It's nothing new for Brits to sing the blues. The first British (rock) Invasion drew its inspiration from the Rhythm and Blues artists of the southern USA: The Rolling Stones and The Beatles began their careers by covering the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson. While the defeatist tone of How Soon Is Now lies like a lonely shadow at the feet of the defiant climax of One, the accompanying lyrics of each song demonstrates their complementariness. The hopeful tone of the U2 lyrics goes beyond a generic peace, love and happiness theme to address the real work of authentic community. Immediately following the beloved lyric comes the tender warning and exhortation, “We're one, but we're not the same. We've got to carry each other.” The realization that we are not the same is both helpful and hopeful, for it points us towards the uniqueness of every person and indicates that the answers to relational problems are not to be found in the lone individual. To ignore our individual uniqueness is to enable inadequate conflict resolution and to deny ourselves the privilege and benefits of carrying one another. Still, while the picture of carrying one another satisfies our sentimental values, the reality of living in community is far more complex.

I was walking through the woods with my daughter. She's three, so her days are filled with new revelations, like how water splashes when a stone gets thrown in or that the breeze on her face also makes the trees sing. Three is great because jabbers and giggles have become words and phrases. I hear her discover and get to rediscover. I answer the simplest question and am reminded of insights I'd forgotten. I feel no pressure to be anything more than I am, and discover again the peace of just being.

The complete U2 lyrics suggest that love for the world's shared humanity can unite all people even amidst great diversity. The Smiths' lyric has a different feel. But, it is not as drab as it first seems. Although there is despair, this is no teenage apathy or self-righteousness; it is love being sought in earnest, but never found. Lead singer Steven Morrissey cries out, “I need to be loved, just like everybody else does!”

The unfortunate thing about the U2 line—”one life, with each other, sisters, brothers”—is that it was taken quite out of context. But then, I guess that that was the purpose of the survey—to find just one line which people remembered. With that in mind, I will deal with just that one line, ignoring the rest of the lyrics. That seems to be what happens with many memorable lyrics in any case—people hear what they want to hear and ignore the rest, ignore the hidden message, ignore what else may be taken from the lyrics. If people listened to all of the lyrics of popular songs, I think that some of them may not be quite as popular.

Rev. Dr. DeCourcey H. Rayner was a legendary fellow. A minister, he was also editor of the Record, and moderator of the 103rd general assembly. […]