Monday Melody: Beautiful Day (U2)

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The early 2000’s weren’t exactly the best time for popular music. Sirius, Youtube, and EDM (for the most part) were still in the future, and radio rock, though still ubiquitous, was well past its prime. The airwaves were full of interchangeable post-grunge, nu-metal, Britney Spears, and unmemorable R&B and rap. But there were a few gems that stood out all the more because they were so rare. One of those gems was 2000’s “Beautiful Day” by the supergroup U2–this was one of the last great rock songs.

From the Wikipedia entry for the song:

According to Bono, “Beautiful Day” is about “a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has.” Blender interpreted the song and the line “it’s a beautiful day” as “a vision of abandoning material things and finding grace in the world itself”.

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this townYou’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere

You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away

You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you

It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case

What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day

11 thoughts on “Monday Melody: Beautiful Day (U2)”

  4. I love this song and I love Bono’s philanthropy. He is one of those “believable” Christians because he puts his money where his mouth is. When they had that free music giveaway I was so grateful because I do not get to buy music ever. food or music, food is going to win. When I heard Sharon Osborne’s protesting the free U2 music download up one side and down the other as being offensive I was disgusted. I suspect her vested interest is in selling her husbands mediocre music and living the rock star life. God forbid anyone get some free music from the generosity of another musician. I wondered if she was a narcissist, it seemed a narc kind of thing to do….

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    • Bono is Christian? For some reason I was thinking he was Buddhist. Maybe not though. In any case, I agree with you, he’s a man who cares and has always been generous to charities he believes in and helping vulnerable groups of people in the world. I’ve heard about the free concerts they give too.
      I didn’t know that about Sharon Osborne. That’s weird, I always rather liked her but I guess she could be a narcissist–or just doing what her brain-fried hubby wants her to do. Who knows?

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      • He says he is a Christian, I tend to believe it more than those that claim it without demonstrating a lifestyle of kindness. Yes, I don’t know if Sharon Obsorne is a narc or not but resented it when she went off on Bono for that free album download.

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    • Hi Katie,
      I decided to look up Bono on Wikipedia and you are correct:
      “Bono’s work as an activist, which is due largely to his Christian beliefs,[40] began in earnest when, inspired by Live Aid, he travelled to Ethiopia to work in a feeding camp with his wife Alison and the charity World Vision, an Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organisation.[40] With regard to Bono’s 2013 declarations in interviews published and videotaped of his faith in Jesus Christ,[41] he states that Christ was either who he said he was, or he is “a complete and utter nut case”.[42][43] “

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      • The Rich, or just people with a LOT of money, however acquired, managed or maintained (easier to do if it doesn’t go up a nose or down a throat or in a vein) are different; some in a good way, others in a less than good way.

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