A Father Knows the Feeling

U2's new album - "How to dismantle an atomic bomb" has been getting high rotation in our car of late. With a plethora of great songs the standouts for me are "Yahweh" and "Sometimes you can't make it on your own".

But one compelling line from "Miracle Drug" never fails to deliver a 'knock-out' blow:

"Freedom has a scent;
Like the top of a new born baby's head"
-Miracle Drug, U2, 2004

01 May 2004 

Bono the Father of seven children, would well know this sweet scent and the euphoric feeling that holding your newborn child securely in your arms can bring.

It is the vehicle that for the first time brings the understanding of what really is meant by 'unconditional love'. Also with it a sense of purpose and an unparrelled sense of completion.

Ironically, it also brings a strong sense of emancipation, beautifully coupled with an immediate revelation of newfound responsibility. You now know that you are living for another beyond the sphere of self.

Possibly Bono was reflecting on the loss of his own Father, a theme conveyed throughout this album - as well as on his own experience as a Father.

Otherwise, the lyric may well encapsulate an enigmatic Christmas message.

That Truth can experienced by anyone who accepts the gift of the newborn baby Saviour and King crowned with the aroma of freedom that only this child will bring.

And maybe I just read too much into things.