Is Ed......a Christian again? Options

[thefunkyredcaboose]

Absolutely, I love that line in Forever that goes

"Forever and Ever
The darker the night
The lighter the Jesus Christ"

Basically I don't see how Forever exactly favours Christianity or Christ over any other religion.

That sounds like Jesus made a coffee brand.

[Pokey]

That sounds like Jesus made a coffee brand.

"The darker the coffee beans that Jesus selects, the brighter the overall Christiany taste and fullsome flavour of the Lord, just the thing to brighten up your mornings! - Drink it you heretic"

[gotigrz]

well, i guess if you just go by his words... the songs could go with any religion.... but, seeing as how this whole thread got started, by the article that quoted ed saying that he has decided to follow Christ.... it stands to reason that's who he's talking about.


"the darker the night" - the harder the times or the blinder(if that's a word, lol) i was...

"the brighter the dawn" - the greater the reward or the clearer i see now....

[Pokey]

well, i guess if you just go by his words... the songs could go with any religion.... but, seeing as how this whole thread got started, by the article that quoted ed saying that he has decided to follow Christ.... it stands to reason that's who he's talking about.
"the darker the night" - the harder the times or the blinder(if that's a word, lol) i was...

"the brighter the dawn" - the greater the reward or the clearer i see now....

But that could be put to so many different interpretations

That doesn't really have anything to do with God ... you could be saving hardcore for something and whilst you're saving you're night on broke and really struggling to get by, but when you've got the money for what you want, maybe a house or a course or a holiday then things are better .. that might not have anything to do with God at all.

This song is obviously about love for another person, saying that you're gonna stay with them forever, so for me the most logical way to see that lyric is

"the darker the night" - Either being single and lonely, or sleeping around with lots of people and not finding true love with a soulmate

"the brighter the dawn" - When you eventually find that one person things are so much better because you're in a proper relationship.

To me God doesn't enter that lyric at all.

[gotigrz]

ok, i respect that. you can interpret lyrics how ever you want to. that's your right, and i think that's what everyone should do with songs. but, i've been listening to LIVEs songs for a long time and outside of a few songs... MOST of ed's lyrics are spriitual. you can't, honestly, deny that.

when ed talks about "love"... i believe he's talking about a "love" much deeper than a "love" for a girlfriend or spouse. just my opinion.

[Pokey]

ok, i respect that. you can interpret lyrics how ever you want to. that's your right, and i think that's what everyone should do with songs. but, i've been listening to LIVEs songs for a long time and outside of a few songs... MOST of ed's lyrics are spriitual. you can't, honestly, deny that.

when ed talks about "love"... i believe he's talking about a "love" much deeper than a "love" for a girlfriend or spouse. just my opinion.

You don't think love for a girlfriend or spouse can't be deep? Forever sounds very much like it's a song directed at a significant other, therefor it would seem logical for that lyric to be directed at said person, not God.

True that most of his lyrics are spiritual to some degree, but I still don't see how Forever as you say is obviously "oozing his love for Jesus Christ" when it can be interpreted so many different ways. For example, lets say there was an article posted here saying that Ed had declared his love for Allah and the words to Forever were exactly as they are now, would you still think that this song is oozing love for Jesus Christ? There is nothing in Forever that states one way or another exactly which God (if any) it's addressing.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

I would imagine that love between two people is a deeply spiritual thing for Ed.

[Badman]

well, i guess if you just go by his words... the songs could go with any religion.... but, seeing as how this whole thread got started, by the article that quoted ed saying that he has decided to follow Christ.... it stands to reason that's who he's talking about.

Ok Board Monkeys, listen up: I asked Ed about this face to face... literally, he talks very close and was like a foot from me and weirded me out... but I digress.

I asked him about the "accepting Jesus christ as your lord and saviour" and he nodded to that so he did say that "within the last couple years that was mainly the religious path he has taken."

I asked him about whether the new stuff is going to be reflecting christianity and he said, paraphrasing, "No, I like to make my music open for anyone even if they aren't of my religion."

I asked him if Live would ever be a christian band. He said "Those are just labels people put on groups, I consider U2 a christian group but others don't see it like that (I said Not me!)"

Note that during all these questions he seemed VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. He stuttered over the words and said a lot without saying a lot if you get my drift. Something tells me he is just flowing without thinking all that much about it and when I asked him to consider what he was doing, it surprised him.

Verdict: He is a christian but doesn't make music only for christians. He has said before that he wrote Forever based off Obama's victory and the hope he felt for our nation. I can apply it to that very well but we should not be surprised if he changes the words to operation spirit I guess.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

Great scoop! That seems like it would make sense for Ed, he was Buddhist at one point correct? Wouldn't surprise me to see him go that route in a few years if not.

[pizan0]

Ok Board Monkeys, listen up: I asked Ed about this face to face... literally, he talks very close and was like a foot from me and weirded me out... but I digress.

I asked him about the "accepting Jesus christ as your lord and saviour" and he nodded to that so he did say that "within the last couple years that was mainly the religious path he has taken."

I asked him about whether the new stuff is going to be reflecting christianity and he said, paraphrasing, "No, I like to make my music open for anyone even if they aren't of my religion."

I asked him if Live would ever be a christian band. He said "Those are just labels people put on groups, I consider U2 a christian group but others don't see it like that (I said Not me!)"

Note that during all these questions he seemed VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. He stuttered over the words and said a lot without saying a lot if you get my drift. Something tells me he is just flowing without thinking all that much about it and when I asked him to consider what he was doing, it surprised him.

Verdict: He is a christian but doesn't make music only for christians. He has said before that he wrote Forever based off Obama's victory and the hope he felt for our nation. I can apply it to that very well but we should not be surprised if he changes the words to operation spirit I guess.

Sweet, man, thanks for asking! Not many people would have the nerve to just go up to him and do that. I think what he said makes sense and is what I kind of wanted to hear anyway, ie, that he will continue to make music open for anyone.

This post has been edited by pizan0: May 14 2009, 2:58 pm

[gotigrz]

that's cool. maybe it's not "oozing with his love for Jesus", but that's the way i interpret it.

[Deku]

Ok Board Monkeys, listen up: I asked Ed about this face to face... literally, he talks very close and was like a foot from me and weirded me out... but I digress.

I asked him about the "accepting Jesus christ as your lord and saviour" and he nodded to that so he did say that "within the last couple years that was mainly the religious path he has taken."

I asked him about whether the new stuff is going to be reflecting christianity and he said, paraphrasing, "No, I like to make my music open for anyone even if they aren't of my religion."

I asked him if Live would ever be a christian band. He said "Those are just labels people put on groups, I consider U2 a christian group but others don't see it like that (I said Not me!)"

Note that during all these questions he seemed VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. He stuttered over the words and said a lot without saying a lot if you get my drift. Something tells me he is just flowing without thinking all that much about it and when I asked him to consider what he was doing, it surprised him.

Verdict: He is a christian but doesn't make music only for christians. He has said before that he wrote Forever based off Obama's victory and the hope he felt for our nation. I can apply it to that very well but we should not be surprised if he changes the words to operation spirit I guess.

rep up.

You've got some balls! If I ever met Ed I'd probably spend most of the time kissing his ass. Good questions. Interesting answers. I can understand him being uncomfortable - I don't like being questioned as to my beliefs by friends, letalone strangers. I think the

'I like to make music open for everyone even if they aren't of my religion'

is the key thing here. It confirms that he has actually devoted himself to Jesus or whatever, that the music isn't going to be pre-occupied with this (at least in an obvious way) and also that despite this, he still seems like a wildly universal being; tolerating and welcoming everybody. Maybe the manner in which he spoke to you shows that perhaps he doesn't want everybody to pick up on his new-found christianity, not wanting to cut anybody off. The fact we've been speculating about it shows he's not exactly screaming it to the world. And if he's written choons like Take Me Up To Zion and Purifier while being Christian then it seems that perhaps our uncertainties over the matter may be unecessary.

[Soxwsc]

Thanks for sharing that, Badman..

Why did you decide to ask him about accepting Jesus? Most people wouldn't have had the nerve to ask him... unless they had a meaningful relationship with him also. I would have loved to seen that on video.

[Badman]

Thanks for sharing that, Badman..

Why did you decide to ask him about accepting Jesus? Most people wouldn't have had the nerve to ask him... unless they had a meaningful relationship with him also. I would have loved to seen that on video.

I didn't think anything of it really... I don't give religion special treatment because it never earned it.

Why did I do it? I was a high schooler at one point and wondered about religion. I knew I didn't believe and songs like Selling the drama, Susquehanna, and everything on Mj helped me figure out that I was an Atheist. I went to college and now am president of the UNT chapter of the Freethought Alliance. When I heard the guy who helped me turn away from god had turned to god I wanted to know firsthand. As an Atheist, I work very well by taking things in with my own senses and I had a chance so I took it.

I didn't even tell him what my name was lol... I knew he didn't care.

EDIT:

Deku, to be fair I never told him to "consider what he was doing" I'm not there to tell him how to do his job. I said, "Live isn't going to turn into a christian band is it?" which holds the connotation that I would not be pleased if it did. I can only hope that he remembers nonbelievers in the future and he always has before so I think he will in the future.

This post has been edited by Badman: May 14 2009, 6:09 pm

[Soxwsc]

I didn't think anything of it really... I don't give religion special treatment because it never earned it.

Why did I do it? I was a high schooler at one point and wondered about religion. I knew I didn't believe and songs like Selling the drama, Susquehanna, and everything on Mj helped me figure out that I was an Atheist. I went to college and now am president of the UNT chapter of the Freethought Alliance. When I heard the guy who helped me turn away from god had turned to god I wanted to know firsthand. As an Atheist, I work very well by taking things in with my own senses and I had a chance so I took it.

I didn't even tell him what my name was lol... I knew he didn't care.

EDIT:

Deku, to be fair I never told him to "consider what he was doing" I'm not there to tell him how to do his job. I said, "Live isn't going to turn into a christian band is it?" which holds the connotation that I would not be pleased if it did. I can only hope that he remembers nonbelievers in the future and he always has before so I think he will in the future.

Very interesting post! Takes me back to the day I first became hooked on Live's music. It kind of took me away from religion too. I was raised on the thought that Christianity wasn't a religion (being a Christian was just having a relationship with God), but the way I was raised in a Christian family sure felt like it. The music helped me think on my own, make rational judgements, and realize what a joke religion was. That was back in '97 after listening to songs like Graze.. then Operation Spirit and SElling the Drama. Twelve year later, now I actually have a relationship with God. It's my own relationship though and not religion-based. It's just a belief I have, after years of introspection and being open-minded.

This post has been edited by Soxwsc: May 14 2009, 9:14 pm