I really enjoyed all of the new songs that U2 premiered on the Summer 2010 leg of the 360 tour. Songs like “Glastonbury”, “North Star” and “Every Breaking Wave” really made those shows something special, as did my personal favorite of the songs that debuted at those shows, intro “Return of the Stingray Guitar”. I was really disappointed when “…Stingray Guitar” didn’t receive enough votes to be included on U22 or From the Ground Up, but I was quite pleased to discover that the song had metamorphosed into “Lucifer’s Hands” and found a home on the second disc of the limited edition release of Songs of Innocence.

“Lucifer’s Hands” is an interesting song, and one that took me a while to get a handle on. When I first heard the song, my immediate thought was that Bono was once again referencing the drug heroin in the song’s lyrics as the titular hands of the devil, but after listening to the track for the last seven months or so, I’ve changed my mind. I now think that the song is much more spiritual in nature, and contains one of the most straightforward lyrics on the album.

It’s my belief that the references contained herein to Lucifer’s hands are talking about exactly what they seem to be on the surface – the literal grasp of Satan. According to Bono’s beliefs, before he accepted salvation and became a born-again Christian, his soul was in the possession of the devil. Since that time, Bono’s eternal soul has belonged to Christ. I don’t think that when Bono sings “you’re no longer in control of me – I am” that he’s claiming to be solely in control of his own destiny. In the Bible, “I AM” is a name that God gives for himself. I think therefore that Bono is saying “I’m out of the devil’s control, I’m in God’s hands.”

This is a song about Bono’s acceptance of, and conversion to, a true belief in Jesus as his personal savior. I think that a lot of the song’s lyrics, especially the verses, clearly recall the time that the band spent with the Shalom group in Dublin when they were teenagers and young adults. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories before about the difficulties the band members, especially Edge, felt during this time as he tried to reconcile life in a rock band with his understanding of what it meant to be a Christian. It seems that “Lucifer’s Hands” is a reaffirmation, all these years later, that they’ve lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle without falling prey to the excesses that normally go along with it. They’ve managed to chase their dreams while remaining true to their principles, and they’ve managed to grow as Christians while doing it. Now, they’re shaken off the rules and strictures of the Shalom community and traded religion for close, personal relationships with God.