Album: Pop (1997)

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• 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
  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
  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 the 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
  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 and 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
  Wake up
  Wake up dead man
  
  Wake up
  Wake up dead man Writer/s: Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul David Hewson
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 13

• Dean from UkFor years I've been a fan of U2's music and since I first heard 'Wake up Dead Man', I always thought it was about losing some loved one and going on to question their faith.
  Or was possibly written or inspired by the island called Deadmans Island which I've visited back in 1997 when after visiting Killarney.
• Oshow from UsaTears, this is deep as it gets.
• Abbey from Ukwake up dead man according to both Bono & the Edge is in the mould of psalm 44 especially v.23 onwards where the Psalmist is begging God to "rouse himself" and rescue his faithful people.....so inanswer of where did you get the idea that wake up dead man was talking about God.....the answer is from the 2 people who wrote the song!!
• Sadeen from ZurichThis song makes me cry even when I just think about the lyrics. It captures the way I felt especialls as a child being indoctrinated with christianity while drastic emotional neglect and psychological abuse was my reality growing up. Feeling alone in a f*cked up world, wishing this bl*dy Jesus would just show up once to let me know there was actually someone who cared, but nothing happened, so he might as well be dead and needed to be woken up...learning to be on my own feeling so confused by the people telling me this and that...and somehow feeling I needed to stop listening but somehow I wished there was someone I could listen to or at least...rewind it all just once more.
  
  Musically it might not be the greatest song ever but it for sure is a great song and a piece of art. It is not some tune to listen to on the drive to work. It is a song that either touches you or you don't like it. If you don't like it, that's totally finde. But to say it is the worst song by the band is just not doing it justice. And Pop is the only album of U2 I can still listen to. I think it's brilliant and was ahead of it's time. Most U2 albums sound a little bit the same. This one stands out. Now taste is subjective and if someone doesn't like it, so be it. Generalizing your taste though is not helpful.
  
  And for those who think this is somehow about God or Christianity, I could be wrong but I don't think so or at least not in this way. The song sounds to me more like an expression on how this "Jesus-thing" doesn't feel real and is just a farce. Like "Jesus, if you actually care, come and show up, or are you dead? So wake (the f*ck) up dead man! Because so far I do feel as if I'm alone in this world and a f*cked up world it is too!"
• Jonse from EdinburghCorrection: the latest comment, or the one before it as the latest is now mine.
  
  Need to mention that this song isn't intended to be "moving" like songs on their 80's milestones. Whatever though, I would agree to disagree if you considered Pop their low point and that was that, but if you're implying How to Dismantle... is "a lot better" then....yeah, no. Just no.
• Jonse from EdinburghComments like the first are astounding. Really, you're very closed minded and based on what you've said I'm not surprised you think this is a bad record while liking And All That You Need A Pretentiously Long Title For Et Al.
  
  If there is a god - and Bono clearly is a believer of the Abrahamic god - what makes you think god even remotely cares about what you think Bono is 'mistaken' or 'misguided' about?
  
  "I'm alone in this world, and a f--ked up world it is too."
  
  Sounds like a pretty good approximation of what someone at their lowest low might say. That there's profanity, in the *English* language, and it defeats the purpose for you is absurd. These are words of man, not of god. Christianity derives from Judaism and as such our words are a translation. Not a single word in the new testament was ever spoken in English, if at all in reality some two thousand years ago. Why would it offend god? People have considered phrases such as "oh my god" to be taking the name in vain. While it isn't inherently, wouldn't this be far more offensive to god than a made up word? A made up word being used as an expletive at that.
  
  Jesus of Nazareth uses what would have been considered "bad" words, insults or phrases in his era at various points in the new testament numerous times. They're words. They have nothing to do with the point of Christianity.
• Leo from Westminster 1, MdI love U2-but to paraphrase Bono's more garish assertions, some songs are better than others. Take Pop's denouement/coda/finale Wake Up Dead Man, for example that is misguided-Perhaps the absolute worst song U2 have ever recorded-a bad song from a bad album. In fact, Pop is their only bad record. U2 have made some brilliant records-Pop sure isn't one of them. Their masterpieces are War, Tree, Baby and All That, You won't find any rock & roll, inspiration, enlightenment or transcendence on Pop. Bono mistakenly mixes Jesus and God with profanity in the opening couplet of the song and it gets worse from there-"Jesus, Jesus help me!/I'm alone in this world/And a screwed-up world it is too!" Clearly, Bono has his priorities mixed-up. Bono can
  talk about Christianity, religion and all the problems in the world but it clearly doesn't matter if the music isn't good, heartfelt or moving like U2 usually is. And sorry, it ain't! Their work after Pop, All That, Dismantle...Atomic Bomb and Horizon is fortunately a lot better and rockier but Wake Up Dead Man-and Pop-are low points for U2. No shamrocks, unicorns or lucky charms for this one!
• Brendan from Dublin, Irelandi think dead man can represent both people and god depending how you look at it,like wake up dead man-wake up god in these people's lives or wake up dead man-wake up people so you can see god
• Donald from Hamilton, OnIt is another one of Bono's on ones with god. Just like Until the End of the World.
• Acrobat from Adelaide, Australia'Dead Man' is Christ, even the lyrics say this... 'Jesus, Jesus help me, I'm all alone in this world and a $%^#ed up world it is too'. It is a brilliant song, the Pop album is much better than people give it credit for. Two of the best U2 songs are on this album. Please and Wake Up Dead Man.
• Boris from Maribor, United StatesOne of my personal favourites. It's about current situation of humanity which is chaotic. And for this reason Bono is somehow calling for God to help us. The lyrics of this song are just amazing. "If there's an order in all of this disorder Is it like a tape recorder? Can we rewind it just once more?" - it just brings tears on my face. By the way some people say that Pop album is bad and not good enough for a group like U2. Are they kidding me? Of course it is not bad, right the opposite, it is brilliant!!
• Noelle from Melbourne, FlThe "Dead Man" could be a reference to Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.
• Daisy from Vancouver, CanadaI would like to know where did you get that "The 'Dead Man' is a reference to God"?
  I think the 'dead man' is reference to the people...not God

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