“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was released in 1987 by an Irish band U2 on the album The Joshua Tree. The song was a hit, winning the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1988. Inspired by their experience in Las Vegas, a bustling city, the band presents a deep conflict between their spiritual fulfillment and desire for earthly things in this song. The lead singer and songwriter, Bono, referred to it as "a gospel song with a restless spirit." To understand why spirits are restless, it helps to know the band’s background.
Though U2 has consistently engaged Biblical content at the center of their music over the past three decades, they have never promoted themselves as a Christian band. Instead, they are more like a secular band that is outspoken about their passion for rock music and religious beliefs. In the early 80’s, rock’n roll music was very much out of the Christian closet: it was considered as Devil’s music since it lures the young to stumble on sins of alcohol abuse and immoral sexual behavior. Indeed, many people in U2’s church didn’t appreciate the idea of the boys attending the church and also being involved with the Devil’s music. The band told music journalist Bill Flanagan that they were asked by a number of church members to quit the rock band.
“We were getting a lot of people in our ear saying: This is impossible, you guys are Christians. You can’t be in a band. It’s a contradiction and you have to go one way or the other.”
Troubled by this dilemma, the band wrote “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” trying to present their “restless spirit.”
I have climbed the highest mountains I have run through the fields Only to be with you Only to be with you I have run, I have crawled I have scaled these city walls
The first verse is likely alluding to the proverbs of Biblical figure Moses who traversed from the whole world in search of God’s Kingdom. In the book of Exodus, Moses and the Israelites had escaped from Egypt and “entered the wilderness of Sinai” in search of God (Exodus 19:1-2). The song draws a parallel between the singer and biblical figure who will stop at nothing in order to find the place where he can be with God, but he “still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.”
Second Verse
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
This burn desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
The second verse begins with a more romantic undertone. The singer uses metaphors, which leads to the idea of him having gone through a lot of experiences, both good and evil. “The healing in the fingertips,” for instance, refers to the touch of God’s finger. In the Gospel of Mark, a woman touched Jesus' garment and straightway “felt in her body that she was healed” (Mark 5:29). Despite the singer’s effort, the singer still hasn’t found what he is looking for. The desire of searching for the spiritual place intertwines with the despair of not finding what he is “looking for” driving the singer crazy.
Third Verse
But yes, I'm still running
The third verse conveys a promising message. Though the singer hasn’t found what he is looking for, he still “believes in the Kingdom come” and “still running” in his way searching for spiritual fulfillment. The “kingdom” is an explicit reference to the Bible, especially the idea of the Kingdom of God. According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus openly proclaims that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The repetitive occurrence of believing in God, acknowledging one’s own shame, and searching for the Kingdom draws a close connection to the gospel. Though the band said this song is kind of a gospel song, it is important to notice that the main theme is still the idea of chasing a spiritual fulfillment.
Many audiences love this song since the theme of searching can apply to anything. A user on the Lyric Interpretations website comments that “sometimes it's really difficult to be sure that God exists because we are too weak alone. However, we need to keep looking for the signal showing what God is.” Many people who experienced the same restless life as U2 did and can find resonance in this song.