Works that Shaped the World: U2

In 2022, the HRC’s Works that Shaped the World public lecture series focuses on religion.
Since forming in Dublin in 1976, U2 has often been referred to as a Christian band, with scholars finding explicit and coded Biblical references in their lyrics. Their music is often described as “spiritual” and their live shows as “religious experiences”, appealing to secular audiences with messages of faith and belief that resonate beyond the practice of any specific denomination.
U2 has a body of work that spans more than 45 years, with fourteen studio albums and four decades of hit singles, including “Where the Streets Have No Name” (1987), “One” (1992), and “Beautiful Day” (2000). Since U2 performed at Live Aid in 1985, lead singer Bono has spearheaded high profile social justice campaigns such as Make Poverty History, ONE, and (Red), lobbying world leaders to help the world’s poor.
This public lecture will examine the religious elements of the U2 phenomenon: from their faith inspired activism, to the signs and codes in their lyrics and performance, to the religious devotion of their followers, and the ways in which they have inspired fans to take action to change the world.
Presenter
Naomi Dinnen is a music journalist and fan turned academic. She is a lecturer in the School of Music at ANU where she is currently completing her PhD, “Finding the Influence of the Hebrew Bible in the Music of U2”. Naomi organised the U2 Conference in Sydney in November 2019, coinciding with the band’s Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour, and her chapter “You Don't See Me But You Will: Jewish Thought and U2” was published in U2 and the Religious Impulse: Take Me Higher.
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Image: U2 live in Boston, 2005 (by Phil Romans, CC via Flickr)
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