE JOSHUA TREE was released, three of
U2’s four members identified themselves as Christians. I wouldn’t really classify this as a
Christian rock album, but rather as a rock album with Christian imagery and
phrases mixed in with more mainstream lyrics.
So, if you prefer the more didactic lyrics of say Petra or DeGarmo &
Key, you’ll be disappointed here. I have
to add that the music itself is much more creative and artistic than either of
the aforementioned bands, but it definitely doesn’t rock as hard. Jars of Clay may be the best comparison I can
come up with for U2. I find the album a
bit uneven, in that some of the songs are more commercial and suitable for
singing along with than others. I don’t
believe all music put out by Christians must be Christian lyrically. For example, Johnny Cash put out a ton of
songs that had nothing to do with God.
The problem with some of the songs on THE JOSHUA TREE is that the lyrics
are quite ambiguous. Still, for
creativity and artistic quality, I’m rating it 87%. For more info visit: www.u2.com.