In God’s Country (U2)

Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky.
The rivers run but soon run dry.
We need new dreams tonight.
Desert rose, dreamed I saw a desert rose
Dress torn in ribbons and bows
Like a siren she calls (to me).

Sleep comes like a drug in God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country

Set me alight, we'll punch a hole right through the night.
Every day the dreamers die to see what's on the other side.
She is liberty, and she comes to rescue me.
Hope, faith, her vanity
The greatest gift is gold.

Sleep comes like a drug in God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country

Naked flame, she stands with a naked flame
I stand with the sons of Cain
Burned by the fire of love
Burned by the fire of love. 

In God’s Country is a song on U2’s Joshua Tree album, which contends that wealth is threatening the health of the American church. The song employs imagery of the Arizona desert to convey how the culture of American capitalism seduces the American church. The words “God’s Country” are probably a reference to the church. When the song speaks in the first person by referring to “I” or “me,” the first person is probably the church and not Bono.

“Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky. The rivers run but soon run dry. We need new dreams tonight.” Just as the sun evaporates the source of life when it beats down upon the desert, so also does greed destroy the life of the church. As Jesus said in the parable of the sower, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 14:22) Greed destroys the life and fruitfulness of the church.

“Desert rose, dreamed I saw a desert rose / Dress torn in ribbons and bows Like a siren she calls (to me).” A desert rose is a beautiful flower that is native to the Arizona desert called an Arizona Rosewood. [See Left] You will notice that the plants actually are “torn in ribbons and bows.” The Sirens that call are women in Greek mythology that lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli. Cliffs and rocks surrounded this island. Sailors who sailed near the island would be seduced by their beautiful singing, and this would cause the sailors to crash into the cliffs and drown. Therefore, the beautiful desert rose that calls like a siren symbolizes the dangerous seduction of the American church by wealth. 

“Sleep comes like a drug in God's country / Sad eyes, crooked crosses, in God's country.” When a person is lost in the middle of a desert without any water, sleep is like a drug because it is difficult to resist, and it will produce death if one does not resist it. The only way that such a person can hope to survive is to resist the temptation and to persevere. Similarly, greed is a temptation that the church must persevere to avoid for its own survival. There is a cactus in the Arizona desert called the Saguaro cactus. [See Right] You will notice that a dead Saguaro cactus looks very much like a crooked cross. However, crooked crosses are also a reference to corruption (or death) within the church. Near the time that U2 made this album, there were major scandals involving two major televangelists. Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart engaged in sexual immorality and extreme greed. On the Rattle and Hum movie, which U2 produced during the Joshua Tree Tour, U2 did a performance at a huge stadium in Arizona. During the performance of Bullet and Blue Sky, Bono denounced an unidentified preacher on the Old Time Gospel Hour for “stealing money from the sick and the old.”

“Set me alight, we'll punch a hole right through the night. Every day the dreamers die to see what's on the other side. She is liberty, and she comes to rescue me. Hope, faith, her vanity / The greatest gift is gold.” This is probably a reference to another feature of the Arizona desert, which is illegal immigration. The greed that often exists in the United States even draws people from other parts of the world.

Naked flame, she stands with a naked flame / I stand with the sons of Cain / Burned by the fire of love / Burned by the fire of love.” The same desire for money that can bring people from other parts of the world can also impact the church. Jesus made his expectations about wealth very clear. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:19-24) Jesus is not saying that we should not seek out wealth, but he is saying that we should not serve ourselves with the wealth that we obtain. A person stores up treasures on earth when they use their wealth in service of self. A person stores up treasures in heaven by being generous with one’s wealth and serving God and others through it. The amount of wealth that one stores in heaven is an indication of how devoted one is to God.

Standing with the sons of Cain is a direct reference to a passage in the book of Jude. It says, “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. . . . Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.” (Jude 1:3-11) Sons of Cain are people within the church who are corrupted and led astray by the deception of wealth.

"Burned by the fire of love" refers to a passage in Revelation. In Revelation, messages are given to several churches. One of those messages was to the church in Laodicea. This was the message to that church: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Revelation 3:14-21) Bono is arguing that the American church, like the church this letter is being addressed to, is lukewarm because of the effect of greed on the church. The church needs to undergo a purification, which Bono calls being "burned by the fire of love." We undergo this purification when we store up treasure in heaven by loving God and loving others instead of using wealth in service of self.

(Posted by Trask)