To discuss women in Bono's lyrics is to discuss every song in his entire 30 year catalog. It would take volumes of writing and intense debate. After I became a U2 fan I would hear songs like Gone and wonder who these messed up, predatory women were that Bono was writing about. So I started doing some investigation and realized a few things:

1)That he really doesn't talk about predatory as often as he talks about a "goddess." Goddess in the sense that she may be all-knowing, or have healing powers, be unattainable, or be somehow better than the narrator. An example of this would be UltraViolet, Mysterious Ways, In God's Country, even Lady With the Spinning Head.

2)Besides "predatory women" and "godesses" Bono also seems to talk about the girl who is mixed up and needs saving. I shy away from using "damsel in distress" because Bono never seems to write anything about her being saved, or who saves her. And example of this arche-type would be Trying to Throw Your Arms, Stay, Discotheque.

3) After a few albums, Bono figured out that a woman could be used to describe a multitude of ideas and characters. He may have meant "an actual woman" when he wrote the word "she" on an album like Boy- but the word "she" could mean practically anything on Achtung Baby (for example). And by the time he gets to ATYCLB I sometimes wonder if he is ever talking about an actual woman.

4)And just because he doesn't use the word "she" or "woman" or the like, doesn't mean he isn't writing the song about a woman (or whatever persona he is characterizing as a woman). An example of this would be a song like Crumbs From Your Table.

I would love to hear you guy's thoughts on Women in U2's lyrics. And let me write a quick disclaimer.... It was very hard for me to choose the song examples I included above. There are 30 years worth of examples to choose from, so don't think that the song I chose is icon of a particular category.

Just a cursory glance at the Bono lyricbook suggests a never-ending quest to get to know his mother....

I had given that a thought. Maybe the unattainable goddess is his mother.

In death, those we were close to or felt the need to get closer to do attain a mythological status....Right now I'm just looking for clues but I definitely want to get more in depth with this topic.

Some of the Shes could also be interpreted as the Holy Spirit.
In Steve Stockman's book Walk On:The Spiritual Journey of U2 he writes:
"'Mysterious Ways' ends with the female fusing into the Spirit moving in mysterious ways lighting up day and nights..."

Good topic, Cherry.  I've always been fascinated by Bono's intersection of women with God.  Sex and religion.  Sacred and profane.  I think he is a man who appreciates women, loves to be around them, enjoys their company, and puts them on a bit of a pedestal.  i don't want to over psychoanalyze him, but I htink Joeg is right that a lot of it stems from his unfinished relationship with his mother.  And he's a sexy flirty guy!Very often, i see him using a woman as a stand-in for God in his songs, Mysterious Ways being the most obvious.   

Well, if we go back to the beginning, I Will Follow has been described by Bono as a child following their mother....It's really stunning when you look at it, a rock band's opening declaration is one of uncertainty, baby steps if you will, rather than "We rock!"...Bono's vulnerability on losing his mother comes into play right away.

Wonderful topic. I agree with Joe G. and Yooper on many points. I'll have to think about it and add more later.

Thanks for making this Cherry.  Definitely some good insight that I had never thought of.  I do believe though, that Bono, more than most people has the notion of God as a female.  There's such a male-dominant slant on the idea of God and he seems to go in the direct opposite direction.  I definitely think that drives a lot of the references to women in his lyrics.  I'll definitely have to chew on this for a while though.  Very thought provoking thread!  I like it!

He does use female pronouns a lot when referencing god, but I've always thought it was for a different reason.

Despite the usual conventions there is no reason why god should be considered one sex or another. Indeed, if there is a god I would have thought "he" would not conform to human gender definitions at all... after all, who would "he" breed with etc?

Bono always wants to reach out to as large an audience as possible and by using "she" etc he is able to write a lyric that is about god but that also conforms to the expectations of most casual listeners that modern music is usually about love, relationships and so on, thus not alienating non-christians.

Or, to put it simply...

"He moves in mysterious ways" = Very churchy
"She moves in mysterious ways" = Not churchy at all

"He moves in mysterious ways" = Very churchy
"She moves in mysterious ways" = Not churchy at all

Good point Silver Lining.

You're right, Silver Lining.   By changing the pronoun to 'she', it makes the song accessible to a wider audience.  People who may not believe in God, or have an interest in Bono's religious leanings, can appreciate the song as a human love song.  Many of the songs work both ways- religious and secular.

It's funny, I was just thinking about this in the car the other day.  Whenever a story is told from the third person perspective, it's "she", no "he" that I can think of.  Plenty of first person and second person songs, but the "she" is sort of Bono's default. 

I read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane the other day (I'm on a thriller kick, what can I say) and one of the characters said something that makes sense in context of this conversation...

"But do we lose our past to assure our future?" Chuck flicked his cigarette out into the foam. "That's the question.  What do we lose when you sweep a floor, Teddy?  Dust.  Crumbs that would otherwise draw ants.  But what of the earring she misplaced?  Is that in the trash now too?"

Teddy said, "Who's 'she'?  Where did 'she' come from, Chuck?"

"There's always a she.  Isn't there?"

There's always a she.  Like Silver Lining said, more people can relate to songs with women in the starring role, if you will.  I tried replacing some songs with he in my head... it just doesn't work the same way.  Womanhood kind of lends a sense of mystery and sensuality to the songs... Possibly my most disjointed post yet.

LMB- I like what you said about replacing it in your head with a "he" and it doesn't work the same. I have done the same thing. If you use the pronoun "I" the listener thinks the singer is the narrator, but Bono doesn't always want that. If you use the pronoun "you" it can come off too preachy. "He" just isn't very "sensual" as you say. So the pronoun has to be "SHE!" For entertainment purposes. So that the song appeals to a wide audience. But whether he means it as an actual person... well it sounds like a lot of people on this thread may agree that Bono likes to use double meanings.

I don't think Bono believes God is a woman. The general belief that God is male is a Christian teaching from the Bible. God created man after His own image and likeness. When Jesus was conceived by Mary, God was the father. Bono is a Christian, so I would think he doesn't believe God is a woman.

I do think he uses female pronouns to create double meanings between spiritual and sensual. Mysterious Ways is the perfect example. Johnny in the song is John the Baptist. "She" is both the Holy Spirit and Salome.

Also, I think a lot of his lyrics refer to his mother. "I Will Follow," "Mofo," and "Lemon" come to mind.