A perfect synthesis of fractured romantic love and religious salvation/redemption.

The men who love you you hate the most
They pass right through you like a ghost
They look for you but your spirit is in the air
Baby, you’re nowhere

And of course —

You don’t know if it’s fear or desire
Danger the drug that takes you higher
Head in heaven, fingers in the mire
Her heart is racing, you can’t keep up
The night is bleeding like a cut
Between the horses of love and lust
We are trampled underfoot

This verse is the focus of the entire album in my opinion. They sum up concisely the motivation and headspace of one who cheats.

More kudos to Tassoula, this time for choosing Heartland…One of my all time favs, and very underappreciated!

She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
**Sea is raging, she is raging**
And a storm blows up in her eyes…

For some reason I really like how he compared her to the raging sea…it seems to fit really well and is more poetic than just repeating “she is raging, she is raging.”

This is very biting. It’s a soft song, but the words really can sting and illustrate the strength we can find when we’re hurt and we want the one who hurt us to hurt just as much.

Not that this applies to me or anything, I’m just saying I’ve always really liked the lyrics….:)

“Between the horses of love and lust we are trampled underfoot.”

It gets me every time.

I want to run, I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside.

I would rank these as my top two:

She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a 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
(Running to Stand Still)

and

See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost-ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on
(Heartland)

They’re not necessarily my favorite U2 lyrics, but they are my favorite U2 poetry. I chose them because they would sound just as good read aloud “spoken word” style as they would sung.

Every artist is a cannibal,
Every poet is a thief,
All who kill their inspiration,
And sing about their grief.
(“The Fly”)

I just love those four lines because they are so true about everything related to art and writing. Every movement in literature (get ready for the English major spiel here) builds on or reacts against the previous movement, so it follows naturally that every new work produced is inspired by an older work.

Erika