Review: Song for Someone

So, I know there has been some controversy  surrounding U2's new album, but I'm a fan of U2, so I loved getting their new album for free. :D #sorrynotsorry


As you do, I have been listening to it on and off since it has been released. And recently when I was listening to one of the songs, Song for Someone, I was struck by the beauty and reality of the lyrics.


As Bono states in the below interview and performance, this song was written about the first time you fall in love. I think the song is written with enough layering and ambiguity that it is not just talking about a romantic love relationship between two human beings. It is definitely a song about love, though.


When I was listening to it recently, I was struck by how I longed to be the fulfillment of the lyrics, "You've got eyes that can see right through me. You're not afraid of anything they've seen." I want to be that for people, and specifically for someone. However, so often I find that I am the one who has, "the scars from where I've been," and only want someone to, "see right through me," and not be afraid of what they might find. This song holds such beautiful dichotomies - I love it! It is certainly a song for someone, or a song for everyone. It sings about such humanity, and yet about such hope. It is beautiful.

U2 actually performed Song for Someone on The Graham Norton Show, which is like a triple win, win, win: I like U2, love this song, and I like The Graham Norton Show! ;) However, in this version they do leave off the last verse segment - which is really great (see italicized lyrics below). Also, can we please take a moment and appreciate how awesome Bono sounds singing live (while sitting on a couch) after decades of performing - amazing!

Song: Song for Someone

Artist: U2

Album: Songs of Innocence

Year Released: 2014


Lyrics:

You got a face not spoiled by beauty

I have some scars from where I've been

You've got eyes that can see right through me

You're not afraid of anything they've seen

I was told that I would feel nothing the first time

I don't know how these cuts heal

But in you I found a rhyme

If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a dark
Now we shouldn't doubt
And there is a light
Don't let it go out

And this is a song
A song for someone
This is a song
A song for someone

You let me into a conversation
A conversation only we could make
You break and enter my imagination
Whatever's in there
It's yours to take
I was told I'd feel nothing the first time
You were slow to heal
But this could be the night

If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a dark
Within and without
And there is a light
Don't let it go out

And this is a song
A song for someone
This is a song
This is a song for someone

And I'm a long way
From your hill of Calvary
And I'm a long way
From where I was, where I need to be

 If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a kiss
I stole from your mouth
And there is a light
Don't let it go out

It is a Grumpy Cat kind of a day.

Well, not entirely, but going back to work on a busy Monday morning after being on vacation for two weeks this meme seems completely accurate. ;) It was a wonderful two weeks off! Filled with a wonderful family vacation, a ton of homework, happy and sad Doctor Who moments (yes, I finally took the Doctor Who plunge), and having to say good-bye to some very dear people. So probably needless to say, though it was wonderful, it was also incredibly hard.

 

There are nothing like some Grumpy Cat memes to put a smile on my face, hope it puts one on yours! And hope that your week is looking up - Cheers and Happy Monday! :)

Relevant Life Lyrics, pt. 2

"My heart was always made to be still
To wait because you promised you’d save it"

- Honest Affection, KyeKye

 

I never knew that I was so harsh
With things I thought I wasn’t afraid of
I never knew that I was so scared
To change because of honest affection

Longing
Yearning
Hoping
Looking
Over your words
Stuck on your heart

A part of me just wanted to know
But the other part was always so wasted
My heart was always made to be still
To wait because you promised you’d save it

I never knew I was in a place
Hiding to avoid any signals
I close my eyes and picture your face
And see a look I never envisioned.

Sex Trafficking, Prostitution and Pornography

So, to those of you who know me it will come as no surprise to know that I am passionate about combating human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking. There are many reasons why I am passionate about this area, and at some point I will post more about that (the dignity and value of human life, women's rights, & equality - just to name a few brief reasons). You can also expect more posts from me about this issue. However, I came across this video the other day (via a friend) and I think it is definitely worth sharing. Though there are a lot of misconceptions about sex trafficking, prostitution and pornography, I think this video gives a great overview of how they are all related, and does so from an honest, real and fresh perspective. I applaud Ran Gavrieli for talking about his personal and educated decision to stop watching porn; below is his TED talk. I hope more men will be willing to come to some of the decisions he has made, and also willing to talk about it.

Also, here is another link that describes an overview human trafficking via the online world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRJ_QfP2mhU

Articles

Here are two really great articles on art (specifically movies) and Christianity. Please check them out. They are worth the read. Hope you're having a good one. Cheers!

"Jesus...taught by telling stories...Those stories don't just entertain us or help us pass the time: they teach us about the world."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/july-web-only/what-i-learned-about-movies-from-well-read-dog.html

"I want films to challenge and provoke my faith and force me to wrestle with it; films that don’t leave me in the same place I was before the opening credits."
http://chrisicisms.com/2014/07/21/why-i-dont-see-christian-movies/

Relevant Life Lyrics, pt. 1

"Dreaming along at a pace you'll understand
Go go go go go go
No no no no no"

- Daniel in the Den, Bastille

Isn't that the truth? "Here is this opportunity, invest your heart into it! OH, wait..." #storyofmylife ;)

A Little T.S. Eliot

These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood is Incarnation.
Here the impossible union
Of spheres of existence is actual,
Here the past and future
Are conquered, and reconciled...

This is a little excerpt from his Four Quartets, "The Dry Salvages."

I actually have been reading excerpts from another blog I follow. See her part one here, and her part two here.