| U2 – A Celebration Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Great song. I have it on a cassette tape from my teenage years (Arrghh, Matey!) It's kind of a multipurpose protest song. In the live version I have, Bono shouts "No Way!" after the line "I believe in the atomic bomb" Here's my best take on the song: The main focus on the song is Irish protest. Christchurch is the oldest cathedral in Dublin, and the seat of the archbishop of the Church of Ireland (Anglican) but is officially recognized as the seat of the Roman Catholic bishop, who is physically located at St. Mary's. "I believe in the bells of Christchurch" could be either way, Catholic or Protestant. But "ringing for this land signifies a unified Ireland. I think the lines about Mountjoy are pretty bold. I think the actual line is "I believe in the cells of Mountjoy there's an honest man." I believe it refers to the hunger strikes. Mountjoy is an infamous prison in Dublin. Thomas Ashe, founder of the Irish Volunteers died there on hunger strike during the Irish Revolution. He was the inspriation for the IRA hunger strikes in which Bobby Sands died in 1981 at Long Kesh. The real force comes at the end of the song where Bono refers to Mountjoy and then sings "and you.. can go there too.. and you can go there too.." The "Shake, Shake" goes along with the trumpet sound, which refers to the trumpets the Lord commanded the people to blow to bring down the walls of Jericho in the Bible (see Joshua 6:1-26). |
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