Anyone who has followed me on Twitter for any length of time knows that U2’s song God Part 2 is one of my favorite songs of all time. At least once a week, I quote from it. All of those tweets that end with “I…I believe in love“…come from God Part 2. My favorite is:
“I don’t believe them when they tell me there ain’t no cure. The rich stay healthy, and the sick stay poor. I…I…believe in love.”
Anyone who has worked in public health can identify with that sentiment. Or, well, if you’ve ever been dirt poor, that also gives you reason to identify with it. Since I have been dirt poor, and since I currently work in public health, it speaks to me on both levels. That’s why it’s my favorite verse! The whole song is awesome, though, and just so damned quotable. Nearly every verse follows the same lyrical structure. Line 1 mentions something that the singer doesn’t believe in (”Don’t believe in excess, success is to give“). Line 2 then completely contradicts that belief with an example from the singer’s personal life (Don’t believe in riches, but you should see where I live“). The third line is almost always the same refrain: “I…I…believe in love“.
God Part 2 is all about contradictions, or maybe even hypocrisy. It was written as a tribute to John Lennon’s song, God. God Part 2 addresses the (alleged) hypocrisy of John Lennon, which was brought to light in the biography written by Albert Goldman. I know a *little* something about the history between John Lennon and Albert Goldman, but not enough to really form any coherent, logical opinions one way or the other. So, I’m going to skip all that stuff, and just focus on the song itself, and what it means to me. Perhaps it is about the hypocrisy of John Lennon, or then again, perhaps it is about Bono’s own contradictions. It doesn’t really matter, because I’m using it to talk about my own contradictions. Ultimately, every song that is written is interpreted in a billion different ways by everyone who listens to it, and the only meaning that really matters is the one you make for yourself.
Yes, I contradict myself. Sometimes I say I believe in something, and then I act in a way that is totally contradictory. Sometimes I do or say things that contradict something I’ve said previously. In fact, this happens a lot. What I believe on Tuesday night might not be what I believe on Wednesday morning. But then again, I might believe it again come Saturday afternoon. Some of the things that brought me comfort 5 or 10 years ago are no longer comforting to me. I am always changing, always growing, always evolving. As I grow, I look at the world, the universe, the divine, and even myself in different ways. Each new moment brings a new perspective, a new point of view, a new opinion.
I love animals, yet I eat meat. I believe all religions are equally valid, yet I cringe when someone quotes the bible to me. I love Summer, yet I hate going out when it gets too hot. I hate snow, but I love watching it fall. I feel young, but I’m usually in bed by 8:30. I believe all life is sacred, yet I’m a big believer in the death penalty. I don’t like violence, but I love violent movies, violent video games, and watching violent sports. I don’t like being hit, but I like being spanked. Oh wait. That’s probably something else entirely 
In any case, as I grow to love and accept myself, I’m learning to love my contradictions. I love my contradictions because they help me see that life is not always black and white, and it should never be stagnant.
Challenge your beliefs, your opinions, and your views. Question everything, and challenge everything, especially yourself. That’s the only way to grow. And if you’re not growing, you’re dying.
But with so much change, and so much growth, it’s easy to lose track of yourself. If you’re not careful, you’ll forget who you are. I know, because it happened to me. Not too long ago, I lost myself. I didn’t even know if I was coming or going anymore. I had to take a step back, pull myself together, and dig deep for answers. In the end, I realized that you have to have some core beliefs to guide you along the path…guiding lights so to speak. Without them, it’s just too easy to lose your way.
Love is one of my guiding principles. Divine love, love for myself, and love for my friends and family. No matter what I do or say, no matter how much I change and grow, I will always express love as fully as possible. I think that’s the main reason why I like God part 2 so much: because it focuses on the purity of love in the face of all other considerations. I believe that it is summed up best from this verse, which alludes to an old Bruce Cockburn song:
“I heard a singer on the radio late last night. Said he’s gonna kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight. I…I…believe in love.“
That’s me. I’m gonna keep kicking that darkness (the darkness inside me and out in the world, too) until it bleeds daylight. And I’m gonna keep on believing in love, no matter what other contradictions come and go in my life.
In parting, I want to share this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, sent to me by my good friend David of Raptitude:
“Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what
tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing
you said today. — `Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’ –
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood,
and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and
Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be
great is to be misunderstood.”
Love always,
Jay
This song too is one of my U2 favorites. I have seen them 58 times in concert and I think they played the song at a couple of shows I saw 20 years ago, but I really can’t remember. I would pay a grand to see them play this song live followed by Untill The End Of The World, and Bad with an intro on how the song came about. Surprisingly, I heard God Part II 3 times on the radio in the last week and I was unaware of who Goldman was, so I googled it and came across this post. Very nice post, I wish I had half of your writing capability!