Grace

I agree beneath the surface this song is about the word grace and what it means. But to bring across his massage i do believe Bono creates the image of a woman. I even think he is pretty explicate about what kind of a woman he has in mind. I think a woman who is pregnant (she carries a pearl in perfect condition / carries the world on her hips) , but the father is no longer there (maria?), but the following lines could also refer to her being raped (what once was hurt, what once was friction) and being pregnant as a result of that. In any case the song is about making the best of everyting in life, even when that means getting past some pretty ugly stuff.

Also i think the woman the song is about does a special thing for living, maybe making music. She could be a violin player (no twirls or skips between her fingertips / when she walks you can hear strings) and with her music she makes beauty out of ugly things.

Love this song! clearly about forgiveness no matter how bad we screw up. "covers the shame/removes the stain" and that it's not about how hard we try to be perfect. "she travels outside of karma." great uplifting message.

Wernerkoek.....all very imaginative, but generally rubbish. This song is indeed about grace, as you've said, and to a degree Bono does use the image of a woman to bring across his message. But Once again Bono is drawing heavily on Christian influences for his lyrics. Grace, as Bono says, is the thought that changed the world- Grace is the word used to describe God's undeserving love and goodness to the human race, who although being created by him have rebelled and turned to their own ways. This grace is shown by the fact that the world still exists and by the acts of goodness we see between men, but primarily by the death of God the Son, who was punished/forsaken by God the father, for the rebellion (sin) of anyone who would believe that he took their punishment and would submit their life to him. 'Grace makes beauty out of ugly things' by restoring the ugly things of things world -You and me- to the relationship we are meant to have with God. 'She takes the blame, She covers the shame, Removes the stain' of our sin and gives us the perfectness+ purity in God's sight that Jesus has. And why did God go to all this trouble to restore people who had rejected him? Because he is gracious! What a thought!

this song reminds me of the metaphores in Proverbs, how he makes a thing, Grace, a person, if Grace was a person, this is what she'd be like

Although it may seem like Bono is descibing a person named Grace, this song is really the idea of "Grace" and how it could change everything if it were more common in today's world. In my opinion it is one of U2's deepest and most beautiful songs.

PREACH, u2elevation! You are definitely right on, with that post. I love this song, and someday when I name my daughter "Grace" (provided I have one), I am going to tell her she was named after a favorite U2 song. :)

wow... wernerkoek, ive never looked at this song like that. very insightful, nicely done.

i never really liked this song very much, but after reading all this, it has new meaning now. i found a new appreciation for it.

The idea of Grace. Is the idea of the Christain faith - that when we become followers of Christ we are followers by God's Grace so the Grace Bono sings about is the Grace of God to accept us as we are - as opposed to the idea of religion - that we have to earn the way to God which is totally wrong! Though the church gets the two mixed up quite often! Sorry for that!

wernerkoek makes a great point actually. Bono purposely constructs and uses imagery of a woman (much like in Proverbs when wisdom is described as a woman) to convey an accessible (well, to some anyhow) image of what "grace" looks like. true, it's not everyone's cup of tea but generally in a pseudo-Christian world it's increasingly hard to fathom what practical grace would look like. I think the usage of feminine qualities in the construction of so-called "Christian" themes throughout U2's songwriting features heavily (think "mysterious ways" etc), and it's worth a shot reinterpreting many of their supposed simple love songs as having a deeper connotation? again Bono really is obsessed with the idea of grace and u will find that it influences his songwriting as far back as the "Boy" cd.

and i actually HAVE heard of the raped woman theory, and it would make some sense in this context, though i'd say that it fits well in the overall picture of what Bono is trying to say "grace" as a thematic concept should be like. a rather fitting illustration to underline the song's emphasis on grace.

I agree with everyone here, because everyone seems to be on the same page; that this song is about Grace, the concept, embodied in a woman.

I love the idea of “grace over karma” – the idea of “unearned blessings” and the like. It’s so beautiful, and the music puts you in the right frame of mind to appreciate the simplicity of God’s undying love for humanity.

The way the song ends allows the music to continue in your head and look at the world from a whole new perspective; the music fades into the background, becoming a backdrop to your life for a while, but even when you hear another song and that melody takes over, the soft, sweet music of "grace" continues...