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  1. It is hardly a secret that Bono has read the Psalms in the Bible. 40 is basically Psalm 40 1-3 verbatim, and he has been known to introduce Streets with Psalm 116 and Psalm 61. The end of Yahweh basically restates Psalm 51 (A broken and contrite heart oh Lord you will not despise), but I have never stopped to think about just how the Psalms may have influenced Bono’s lyrics, other than alluding to them. However, what I’ve learned about the structure of the Psalms in a bible study I’ve been participating in lately has got me thinking.

    In this study over the Psalms, one of the things we have discussed is how parallelism is extensively used. Unlike the rhyming of sound that is predominant in modern songs, Hebraic songs were more likely to rhyme ‘meaning’ by balancing the sense and/or meter in two to four consecutive lines. Some common forms of a parallel structure are synonymous, contrasting and comparative. In synonymous parallelism, the same thought is repeated with different words. Contrasting parallelism contains two contrasting thoughts with parallel structure, and comparative parallelism compares one thing with another. Perhaps that is the reason why I have started noticing how prevalent this device is in U2 lyrics and perhaps other popular songs as well.

    Out of curiosity, I decided to go through some U2 lyrics in search of this mode and I discovered that it was a quite predominant lyrical device. Nearly every song I looked up contained it and many songs used it often. The entirety of the opening of Beautiful Day uses the device, “The heart is a bloom/shoots up through stony ground, There’s no room/No space to rent in this town..the traffic is stuck/you’re not moving anywhere”, and the more I investigated U2 lyrics the more I noticed this kind of ‘rhyming of meaning.’ Beautiful Day is far from the only example; The Unforgettable Fire uses it extensively “Ice/Your only rivers run cold, These city lights/ they shine as silver and gold, dug from the night/your eyes as black as coal, carnival/the wheels fly and the colors spin, a dry and waterless place”, and so does Bad “Lead your heart away/see you break away, into the light/and to the day”. I’m not sure why I haven’t noticed this before, but I found it intriguing and it made me wonder about why Bono seems to use this device so much in his lyrics. For me, it adds a meditative sense by prompting me to reflect on the prior thought. It is one thing to say that the heart is like a flower, but by restating it as ‘shooting’ up out of ‘stony ground’, it reminds me of the resilience of the heart; not only is the heart potentially beautiful, but it is able to live and thrive in harsh conditions, like rocky soil.

    Repetitive and building sounds seem common in u2’s music and parallelism seems to be a lyrical parallel. Much like Bad’s baseline builds from a quiet and steady heartbeat into a passionate pulse, Bono’s lyrics often seem to use the device to extend and build meaning. Has anyone else noticed this in the songs of U2 or any other artists?
  2. Have you seen the Bono / Eugene Peterson conversation? They dive deep into the Psalms. Also, there was a selection of Bible Books put out in the early 2000's where Bono gives the introduction. I haven't read it in a few years. It's available on Amazon.

    I've never dove too deep into the structure of the lyrics, and I think it's an interesting perspective. A lot of time is spent on the content and discussing the meaning. You point out some interesting parallels between U2 songs, and certainly as a fan of the Psalms Bono would take away some of the structure and integrate it into his style. In the same way that a guitarist would be influenced by The Edge.

    One can't deny the Biblical influences across their catalogue. From Gloria to Lights Of Home, it's been there since day one, and continues on. Quite possibly their penultimate biblical song is UTEOTW, which I once read described as "the best Christian Rock song since Be Thou My Vision". I've often said that, even as an evangelical Christian, I could honestly sing Wake Up Dead Man in a worshipful sense because it's so raw and honest. Christian Faith (or any for that matter) is not all sunshine and flowers, nor does the Bible ever say it will be if one were to dive deep. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.

    Also, for anyone tuned in to the modern Church Worship songs (i.e. Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman etc. etc. etc.) one CANNOT deny the similarities to U2 songs. There's clearly influence there too.
  3. Originally posted by popsadie:It is hardly a secret that Bono has read the Psalms in the Bible. 40 is basically Psalm 40 1-3 verbatim, and he has been known to introduce Streets with Psalm 116 and Psalm 61. The end of Yahweh basically restates Psalm 51 (A broken and contrite heart oh Lord you will not despise), but I have never stopped to think about just how the Psalms may have influenced Bono’s lyrics, other than alluding to them. However, what I’ve learned about the structure of the Psalms in a bible study I’ve been participating in lately has got me thinking.

    In this study over the Psalms, one of the things we have discussed is how parallelism is extensively used. Unlike the rhyming of sound that is predominant in modern songs, Hebraic songs were more likely to rhyme ‘meaning’ by balancing the sense and/or meter in two to four consecutive lines. Some common forms of a parallel structure are synonymous, contrasting and comparative. In synonymous parallelism, the same thought is repeated with different words. Contrasting parallelism contains two contrasting thoughts with parallel structure, and comparative parallelism compares one thing with another. Perhaps that is the reason why I have started noticing how prevalent this device is in U2 lyrics and perhaps other popular songs as well.

    Out of curiosity, I decided to go through some U2 lyrics in search of this mode and I discovered that it was a quite predominant lyrical device. Nearly every song I looked up contained it and many songs used it often. The entirety of the opening of Beautiful Day uses the device, “The heart is a bloom/shoots up through stony ground, There’s no room/No space to rent in this town..the traffic is stuck/you’re not moving anywhere”, and the more I investigated U2 lyrics the more I noticed this kind of ‘rhyming of meaning.’ Beautiful Day is far from the only example; The Unforgettable Fire uses it extensively “Ice/Your only rivers run cold, These city lights/ they shine as silver and gold, dug from the night/your eyes as black as coal, carnival/the wheels fly and the colors spin, a dry and waterless place”, and so does Bad “Lead your heart away/see you break away, into the light/and to the day”. I’m not sure why I haven’t noticed this before, but I found it intriguing and it made me wonder about why Bono seems to use this device so much in his lyrics. For me, it adds a meditative sense by prompting me to reflect on the prior thought. It is one thing to say that the heart is like a flower, but by restating it as ‘shooting’ up out of ‘stony ground’, it reminds me of the resilience of the heart; not only is the heart potentially beautiful, but it is able to live and thrive in harsh conditions, like rocky soil.

    Repetitive and building sounds seem common in u2’s music and parallelism seems to be a lyrical parallel. Much like Bad’s baseline builds from a quiet and steady heartbeat into a passionate pulse, Bono’s lyrics often seem to use the device to extend and build meaning. Has anyone else noticed this in the songs of U2 or any other artists?
    That is some GREAT lyrical analysis. Bono is a much better lyricist than some/we often give him credit for, and this is just another example. What I didn't know is that it comes from the Psalms, not sure if Bono does it consciously or it's just his way of writing and it's just one more of his extensive biblical influences. Kudos anyway for your analysis, Megan
  4. Originally posted by popsadie:It is hardly a secret that Bono has read the Psalms in the Bible. 40 is basically Psalm 40 1-3 verbatim, and he has been known to introduce Streets with Psalm 116 and Psalm 61. The end of Yahweh basically restates Psalm 51 (A broken and contrite heart oh Lord you will not despise), but I have never stopped to think about just how the Psalms may have influenced Bono’s lyrics, other than alluding to them. However, what I’ve learned about the structure of the Psalms in a bible study I’ve been participating in lately has got me thinking.

    In this study over the Psalms, one of the things we have discussed is how parallelism is extensively used. Unlike the rhyming of sound that is predominant in modern songs, Hebraic songs were more likely to rhyme ‘meaning’ by balancing the sense and/or meter in two to four consecutive lines. Some common forms of a parallel structure are synonymous, contrasting and comparative. In synonymous parallelism, the same thought is repeated with different words. Contrasting parallelism contains two contrasting thoughts with parallel structure, and comparative parallelism compares one thing with another. Perhaps that is the reason why I have started noticing how prevalent this device is in U2 lyrics and perhaps other popular songs as well.

    Out of curiosity, I decided to go through some U2 lyrics in search of this mode and I discovered that it was a quite predominant lyrical device. Nearly every song I looked up contained it and many songs used it often. The entirety of the opening of Beautiful Day uses the device, “The heart is a bloom/shoots up through stony ground, There’s no room/No space to rent in this town..the traffic is stuck/you’re not moving anywhere”, and the more I investigated U2 lyrics the more I noticed this kind of ‘rhyming of meaning.’ Beautiful Day is far from the only example; The Unforgettable Fire uses it extensively “Ice/Your only rivers run cold, These city lights/ they shine as silver and gold, dug from the night/your eyes as black as coal, carnival/the wheels fly and the colors spin, a dry and waterless place”, and so does Bad “Lead your heart away/see you break away, into the light/and to the day”. I’m not sure why I haven’t noticed this before, but I found it intriguing and it made me wonder about why Bono seems to use this device so much in his lyrics. For me, it adds a meditative sense by prompting me to reflect on the prior thought. It is one thing to say that the heart is like a flower, but by restating it as ‘shooting’ up out of ‘stony ground’, it reminds me of the resilience of the heart; not only is the heart potentially beautiful, but it is able to live and thrive in harsh conditions, like rocky soil.

    Repetitive and building sounds seem common in u2’s music and parallelism seems to be a lyrical parallel. Much like Bad’s baseline builds from a quiet and steady heartbeat into a passionate pulse, Bono’s lyrics often seem to use the device to extend and build meaning. Has anyone else noticed this in the songs of U2 or any other artists?
    Really cool analysis. Thanks for sharing! Makes me actually hope that Songs of Ascent does see the light of day.
  5. With "40" basically being the first few verses of Psalms 40-- does that mean the song inherited its name from the chapter, or is the 40 minute production of the song really how it got its name?

    Also, this is a very insightful thread (I'm going to see Bono's lyrics differently now)-- I just re-watched the Bono and Eugene Peterson video, and it didn't even occur to me that it was specifically Psalms 40 used for the song before, I'm glad that led me here.