"Here's something that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone: U2's Bono is down with God. Or at least that's what the Vatican says.
According to The Guardian , L'Osservatore Romano , the Catholic institution's official newspaper, recently published an article (I hope you read Italian) stating that Bono is pretty much always singing about God. The article goes on to point out many of Bono's references to God in U2's lyrics.
The article quotes U2: In The Name Of Love , a book by Italian music critic named Andrea Morandi, who argues that all of U2's music features spiritual or Christian references. This includes songs on last year's No Line On The Horizon .
Hi there, Captain Obvious! Lester Bangs once argued that Black Sabbath's lyrics inadvertently made them the world's first Catholic rock band. While parents often called Sabbath Satanic, there's no way anyone could do that with U2. Bono's too earnest. He's just too much of a preacher .
I mean, you don't really need a recitation of The Lord's Prayer at the beginning of a U2 song to know that Bono's a rock fan's version of a televangelist in disguise (except without that whole doomy and gloomy "you're going to Hell for your sins" rap). There are also tons of U2 fans who would also probably describe a U2 show as a "religious experience."
There are quite obvious allusions to God in almost every U2 song. No joke. Let's not forget that there are several U2 songs with "God" in the title that yes, are about God, and "40," from War is basically a rewrite of Psalm 40. I mean, for God's sake (excuse the pun), U2 even have a song called "Yahweh." How much more blatant can you get?
I'm kind of unimpressed that the Vatican didn't wake up to this sooner. But then again, it did take them over 40 years to realize John Lennon was joking about that whole "Bigger than Jesus" comment and apologize, so hey.
Vatican Says Bono Always Singing About God Article By Kate Harper, ChartAttack.com
Mr. Bilson
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