Day 16 – A Song That Makes You Cry

As pathetic as it sounds, there are lots of songs that make me cry. These days, a lot of them are sad songs.

But…there’s one that stands out above them all, and, it brings tears of joy, so we’ll go with it

Where The Streets Have No Name is a beautiful song in and of itself, but THIS version (the one you HAVE to watch after reading this) is by far the best and I’ll tell you why.

I was there to see this transition happen live. U2 played one of their older songs (“40″) which is Psalm 40 set to music. “How long, to sing this song?” is the question we’ve all asked from time to time. Not just David. Bono ends the song acapela, and the entire arena sings along. It really became one of the most powerful church services…EVER! Hands raised. Tears. Voices crying out, even if they didn’t really know who they were crying out to. “How long God? We’ve waited patiently…how long do we have to keep waiting? How long to sing this song?”

Then, those guitar notes. The Edge’s magnificent delay rings out and with tears, power, and most of all passion, Bono begins quoting scripture confessing that he hasn’t forgotten the promise he made to God all those years ago and confirms he’ll follow through on the promise he made to him.

As the song kicks in….joy overwhelms me. I remember it overflowing my heart…the only place it could escape was through my hands that were raised to the sky and the tears that streamed down my face.

It was truly one of the most powerful moments, and this video captures what it was like for me. Every time I watch it, I cry.

Tears of joy.

Following the song, there is a brief clip of Bono’s speech while accepting an award. Also moving.