No Line on the Horizon - discussion guide

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Track Listing

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. FEZ – Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars of Lebanon

Summary

A common driving force of music is love, and this album is no exception. The power of love is examined in songs like 'Magnificent' and 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight.' In the first, Bono sings about the effects of love, both for good and ill: 'Only love, only love can leave such a mark / But only love, only love can heal such a scar'. In 'I'll Go Crazy . . .' he asks the question, 'Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?' The song doesn't seem to answer this question, and it quickly returns to its main issue, which is the slowness of a change of heart. But the Bible verse from which this idea comes affirms that perfect love does drive out all fear (1 John 4:18). That questioning of perfect love comes up again in 'White As Snow,' a song which symbolises the thoughts of a soldier in the moments before his death: ' Once I knew there was a love divine / Then came a time I thought it knew me not'. 'Moment of Surrender' includes the lyrics, 'It's not if I believe in love / But if love believes in me'.

In the song, 'Stand Up Comedy', Bono encourages his listeners to 'stand up for hope, faith, love,' emphasizing the love in particular. But hope and faith are also important, especially with regards to optimism for the future, which Bono explains is central, and is expressed in the album's title, No Line On The Horizon. He says it is, 'an image about the future, and wanting to disappear into it. And that there's no limits, no end in sight. Whether it's relationship, or being in the band, or whatever.' This idea of having no end in sight echoes through the album, as it explores themes of change and time.

The concept of change is apparent from the first song, 'No Line On The Horizon', where Bono sings of, 'a girl who's like the sea . . . changing every day.' In 'I'll Go Crazy . . .' he sings of the conflicting emotions within himself, and goes on to sing, 'A change of heart comes slow / It's not a hill, it's a mountain'. Phrases like 'rewind and replay' ('No Line On The Horizon'), 'restart and re-boot' ('Unknown Caller'), and the idea of death and rebirth ('Breathe'), all contribute to an idea of trying to return and do things better.

The first song also introduces the final theme which runs throughout the album: time. It looks at what time is and how it works. The girl whom Bono sings about tells him that, 'Time is irrelevant, it's not linear.' Numerous times throughout the album, a specific time is referred to in order to set the song in a specific context (3:33 in 'Unknown Caller', Six o'clock in 'FEZ – Being Born', and 9:05 in 'Breathe'). And the album concludes with the song, 'Cedars of Lebanon', which is sung from the perspective of a journalist in the Middle East who is caught up in meeting the latest deadlines, but at the same time is using an old Polaroid to help him remember a woman he loved.

Background

Five years after their last album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2 have released No Line on the Horizon. They began work on it in 2007, setting up a studio in Fez, Morocco, and then doing later recording in New York and London. Though a mainstream band, U2's front man, Bono, does have a belief in the love of God, which find a place in his lyrics. In an interview with Michka Assayas, Bono discussed his beliefs, which stem from the Christian belief that God is love, which comes from the passage in 1 John 4, mentioned above. Also from that passage is the idea of living in love, which he claims is a teaching he tries to follow. He goes on to say that, 'Karma is at the very heart of the universe.' It is an idea – though not a Christian one – that whatever you do in life will come back to you. But then he inserts the notion of Grace, which is set to 'upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff.'

Questions for discussion

1. What do you think is the significance of the dream described at the end of the first song, 'No Line On The Horizon'?

   Every night I have the same dream
   I'm hatching some plot, scheming some scheme
   Oh yeah, Oh oh oh oh
   I'm a traffic cop, rue du Marais
   The sirens are wailing but its me that wants to get away

2. Who do you think this song, 'Magnificent', is referring to?

   I was born, I was born to sing for you
   I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
   And sing whatever song you wanted me to

   Is this just about singing? What else could be meant by this?

3. Do you agree or disagree with the idea that we have no choice about some things we do? Why?

4. 'I don't want to talk about wars between nations'. Does the song, 'Get On Your Boots' hold any deeper meanings, or is it just an avoidance of such subject matter – a song just meant for having fun and getting people dancing?

5. 'Get On Your Boots' begins, 'The future needs a big kiss'. Bono uses this as an example of the band's optimism for the future. Additionally, the album's title reinforces this belief. In what ways is optimism a good thing? What problems can there be with it?

6. In the song, 'Stand Up Comedy', we find the line, 'Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady'. Do you ever feel God is going about something the wrong way? Are there things you think you could do better?

7. 'Once I knew there was a love divine / Then came a time I thought it knew me not'. How is it possible for love to know or not know someone? If there is divine love, then is it possible that it wouldn't know an individual? 1 Peter 5:7 tells us that God cares for us. How could this knowledge affect the way we live, the way we treat other people, and the way we respond to God?

8. The song, 'White As Snow' uses biblical imagery – love divine, a lamb and a heart as white as snow – and its music is based on the hymn, 'Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel'. Yet Sean O'Hagan, writing for the Guardian, calls it, 'the quietest, most intimate, and arguably most arresting song that U2 have ever made.' Why do you think this kind of song might appeal to a mainstream audience? Does it appeal to you?

9. The song, 'Cedars of Lebanon' talks about 'squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline'. Are we ever prone to making similar judgments on other people? How do we feel when it seems that someone else makes simplistic judgments about us? How can we avoid over-simplifying our judgments of others?

10. Choose your enemies carefully 'cos they will define you
    Make them interesting 'cos in some ways they will mind you
    They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends
    Gonna last with you longer than your friends

    In what ways do a person's enemies define him or her? Do you think enemies have a greater effect on a person than their friends? In what ways? Do you agree with Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5 about the proper way to treat an enemy? Read Romans 12:20. How does this compare with Jesus' own teaching? If your motivation is to punish your enemy by obeying this verse, is it good or bad?

11. What do you think of Bono's argument for Karma and Grace? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

12. Do you think it is possible to do enough good things to counteract all the negative actions performed in one life? Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we cannot save ourselves through any good things that we do, but only by God's grace. How does it feel to have to entrust eternal salvation to God? Is it good not to have to worry about it, or is it uncomfortable to hand over control to someone else?

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