2. Magnificent

The more I listen to this track, the more I think that it could be their next single… or one of the better singles off of this disc. The intro doesn’t really lend itself to radio, but then again, neither did Stairway to Heaven. Intro’s can always be trimmed too, but I’ll just keep listening to it from the disc.

Musically this has some great classic U2 stuff in it. The Edge pulls out his signature dotted eighth delay on the lead line in the chorus (and elsewhere I’m sure). Bono’s soaring voice matches the guitar line in the U2 kind of way, with Adam and Larry holding everything together with the drums and bass. The intro is a bit grungy in the guitars with a fun synth/loop thing going on before the dance like synth part comes in with the snare and guitar build in the background. The whole thing has a sweet dance groove, w ith clapping… who doesn’t like clapping?! There’s also some hand drums hidden in there which help it stay far enough away from a pure dance song to assure me that a club mix won’t be happening. The bridge gives some space at the beginning followed by one of the Edge’s great melodic (repeating) slide solo. Again, there’s something about the melody in the chorus of this song that reminds me of coldplay, but I consider that a good thing.

Lyrically, this is as close to a worship song as U2 gets I think. “Only love, only love can leave such a mark, Only love, only love can heal such a scar.” In the first verse Bono touches on the fact that we’re met in this “space and time,” implying a relational God (or that’s what I think at least). “This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue,” he’s touching on the fall and the fact that we’re all scared in some way. The second verse is an interesting take on worship and how God is glorified in everything that his creation does. The lines are ripe with implications of all kinds of theology, but I’ll leave a detailed analysis of my opinion of all of it to another time. The end of the second and third choruses keep going with what is probably some of the strongest theological lines coming out of a band that doesn’t adhere to the “Christian” music industry. “Justified until we die, you and I will magnify the magnificent.”

The  thing I haven’t quite wrapped my head around is who Bono’s refering to in the we. Whether he’s saying that everyone is magnifying the magnificent or that only those who chose to intentionally magnify him are the we, it’s an interesting statement.

Definately one of my favorite songs on the disc. Great music and great lyrics.