“Wake Up Dead Man” by U2

Pop
Island Records
1997

This song is a plea for God to act decisively to conquer evil in the world by establishing the Kingdom. In this sense, the narrator calls on Jesus to wake up and complete his mission of ushering in God’s kingdom. The narrator also calls on us to wake up and work to see evil in the world eradicated.

Jesus, Jesus help me

I'm alone in this world

And a fucked up world it is too

Tell me, tell me the story

The one about eternity

And the way it's all gonna be

Wake up. Wake up dead man

Jesus, I'm waiting here boss

I know you're looking out for us

But maybe your hands aren't free

Your Father, He made the world in seven

He's in charge of heaven

Will you put a word in for me?

Wake up. Wake up dead man

Listen to your words they'll tell you what to do

Listen over the rhythm that's confusing you

Listen to the reed in the saxophone

Listen over the hum of the radio

Listen over sounds of blades in rotation

Listen through the traffic and circulation

Listen as hope and peace try to rhyme

Listen over marching bands playing out their time

Wake up. Wake up dead man

Jesus, were you just around the corner?

Did you think to try and warn her?

Or are you working on something new?

If there's an order in all of this disorder

Is it like a tape recorder?

Can we rewind it just once more?

Wake up. Wake up dead man

Interpretation

Jesus, Jesus help me

I'm alone in this world

And a fucked up world it is too

The narrator asks Jesus for aid in a world with many problems. He sadly feels like the only one who realizes the horrible state of things.

Tell me, tell me the story

The one about eternity

And the way it's all gonna be

The narrator wonders why, though Jesus acted to redeem the world, it has not been accomplished. He sarcastically asks to be reminded of the story as if Jesus forgot the ending. The narrator prods Jesus by saying, ‘you remember the kingdom of God you came to establish, right? The one that will never end? The one that will renew the whole world? Come on. I know you know what I’m talking about.’

Wake up. Wake up dead man

The narrator demands that Jesus “wake up” as if he was still in the tomb and get to accomplishing the redemption he was supposed to have already enacted.

Jesus, I'm waiting here boss

I know you're looking out for us

But maybe your hands aren't free

Descending further into doubt, the narrator wonders if Jesus even has the power to act in the world. He guesses that maybe Jesus’ “hands aren’t free”, that something is stopping him from acting.

Your Father, He made the world in seven

He's in charge of heaven

Will you put a word in for me?

The narrator follows up the doubt from the past stanza by reminding Jesus that God (his
“father”) had enough power to create the world and rule the universe so maybe Jesus could ask the big guy to do something.

Wake up. Wake up dead man

The following eight-section poem is the narrator’s argument for why Jesus should help us. It begins by reminding Jesus of his own words but then moves into a sequence where the narrator calls Jesus’ attention TO certain things (our heart cries and attempts at peace) and AWAY from other things (poseurs, pop culture, and violence).

Listen to your words

They'll tell you what to do

The narrator calls attention to Jesus’ own words presumably the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7 where he outlines a radical Kingdom theology. The narrator hopes those words will awaken Jesus.

Listen over the rhythm that's confusing you

The narrator asks Jesus to overlook the people who confuse his message, a criticism of those calling themselves ‘christians’ and who knowingly or otherwise distort the gospel of the Kingdom. The “rhythm” played out in this warped version is the loudest song describing Jesus’ message in the world today. The narrator asks Jesus to hear the prayers of those seeking his kingdom above this noise.

Listen to the reed in the saxophone

The Blues is a form of music the narrator associates with bearing our souls to Jesus. In our blues Jesus will see clearly the prayer of people calling out for liberation.

Listen over the hum of the radio

A double reference. First, the narrator asks Jesus to ignore the numerous radio programs that only pit people against each other. Second, it refers to pop culture, asking Jesus to hear our prayers despite the insipid and selfish realities of pop culture.

Listen over sounds of blades in rotation

This line requests that Jesus hear us despite our endless wars. The “blades in rotation” evokes the image of a helicopter.

Listen through the traffic and circulation

Here, the narrator prays that Jesus hears us even when we are consumed with self-focused harried lives. “The traffic and circulation” suggests a rush-hour commute.

Listen as hope and peace try to rhyme

In this line the narrator asks Jesus to recognize that we sometimes try to enact the Kingdom. Some of us work for peace but this great hope of ours too often fails. Still, the narrator hopes that our efforts might be credited to us as a worthy attempt.

Listen over marching bands

Playing out their time

The narrator asks Jesus to hear our plea even though we fill our lives with mindless entertainment. “Marching bands” can refer to sporting or civic events that take the attention off the real problems of poverty, violence, and oppression.

Wake up. Wake up dead man

Jesus, were you just around the corner?

Did you think to try and warn her?

Or are you working on something new?

This stanza describes the early church expecting Jesus to return within their lifetimes (“were you just around the corner?”). As time went by these followers realized Jesus’ return was not as imminent as they thought. The narrator wonders why Jesus didn’t make the timing clear to the Church; why he didn’t “warn her”. Perhaps, the narrator guesses, Jesus has different plans than the ones we envision. Maybe Jesus is “working on something new?”

If there's an order in all of this disorder

Is it like a tape recorder?

Can we rewind it just once more?

The scene shifts more intently to the current institutional church. The narrator wonders if there is any point to the activity (“disorder”) going on in churches. With all the problems and abuses infesting them, is there a possibility of undoing (rewinding) these things done in the name of God?

Wake up. Wake up dead man

In this final chorus, the narrator continues to ask Jesus to wake up, but an additional meaning is added to these words. It’s as if Jesus turns around the narrator’s words and puts the question to us. ‘Are you alive?’ Jesus challenges the narrator and the rest of us “dead” people to “wake up” and get to doing the work of the kingdom here and now. While the narrator waits passively for Jesus to wave a magic wand, Jesus urges us to rise from our dead sleep of self-centeredness and embody the values of the kingdom like love and redemption. Jesus reminds us that we are his hands on earth.