It’s interesting to see U2 win the Grammy for Best Rock Song, especially considering how it’s a barely concealed Christian confession of submission to God. Oh, I’m sure there’s plenty of CBA Christian Rock partisans who believe that nothing is Christian that does not explicitly quote John 3:16 in every song, but there’s something wrong with finding the Devil in every subtext and simultaneously denying Christ.
To me, the message of Vertigo is almost overt. After The Edge does his temptation in the desert bit, Bono explains that the something he can feel is the love that is teaching him how to kneel. Although I was an early fan of U2 – Boy and October were two of the first four albums I ever bought, (AC|DC’s Back in Black and Duran Duran’s Rio were the others), I haven’t been a consistent follower of their music over time and I’ve found Bono’s public persona to be a little grating at times.
But when one actually listens to the words of Vertigo, one finds oneself marveling that a man who has been offered the best that the world has to give still has it in his heart to humble himself and kneel before his Lord and Savior.