And here are the lyrics:
One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed up on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
I've heard this song so many times, and I've never really realized this! I wonder if this is common knowledge or maybe I'm just clueless!
ReplyDeleteI've heard this song so many times, and I've never really realized this! I wonder if this is common knowledge or maybe I'm just clueless!
ReplyDeleteThis comparison is so cool! In my Global class right now, we are studying MLK, and I totally see parallels with Jesus. Both came to set people free from oppression, Jesus spiritually and MLK physically and societally. Both were leaders of movements who relied on God for guidance. Both were also humble figures who peacefully conveyed a strong message that demanded action.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's cool that this song has encoded lyrics, and, like Olivia was saying, people don't even realize it! I think there are more songs like this than we know. (Ex: Hollow by Tori Kelly is about God -- maybe I'm behind, but I just found out about that!) It's interesting to see how people draw comparisons like this in songs, and we don't even know half the time!
I have grown up listening to this song all the time and I never noticed the lyrics were about Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. My mom would always play this song when I was a kid because she loves U2 and since she is 100% Irish, she loved the band even more since they are from Ireland. I think it is crazy that I never noticed the words since I have heard this song about a hundred or so times. I also agree with Kendall that there are a ton of comparisons between MLK and Jesus. We spoke about Uncle Tom being alike to Jesus, but MLK, to me, seems like a much better comparison in his character and his actions. Jesus is portrayed in many of the writings in the bible as being calm and cool in the face of death and danger, just like Martin Luther King Jr. was during all of the protests. MLK's character was way more similar to Jesus's than Uncle Tom's was. Jesus's and Uncle Tom's deaths (or almost death in Uncle Tom's case) were definitely very similar but as a whole I think Martin Luther King Jr. is way closer to Jesus.
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