Lyrics: One Tree Hill (U2)
Since I know its meaning and the story behind it, I really am close to crying whenever I hear this song.
We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes
You run like a river, on like a sea
You run like a river runs to the sea
And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire zone
Where poets speak their heart, then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love
You know his blood still cries from the ground
It runs like a river, runs to the sea
It runs like a river to the sea
I don't believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful
I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill
We run like a river, run to the sea
We run like a river to the sea
And when it's raining, raining hard
That's when the rain will break my heart
Raining, raining in the heart
Raining in your heart
Raining, raining to your
Raining, raining, raining
Raining to your
Raining, oooh, oooh
Raining in your heart
To the sea
Oh, great ocean
Oh, great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea
First off, this song could have hundreds of meanings as it seems to touch on many aspects of life-loss-religion in a very poetic way:
"We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill"
^^Just one example from the lyrics that basically means “we all die”.
"As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes"
^^ Describes the feeling of the song so well...
"And when its raining, raining hard
That's when the rain will break my heart"
^^The person this song is about died on a rainy day (supposedly).
Here's the story behind the song:
In early July 1986, Greg Carroll, Bono's 26 years old personal assistant and stage roadie collided with a car on Dublin's Morehampton Road while riding Bono's Harley Davidson. Bono and his wife Ali, Larry and his girlfriend Anne, and crew members Joe O'Herlihy and Steve Iredale attended Carroll's funeral in Wanganui, New Zealand on July 10, 1986.
Bono actually used what turned out to be this song as the actual eulogy at Greg’s funeral.
Later he claimed that their grief over Carroll's death was why the cover of Joshua Tree featured the band in the desert, "that year really was a desert time for us" he said. The Joshua Tree album also is dedicated to the memory of Greg.
The reason why the song is entitled “One Tree Hill” is because when U2 were in New Zealand in 1984, Greg explained the significance of One Tree Hill for Maoris to the band (as the band played at the Logan Cambell centre, near One Tree Hill). Moreover, the line
"Run like a river to the sea (...)"
and
"Oh, great ocean
Oh, great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea"
is used because the ancient northern Maori tribes believed that if someone died, then their soul would fly through the hills and rivers to the sea.
Then they'd look back, and then fly to heaven or afterlife.
By now however, there’s no tree anymore on One Tree Hill as it had to be choped down because it was sick (something like that).
"I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill"
^^ means that someone had died (Greg) and that they'll see him again on judgement day - Indeed, The stars shall fall from the heavens and The moon shall be as red as blood, as written by John in the book of Revelation, Bono expects to see Greg again on the day of judgement.
However, there’s also a political reference in the song, dedicated to Victor Jara:
"And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire zone
Where poets speak their heart, then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love
You know his blood still cries from the ground"
^^ Jara was an influencial musical force in Chile during the Allende era. He was an outspoken critic of the government and sang his songs as a weapon against the tyranny. In 1973 he was rounded up in a Chilean Stadium with hundreds of others and was tortured and killed. The reference to the “hands of love” refer to the fact that the Chilean torturers first broke his hands and taunted him to play his guitar and sing. It was reported that he stood up and sang a verse from one of his songs in defiance and was killed by gunfire. He was buried in a mass grave, hence
"his blood still cries from the ground"
Moreover,
"I don't believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful"
Could also be interpreted in a political way.
VERY good video for the song
Live in Auckland 2006
Sources:
U2MoL
Songmeanings.net
PS: "One Tree Hill" is one of 3 songs on The Joshua Tree album from the "suite of death" as The Edge once described it. The others are "Exit" and "Mothers Of The Disappeared".
We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes
You run like a river, on like a sea
You run like a river runs to the sea
And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire zone
Where poets speak their heart, then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love
You know his blood still cries from the ground
It runs like a river, runs to the sea
It runs like a river to the sea
I don't believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful
I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill
We run like a river, run to the sea
We run like a river to the sea
And when it's raining, raining hard
That's when the rain will break my heart
Raining, raining in the heart
Raining in your heart
Raining, raining to your
Raining, raining, raining
Raining to your
Raining, oooh, oooh
Raining in your heart
To the sea
Oh, great ocean
Oh, great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea
First off, this song could have hundreds of meanings as it seems to touch on many aspects of life-loss-religion in a very poetic way:
"We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill"
^^Just one example from the lyrics that basically means “we all die”.
"As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun so bright, it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes"
^^ Describes the feeling of the song so well...
"And when its raining, raining hard
That's when the rain will break my heart"
^^The person this song is about died on a rainy day (supposedly).
Here's the story behind the song:
In early July 1986, Greg Carroll, Bono's 26 years old personal assistant and stage roadie collided with a car on Dublin's Morehampton Road while riding Bono's Harley Davidson. Bono and his wife Ali, Larry and his girlfriend Anne, and crew members Joe O'Herlihy and Steve Iredale attended Carroll's funeral in Wanganui, New Zealand on July 10, 1986.
Bono actually used what turned out to be this song as the actual eulogy at Greg’s funeral.
Later he claimed that their grief over Carroll's death was why the cover of Joshua Tree featured the band in the desert, "that year really was a desert time for us" he said. The Joshua Tree album also is dedicated to the memory of Greg.
The reason why the song is entitled “One Tree Hill” is because when U2 were in New Zealand in 1984, Greg explained the significance of One Tree Hill for Maoris to the band (as the band played at the Logan Cambell centre, near One Tree Hill). Moreover, the line
"Run like a river to the sea (...)"
and
"Oh, great ocean
Oh, great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea"
is used because the ancient northern Maori tribes believed that if someone died, then their soul would fly through the hills and rivers to the sea.
Then they'd look back, and then fly to heaven or afterlife.
By now however, there’s no tree anymore on One Tree Hill as it had to be choped down because it was sick (something like that).
"I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill"
^^ means that someone had died (Greg) and that they'll see him again on judgement day - Indeed, The stars shall fall from the heavens and The moon shall be as red as blood, as written by John in the book of Revelation, Bono expects to see Greg again on the day of judgement.
However, there’s also a political reference in the song, dedicated to Victor Jara:
"And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire zone
Where poets speak their heart, then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love
You know his blood still cries from the ground"
^^ Jara was an influencial musical force in Chile during the Allende era. He was an outspoken critic of the government and sang his songs as a weapon against the tyranny. In 1973 he was rounded up in a Chilean Stadium with hundreds of others and was tortured and killed. The reference to the “hands of love” refer to the fact that the Chilean torturers first broke his hands and taunted him to play his guitar and sing. It was reported that he stood up and sang a verse from one of his songs in defiance and was killed by gunfire. He was buried in a mass grave, hence
"his blood still cries from the ground"
Moreover,
"I don't believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful"
Could also be interpreted in a political way.
VERY good video for the song
Live in Auckland 2006
Sources:
U2MoL
Songmeanings.net
PS: "One Tree Hill" is one of 3 songs on The Joshua Tree album from the "suite of death" as The Edge once described it. The others are "Exit" and "Mothers Of The Disappeared".