"White as Snow" was recorded in one take during two weeks of recording sessions in Fez, Morocco in 2007, though it received some minor editing in the final sessions in December 2008.At this time, it was taken out of the 'Maybe' pile to balance out the rockier tunes present earlier on, with Adam Clayton noting that "it gave the listener a break." Original plans were for the track to start with an explosion, though this was later scrapped.Richard Watkins played the French horn in the song.The melody of the song is based on that of the traditional Advent hymn "Veni, veni Emmanuel".Bono noted that, with the exception of "White as Snow", the band had tried to keep the theme of war out of the album.
"White as Snow" appears as the fourth track in the Anton Corbijn film Linear, based on a story by Corbijn and Bono where a Parisian traffic cop travels across France and the Mediterranian Sea to visit his girlfriend in Tripoli.
White as Snow
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The land was flat, the highway straight and wide
My brother and I, we'd drive for hours, like we'd years instead of days
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow
Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness when forgiveness is not?
And the water it was icy
As it washed over me
And the moon shined above me
Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow
As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep, the night shun out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
For only a heart could be as white as snow
For only a heart could be as white as snow
The song “White as Snow” by U2 is a deeply contemplative piece that highlights the themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the possibility of purity amidst the human condition of sin. The opening lines of the song describe the singer’s childhood, where he lived in a flat, featureless land. These memories are juxtaposed with a more recent time, where he talks about his struggles with love and forgiveness. The line “Only the land as white as snow” can be interpreted in different ways; it could be a reference to the white snow acting as a metaphor for the transformative powers of divine love, or it could be a commentary on the possibility of purity and forgiveness being non-existent in the harsh, barren landscape of contemporary society.
The song then moves on to explore the sense of loss and emptiness that the singer feels within himself. The line “Now this dry ground bears no fruit at all” is evocative of a sense of stagnation and lack of meaning in life. He talks about the “poppies laugh[ing] under the crescent moon”, a surreal image that could be interpreted as commenting on the futility of trying to find beauty and meaning in a world that feels bleak and empty. The final lines of the song, “For only a heart could be as white as snow” highlight the idea that redemption and purity are only attainable to individuals who are willing to undergo a process of self-reflection and inner transformation.
Line by Line Meaning
Where I came from were no hills at all
The place I'm from was devoid of any geographical features such as hills
The land was flat, the highway straight and wide
The land was flat and barren with a straight and wide highway running through it
My brother and I, we'd drive for hours, like we'd years instead of days
My brother and I would drive for hours on end, and it would feel like a long time had passed
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow
Our faces would be as pale as the dirty snow due to exhaustion or boredom
Once I knew there was a love divine
I used to believe in the existence of divine love
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
But then I went through a phase where I thought divine love wasn't meant for me
Who can forgive forgiveness when forgiveness is not?
It's tough to show forgiveness when you haven't been forgiven
Only the land as white as snow
The only thing that can be truly pure and unblemished is the land that's white with snow
And the water it was icy
The water that washed over me was cold as ice
As it washed over me
When the water flowed over me
And the moon shined above me
The moon was luminous above me
Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
The land is now arid and infertile with no sign of growth
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The only things that thrive under the crescent moon are poppies which are known to be hardy and grow in adverse conditions
The road refuses strangers
The road doesn't welcome any new comers or outsiders
The land the seeds we sow
The land is the result of what we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow
Where can we find true purity and goodness like a lamb that's white as snow
As boys we would go hunting in the woods
When we were younger, we used to hunt in the woods
To sleep, the night shun out the stars
At night the darkness would blot out the stars and we would sleep
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Nowadays, we view everyone suspiciously as if they are wolves disguised as people
Every face we cannot know
The faces of people we don't know are a mystery to us
For only a heart could be as white as snow
Only our hearts have the potential to be truly pure and unblemished
For only a heart could be as white as snow
Our hearts are the only things that can be pristine like a lamb that's white as snow
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: BRIAN PETER GEORGE ENO, ADAM CLAYTON, DAVID EVANS, PAUL DAVID HEWSON, DANIEL ROLAND LANOIS, LAURENCE MULLEN JNR., Barry Gray
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
A me
on eleven o' clock tick tock
And girls can make children but not like this one...so will just have to walk around with a painted face then...
LMewdowlark
on One
Baby, baby, baby, I know I'm not alone
Ha, ha, ha
Oh, it's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
Let's shout into the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we're gonna go crazy, you know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy, if we don't go crazy tonight
Oh, slowly
Oh
Hold me slow
Again, these are the wrong lyrics. They are not the lyrics for 'One' but a different song. I pasted the correct lyrics in my other comment.
LMewdowlark
on One
And there's a part of you that wants me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet-tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
Oh, change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubting?
We're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won't listen to you boys and girls
Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard?
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
But we're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now
You got someone to blame?
You say, one love, one life
When it's one need in the night
One love, we get to share it
Leaves you, baby, if you don't care for it
Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well, it's too late tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much? More than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got
We're one but we're not the same
Well, we hurt each other then we do it again
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holdin' on to what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters, brothers
One life but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
One