How have U2 achieved popular and economic success in a music industry which, on the face of it, is not terribly receptive towards pop-stars who like to write hymns and - as on their U2 360 tour - build cathedrals? This paper examines the role played by U2’s emphasis on the formal, mystical, and experiential aspects of their music, and how that emphasis coincides with a religious trend which since at least the 1960s can be located throughout the arts, popular music, and-in a perhaps surprising association-charismatic and evangelical Christianity. Lastly, the paper examines some examples of the reception of the U2 song 'Magnificent' which demonstrate the effectiveness of U2's secret biblical allusions in creating two largely discrete groups of listeners. The paper also distinguishes a secret or hidden allusion from a generic allusion on pragmatic and socio-cultural grounds, and demonstrates the potential of secret allusions to increase semantic indeterminacy. With detailed reference to U2's songs, this paper examines the covert tendencies of allusion and the manner by which it is able to engage the listener's intertextual imagination. Through their utilization of biblical allusions, U2 therefore construct two different, perhaps even irreconcilable, groups of listeners-a knowledgeable Christian in-group and an unknowledgeable non-Christian out-group. The device of allusion is especially amenable to this end, as the meaning of an allusion can only be considered by a reader or listener who possesses the requisite competency in respect of the evoked text(s). Using the theories expressed by Ien Ang in On Not Speaking Chinese as a starting point, I will apply the ideas of hybridity in the Chinese abroad presented by Ang to Irish-Americans and the idea of "Shamrock and Roll" created by the Murphys.Ĭonfronted with a popular music subculture which is predominantly antipathetic to Christianity, the charismatic-evangelical members of rock band U2 double code their lyrics in such a manner that Christian references are hidden from mainstream listeners and media while being readily recognizable to their Christian fans. Creating a new edge to punk with the incorporation of bagpipes and banjos the Dropkick Murphys have not only created a niche that they have filled happily for the past two decades but have created their own hybrid of what it means to be Irish-American. As Irish-Americans, the members of the Murphys are among the large group of Irish abroad, and in particular, those residing in the United States. As punkers, the reinvent traditional Irish music made famous by the likes of the Clancy Brothers and Christy Moore while building upon the "full range of characterization" of the Irish present in punk mainstays The Pogues (McLaughlin, McLoone, 191). Celtic-Punkers the Dropkick Murphys blend traditional Irish folk songs with gruffy, angry and a distinctly Boston edge.
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