Take these shoes
Click-clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing, sing

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still, I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist, no
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before the child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still, I'm waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break


Lyrics submitted by Lyra

Yahweh Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Yahweh song meanings
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    General Comment

    This song could be a hymn. a post-modern hymn but still... I belive when Bono sings "always pain before a child is born" that he's talking about the pain that Christ suffered on the cross before we can be born again... still i'm waiting for the dawn is a little more obvious as Bono often uses the dawn (or something similar) as a symbol for heaven. "still i'm waiting for (heaven)" would be my interpretation. In the last verse he says "why the dark before the dawn" the dark is our time on earth, which is full of pain, suffering, war, trials -- our hope is to wait for the dawn which we only achieve after Christ's pain on the cross. To further push the salvation message Bono adds "what no man can own, no man can take"... this could mean since man does not own his own body he can not take his own bodies salvation. Salvation is through grace, and its nothing we can take. I also can see this being an ode to walk on saying we can't take anything to heaven on earth because it belongs to God, we don't own it. Finally it closes with Bono saying "take this heart and make it break"... a humble heart is what we all need especially in this dark before the dawn. Another U2 masterpiece.

    learn2kneelon February 03, 2005   Link

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