Drinking in a “Beautiful Day,” lead singer Bono urges others to do the same. He assuages his partner’s fears, reminds her of his love and promises to stand by her through difficult times (“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”). Mourning the loss of strangers to war (“They’re reading names out over the radio/All the folks the rest of us won’t get to know”), Bono wonders why sorrow and pain always seem to interrupt the Christmas ideal of “Peace on Earth.” “Walk On” is a song of encouragement dedicated to Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi. The city that never sleeps is symbolic of wrongful enticements, but the artist—by putting his family first—has rebounded from ruin and learned to resist its vices (“New York”). “Grace” is both a virtue and a woman on the song of the same title, a celebration of beauty and the cleansing power of goodness (“Grace, it’s the name for a girl/It’s also a thought that changed the world”). The singer struggles for a divine perspective on worldly chaos (“When I Look at the World”). A line on “Wild Honey” suggests a belief in divine creation, however . . .
That same song also gives a nod to Darwinian evolution (“In the days when we were swinging from the trees/I was a monkey”).
Fortunately, the band doesn’t float down the dubious streams of consciousness that ran through its last disc, Pop. This project is a throwback to earlier U2. Families should be able to navigate the lone caveat and make it a welcome guest in their homes.
