It’s time to talk about the elephant in the U2 room, and that’s “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight“. Is there any other song off the new CD that makes you more uncomfortable than SLABT?  One of the problems is that it’s so good – I love it and hate it at the same time, if that makes any sense. This song will take you into the deepest, darkest hell of a person’s soul, and when you try to climb out, it’ll grab you and bring you down further.

Haunting is one of the most overused adjectives when discussing music, but it describes the sound of this song perfectly.   Most believe the song to be about the atrocities which church “officials” committed, and which were then covered up by shuffling these animals from different parish to parish to prey on their next victim(s) unbeknownst to them or the congregation.

The piano notes at the beginning of the song puts the listener right there in the dark, long corridor that leads to the sacrificial lamb, the place that altered and destroyed so many lives. The listener is then fast forwarded to the next day’s breakfast and how this “person” simply moves on with their daily bread so easily.  The contrast of how the “person” can “sleep like a baby” while another one of their victims commits suicide is once again…haunting, disturbing, disgusting and about one thousand other “-ING” words that cannot be printed here.

Bono’s falsetto in the middle of the song could represent the screams of all the victims and how those screams went unheard for decades because of the massive cover up. The song ends with The Edge making his guitar wail as if in agony only to be muted at the very end as a gentle lullaby fades the song into darkness.

The song fades after 5:02, but the scars of these atrocities have lasted for decades and have manifested themselves in drug & alcohol abuse, depression, and a guilt so strong that many see the only way out is through suicide.  While many have sought help, many more continue to live with this never ending nightmare. For millions, the church is a place of serenity, peace and hope, but for the victims, the church is where the war is. We need the victims to heed the battle call…HELP IS AVAILABLE!

Trying to convince the victims that NONE OF THIS WAS THEIR FAULT is a tall order and I’m not naive enough to think that my blog will be the catalyst needed to spark action, so I will do something that I do so well and that is beg. I’m BEGGING any victim of the horrific scandals that have destroyed so many lives to seek help.  The trick is not learning how to forget, the trick is learning how move on and live a productive life and then, hopefully, with a lot of work, to learn how to forgive.  U2 stands up for hope, faith and love and you too can stand up for those as well.  Get your head out of the mud of sorrow and shame and go to the overground.  That is where help awaits.

If you need help or know someone that needs help, please click the link.

snapnetwork.org