‘Where the streets have no name’ is one of the most famous songs by U2 rock band from their album The Joshua Tree. The album was released in 1987 and the song is the opening track though it was released as the third single. The group decided to have it as the opening track due to its fame among their fans in the UK and U.S in order to establish identity and market the album. Since the release of the album, the song has become the band’s most famous song and has won a Grammy Award for the best music video. Let me admit that ‘where streets have no name’ is one of my favorites and the best song from U2. The most touching parts of the song are the introduction and the end whereby there is a rhythmic repeating of the guitar with a delay effect making it so consoling. It is argued that the band’s lead vocalist, Bono, was influenced to write the lyrics of the song by the situation in Belfast where you could identify a persons’ status in terms of income and religion depending on the street on which they lived. Bono was not happy with this class division and wanted to inform his fans about a situation where there will be no street names to classify people (U2, 9).
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The song makes me feel encouraged regardless of the hardships in life or situations that make one feel like giving up. Though the song is not a gospel, to me it is more of a religious song than a secular one. It is worth noting that Bono, the writer of the song is devoted Christian and he is famous with his charity works to the less privileged members of the society. Therefore, Bono might have included Christianity notions when writing this song making it sound religious. Streets were named depending on the class of the people living in them and by mere mentioning of the street where one lived you could tell his/her religion and wealth. Just as it was in the times of Bono, cases of division on religious and wealth basis are common phenomenon even today. There are famous streets and places for the rich and influential members of the society and shanty streets that are homes for the poor and less influential members of the society.
The song ‘ where streets have no name, makes me feel encouraged that regardless of the street that I live here on earth, there is a place where street will have no names. There all people will be equal and there will be no division or classification in terms of wealth possessions or ones religious background. To me this place is heaven all religions believe there is another life after death. The introductory stanza of the song gives me strength to live and work hard to overcome my challenges with faith that one day I will join another heavenly kingdom where we will all be equal. The song makes me realize that the fact we are living in dusty and unhealthy places full of health hazards does not makes us lesser before God (U2 16).
The song has a message for the well up members of the society who do not care about the less fortune ones. They should realize that one day the dusty clouds will disappear and those suffering will shelter from the poison rain under the roofs of the heavenly kingdom which they have been building through there sufferings. The song makes me feel bad whenever I see people ravishing in poverty while others have wealth that they do not need. The rich ones should help the needy ones so that we will go together in the heavenly kingdom. In the song Bono writes that he is still building the city and he will go there with us all. As a believer, the song makes me feel challenged since it is not easy to treat those who are not merciful to you kindly. However, it is clear from the song that heavenly kingdom is not selective and we all have space there as long as we live according to the teachings of God. Generally, I feel that this song is a highlight of how our societies are and how we are supposed to live regardless of our social differences.