"White As Snow" Song Lyrics by U2

The lyrics to White As Snow reflect Bono's imagining of a dying soldier based in Afghanistan. After watching Sam Mendes's Iraq war film, Jarhead, Bono decided the song should evoke the thoughts of a soldier dying from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. 

For a band known for its political views, the song is arguably the only one from the No Line on the Horizon album that is based on politics (or rather the fall out from war). Winter is a companion song, written at the same time, it was used in the Jim Sheridan movie of the same name.

U2’s “White As Snow” is a poignant exploration of innocence lost, steeped in rich imagery and emotional depth. The song opens with a stark contrast between the vast expanses of an unremarkable landscape and the yearning for something more profound. 

Bono reflects on his origins, describing a flat land where “there were no hills at all,” invoking a sense of monotony and the passage of time marked only by the straight highways of youth. 

The nostalgic reminiscence of driving with his brother symbolizes a simpler, more innocent time, where hours felt endless and life was an uncharted journey. The pale faces “as pale as the dirty snow” serve as a metaphor for the sullied innocence of childhood, suggesting that the purity once perceived is now tainted by experience and reality.

As the narrative unfolds, the lyrics plunge into the complexities of love, forgiveness, and the human condition. The line “Once I knew there was a love divine” evokes a moment of clarity and grace, followed by disillusionment in “then came a time I thought it knew me not.” This sharp transition mirrors a universal struggle with faith and connection, where the sacred is questioned and the search for meaning becomes fraught with uncertainty.

The song's melody is based on an old hymn, Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel

White as Snow Lyrics:

Where I came from there were no hills at all
The land was flat, the highway straight and wide
My brother and I would drive for hours
Like we had years instead of days
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow

Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow

And the water, it was icy
As it washed over me
And the moon shone above me

Now this dry ground, it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land, the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow

As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep the night shooting out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
If only a heart could be as white as snow
If only a heart could be as white as snow

Check out more lyrics from Ireland's finest: No Line on the Horizon.

Leave a Comment no line on the horizon lyrics U2, U2 lyrics, white as snow lyrics U2