Seen and Unseen: U2’s music shows surrender can still sound like joy

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is 'U2’s music shows surrender can still sound like joy' which explores the spirituality of U2:

'Each element of U2’s spirituality also derives from Christianity: movement, from the Fall and pilgrimage; improvisation, from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; allusiveness, from the fragments of story that have been meshed together to form the canon of scripture; and reconciliation, from the theme of surrender that is central to the Crucifixion.'

I reviewed Days of Ash for International Times (see here), while my original essay on the spirituality of U2 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' can be read here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. See also my Seen and Unseen article on 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion' which has a link to my Closer to the Light playlist on Spotify. Click here for a post summarising my music-related posts. Each year I post a Top Ten listing of albums I have enjoyed that year. My previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012. 

My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here. Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here.

My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.

My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.

My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.

My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.

My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.

My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.

My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.

My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.

My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.

My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.

My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.

My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.

My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.

My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.

My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history

My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).

My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.

My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.

My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.

My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.

My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.

My 22nd article was a book review on Nobody's Empire by Stuart Murdoch. 'Nobody's Empire: A Novel is the fictionalised account of how ... Murdoch, lead singer of indie band Belle and Sebastian, transfigured his experience of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) through faith and music.'

My 23rd article was entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space.

My 24th article was an interview with Alastair Gordon on the artist’s attention which explores why the overlooked and everyday capture the creative gaze.

My 25th article was about Stanley Spencer’s seen and unseen world and the artist’s child-like sense of wonder as he saw heaven everywhere.

My 26th article was entitled 'The biblical undercurrent that the Bob Dylan biopics missed' and in it I argue that the best of Dylan’s work is a contemporary Pilgrim, Dante or Rimbaud on a compassionate journey.

My 27th article was entitled 'Heading Home: a pilgrimage that breaks out beauty along the way' and focuses on a film called 'Heading Home' which explores how we can learn a new language together as we travel.

My 28th article was entitled 'Annie Caldwell: “My family is my band”' and showcased a force of nature voice that comes from the soul.

My 29th article was entitled 'Why sculpt the face of Christ?' and explored how, in Nic Fiddian Green’s work, we feel pain, strength, fear and wisdom.

My 30th article was entitled 'How Mumford and friends explore life's instability' and explored how Mumford and Sons, together with similar bands, commune on fallibility, fear, grace, and love.

My 31st article was entitled 'The late Pope Francis was right – Antoni Gaudi truly was God’s architect' and explored how sanctity can indeed be found amongst scaffolding, as Gaudi’s Barcelona beauties amply demonstrate.

My 32nd article was entitled 'This gallery refresh adds drama to the story of art' and explored how rehanging the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery revives the emotion of great art.

My 33rd article was an interview with Jonathan A. Anderson about the themes of his latest book 'The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art'.

My 34th article was an interview with 'Emily Young: the sculptor listening as the still stones speak'.

My 35th article was a profile of New York's expressionist devotional artist, 'Genesis Tramaine: the painter whose faces catch the spirit'.

My 36th article was a concert review of Natalie Bergman at Union Chapel - a soul-soaked set turned personal tragedy into communal celebration.

My 37th article was based on the exhibition series 'Can We Stop Killing Each Other?' at the Sainsbury Centre. In it I explore how art, theology, and moral imagination confront our oldest instinct.

My 38th article article was 'The dot and the dash: modern art’s quiet search for deeper meaning' in which I argue that Neo-Impressionism meets mysticism in a quietly radical exhibition at the National Gallery.

My 39th article was 'From Klee to Klein, Wenders to Botticelli: angels unveiled' in which I explore how, across war, wonder and nativity, artists show angels bridging earth and heaven.

My 40th article was 'When Henry Moore’s Madonna shocked Northampton' in which I explore how a modernist mother and child stirred outrage, then lasting wonder.

My 41st article was 'Turner and Constable: storms, salvation and the sublime' in which I discussed how Tate Britain reveals how rival visions shaped art and spirit.

My 42nd article was 'When converts cracked open the culture’s polished surface' in which I explored how faith’s outsiders disrupted the scene with unexpected force.

My 43rd article 'The Magdalene we rarely see' is about the painting 'Magdalene at the Base of the Cross' by Chris Gollon.

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U2 - COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times).

The mystery at the heart of music (2)

My original post titled 'The mystery at the heart of music' highlighted 'Surrender', the memoir by Bono, Bob Dylan's 'The Philosophy of Modern Song', 'Faith, Hope and Carnage', Nick Cave's conversation with Sean O'Hagen, and Richard Koloda's 'Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler'. I concluded that, in different ways, these books and the music they describe inhabits the space of genuine mystery and deep yearning that Nick Cave argues is 'at the heart of songwriting.'

To these four, needs to be added, 'Walking Back Home: Deacon Blue and Me' by Ricky Ross. Chris Deerin writes that: 

'Step back, and Ross’s life and trajectory seem ludicrously gilded: early success, Top of the Pops, sell-out stadium gigs, tours of the US, rubbing shoulders with Springsteen and Bono. But this book takes us in closer, to the struggles and the doubts and the losses; to a somewhat repressive upbringing in a Dundee Brethren family; a painful divorce from his first wife; the regrettable explosions of his burgeoning pop star ego; the sudden, unexpected loss of a career and an income; the moments of apparent hopelessness and vanished muse; the tragic death of a bandmate.

Ross is bracingly honest with the reader and himself, and his capacity to learn both from his successes and failures has forged an unusually deep level of wisdom. He is sustained by his religious faith, though is never heavy-handed about that ...

And through it all there has been the music: “The only thing I have ever been fascinated by was the power of a song, and what a song could do to me when it really connected.”'

Paul English in an interview for The Scotsman suggested to Ross that the pursuit of joy, 'whether on stage in front of 250,000 headlining Glasgow’s Big Day in 1990 or visiting slums in Brazil with Christian Aid', was a recurring theme in the book. Ross responded that: 

'It’s the constant search in the book ... I think that’s the search for most people – to realise when you are happy, to realise when life is good. I don’t want to use the cliche of Calvinism, but there is a sense in which sometimes that can dominate our lives, that somehow you deny yourself.

I think you have to allow yourself to celebrate these moments. I talk about a gig we played in Kilmarnock prison, and the chaplain Fr Joe Boland saying to me that where there’s joy there’s God. And that was such a great thing.”

Greg Clarke in an article on Bono, Nick Cave, and their spiritual quests based on their books writes that: 'Submit, surrender, let God be God, recognise a higher power. These are the concluding observations of two of the most famous musicians of the past forty years. It’s not very rock and roll.' 

But it maybe that these five books appearing together indicates that such observations are actually very rock and roll; something that should come as no surprise as rock, soul, and R&B grew from the roots of gospel through artists such as Sam Cooke, who transitioned from gospel to secular music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her early rock stylings, and Elvis Presley, who helped expose white audiences to gospel music. Examples of some of the most beloved contemporary pop music of the last 60 years, from artists such as Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, and Ray Charles, illustrate gospel music’s ongoing influence.

Add to these roots: first, the Church's appropriation, beginning with the career of Larry Norman, of rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith; second, a growing appreciation for and understanding of the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen; and third, musicians from After The Fire and Bruce Cockburn to U2 and Deacon Blue, in the words of T Bone Burnett, singing about the world as seen through the light (of Christ) as opposed to singing about the light (of Christ) as CCM artists did. These all take us to a place where the embrace and examination of Christianity in these books is perhaps as rock and roll as sex and drugs have been.

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Deacon Blue - Keeping My Faith Alive.

Find rest for your souls

Here's the reflection on Matthew 11. 28 – 30 I shared during today's lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields:
A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull. It doesn’t sound like something which is light or easy to wear, so in what senses might Jesus be using this farming image to talk about rest for those who come to him?

Jesus would have been very familiar with ploughs and yokes as both are implements made by carpenters. Two animals, usually either oxen or donkeys, would wear the yoke and pull the plough guided from behind by the farmer. Their task was to break up the ground for sowing.

Jesus was speaking in a context where the Pharisees took the 613 commandments in the Torah – the Law of Moses – which were to do with all aspects of life - shaving, tattoos, clothing, work, food and drink, farming, money and so on – and multiplied these commandments by creating detailed instructions about the ways in which each of these commandments was to be kept. Keeping all of these additional rules was in deed a heavy burden for all who tried to do so.

Jesus, by contrast, taught that love was the fulfilling of the Law. Instead of keeping the endless detail of the regulations created by the Pharisees, Jesus is saying that we should simply love God, ourselves and our neighbours and that all the Law of Moses is actually designed to that end. This was liberating teaching which brought rest for those weighed down by the burden of trying to keep hundreds of commandments and thousands of additional regulations. On the basis of Jesus’ liberating teaching, St Augustine was able to write: ‘Love, and do what you will’ because when the ‘root of love be within’ there is nothing that can spring from that root, but that which is good.

I wonder whether you are ready to leave behind the heavy burden of rules and regulations in order to be accepted or justified and instead open your life to the liberating and restful law of love.

The oxen or donkeys undertaking the ploughing were guided by the farmer using the yoke. As they followed that guidance the yoke sat lightly on their shoulders and the ploughing proceeded apace. If they ignored the guidance of the farmer and pulled in different directions then the yoke would feel heavy and would chafe the neck causing sores or other injuries.

By using this image Jesus is arguing that we have choices about the way in which we live life. We can go off in our own direction pulling away from other people and from God but, when we do so, we are pulling against the way of life for which we have been designed and created. It is when we submit to God’s way of life that we find rest through being in the right place at the right time and living in the right way. When this happens we have a sense of everything coming together and fitting into place which is both profoundly satisfying and restful.

I wonder whether you are prepared to surrender control of your life to the one who created you in all your uniqueness and explore instead how to live in the way for which human beings were created.

Finally, there is the task to which we are called. This image of pairs of oxen ploughing with the use of a yoke fits closely with the task Jesus gave to his disciples when he sent them out in pairs to go to villages and towns ahead of him in order to prepare people for his arrival when he would sow among them the seed of the Word of God.

He is saying, therefore, that this task - the role of a disciple – although it seems challenging to take up, is actually hugely rewarding as well as being restful in the sense that we are doing God’s will and it is God who does the work, not us. We read in Luke 10, for example, that the seventy disciples Jesus sent out in pairs returned from their mission with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

I wonder whether you are prepared to undertake the challenging, yet strangely restful, task of a disciple of Jesus; that of preparing the ground so that others might receive the Word of God?

Jesus says: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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The Byrds - Lay Down Your Weary Tune.

Rest from inner conflict

Here's my homily from the 8.00am service at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

Jesus calls us to be 100% for God in our lives. In his summary of the Law he says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind (Mark 12. 30 - 31). When we fail to do so, we experience internal division. It is, for example, why Jesus insists that we cannot love God and Mammon (Luke 16. 13).

St Paul describes this state of internal conflict when he writes in the Letter to the Romans: 'I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!' (Romans 7. 19 - 25)

In our Gospel passage (Luke 11.14-28) this internal dialogue, debate and division is described in the language of demon possession. We don’t find rest or peace from this internal conflict until we finally and fully surrender to God. Once that surrender has occurred, then we need to nurture and protect it in order that we do not revert back to the state of internal chaos and conflict but instead remain in the peace and rest of being given over to God.

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Pärt, Glass and Martynov 's Silencio.

Transformation

Bisoke Balikenga preached about transformation at St John's Seven Kings today basing his sermon on Romans 12. 1 - 3. He said that “any approach to transformation that seeks to bring about real change must go beyond merely grasping information at the cognitive level to full knowledge that impacts our deepest inner orientations and trust structures, false-self patterns, and any obstacles that prevent us from fully surrendering to God.”

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The Holmes Brothers - Thank You Jesus.

Between the anthemic & atmospheric

U2 are at their most evocative and effective when creating music in the tension between the anthemic and the atmospheric and lyrics in the tension between affirmations and asymmetries. This is the ground that they occupy with No Line On The Horizon and, as a result, the album is a return to form after the lacklustre How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and one which stands alongside their best work.

No Line On The Horizon has the rhythms and feel of Pop but with melodies that put that rather underappreciated record well and truly in the shade. Bono has commented that with this album the band got polyrhythmic, electronic sounds "without losing the thing that a band can do when it is playing live" and that that was what they didn't manage to do on Pop.

Daniel Lanois has said that Bono began work on the album talking of writing future hymns. This intent is most clearly apparent on 'Magnificent' which draws on the Magnificat in creating a worship song which could be sung in church and is guaranteed to become a standard feature of future U2charists.

'Magnificent', though, is only the most overt example of the themes of "surrender and devotion" which run throughout the album. The centrepiece for these themes is 'Moment of Surrender', a beautifully evocative meditation on the way in which the most profound experiences are all embracing for the participant and invisible to those outside of the moment:

"At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me."

This all gives the impression of the 'earnest' U2 of their more declamatory albums but that would be to mislead. When creating in the tensions noted above Bono's aphoristic lyrics are often pertinent, self-mocking and witty:

"Stand up to rock stars, Napoleon is in high heels
Josephine, be careful of small men with big ideas."

Occasionally, though, the quality control monitor is switched off and the "mole living in a hole" moment on this album duly arrives with the faux IT-speak of 'Unknown Caller'. As a result, No Line On The Horizon does not quite sustain the consistency of The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby but manages to come pretty damn close.

The band that sung "Is love like a tightrope" on Boy are still standing up for love by walking the wire "stretched in between our two towers ... in this dizzy world." I, for one, hope they don't come down any time soon.

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U2 - Moment of Surrender.