A Tribute
“The song was originally intended to be about Ronald Reagan’s pride in America’s military power but Bono had been influenced by Stephen B. Oates’s book Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as by a biography of Malcolm X. These caused Bono to ponder the different sides of the civil rights campaigns, the violent and the non-violent,” according to the song’s Wikipedia entry. “In subsequent years, Bono has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lyrics, which he describes, along with another Unforgettable Fire song ‘Bad,’ as being ‘left as simple sketches.’ He blames this on being swayed by Edge and producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who played down the need to develop the lyrics as they thought the impressionistic nature was more important to the songs’ ‘feeling,’ particularly when heard by non-English speakers.”
*
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love
One more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
*
Bono now sings “early evening, April 4″ to correct his error.
*
Lesser known is the closing song from The Unforgettable Fire simply titled “MLK.”
Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on me
Mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm . . .
So let it be
Mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm . . .
So let it be
Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on me
*
See also “Lyric Lesson: Skip a Rope.”
Posted on January 21, 2008