U2@40: Song #28 - WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN

Rattle and Hum was a film and record of U2 exploring the American music that fascinated them. It is hard to imagine it influenced Boy. The Ramones and Patti Smith were more immediate to them in their late teens. As they grew up, however, and travelled across America they became more aware of the rich seam of traditions in music. It was fair game for young developing artists to explore. 

So U2 went name checking Bill Holiday, quoting Miles Davis, recording in Sun Studios and writing with Bob Dylan. It was inevitable that it would lead to the Blues and Spirituals. Cue a song written for BB King.

When Love Comes To Town sees Bono in his element. The most secular, even atheist of artists are comfortable singing about God and Jesus when it is in the genre of Gospel, Spiritual and Blues. Since their discovery of right wing fundamentalist American Christianity U2 had been a little self conscious about being explicit about faith. There was a fear of being misrepresented.

Putting himself in the part of a Spiritual Blues writer set Bono free. On When Love Comes To Town, we don’t only get Jesus we get the crucifixion. Before we get to Calvary we get a bit of train travelling. Yes, Woody Guthrie was always using trains and This Train Is Bound For Glory is brought to mind. However, this is more Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready in its feel and sense of salvation and ultimate eternal liberation.

 

When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train

When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame

Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down

But I did what I did before love came to town

 

Bono tells us in the book U2 by U2 about giving the song to BB King:

 

“There was a deeply humbling moment as I watched the great man read the lyrics. It’s talking about the soldiers rolling the dice for Christ’s robes, its betrayal at every level. He said to me: ‘You’re kind of young to write such heavy lyrics’.” 

 

U2’s faith experience as teenagers made sure they would always write heavy lyrics. They were asking cosmic questions from the get go and were immersed in the literary stories, literature and ideas of the Scriptures.

When Love Comes to Town is about betrayal, yes…. but it is ultimately about redemption. It finds itself almost paraphrasing an old spiritual Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord). It was first published in 1899 in Old Plantation Hymns:

 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (Were you there?)

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

O Sometimes it causes me to tremble! tremble! tremble!

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 

Were you there when they pierced him in the side? (Were you there?)

Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

O Sometimes it causes me to tremble! tremble! tremble!

Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

 

That second verse seems to have been in Bono’s mind when he wrote:

 

I was there when they crucified my Lord

I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword

I threw the dice when they pierced his side

But I've seen love conquer the great divide.

 

For the Christian the crucifixion is the conquering work of Christ, followed as it is with Christ’s resurrection. The great divide is conquered. Love has come to town.