“The Wanderer,” sung by Johnny Cash on U2’s Zooropa album (1993), explores a journey steeped in biblical allusions and existential questioning. According to Bono, the lyrics were inspired by the themes explored in Ecclesiastes:
I wrote the lyric based on the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, which in some translation is called The Preacher. It’s a story of intellectual wanderlust. The preacher wants to find out the meaning of life and so he tries a bit of everything. He tries knowledge, educates himself, reads every book, but that doesn’t do it. He tries travel, sees every sight, but that doesn’t do it. He tries wine, women and song, that doesn’t do it. All, he says, is vanity, vanity of vanities, striving after wind. As you read this book you think, ‘I can’t wait to hear what does do it!’ And the most, extraordinary line is: There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour.’ Love your work. That’s what it is. It is good to love what you do. I think there’s a lot to that.
“The Preacher” searches for the meaning of life through various pursuits, such as knowledge (“I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven,” Ecclesiastes 1:13), travel, and indulgence (“I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.’ And behold, it too was futility,” Ecclesiastes 2:1). He ultimately finds true contentment in enjoying one’s labor and work “Then I considered all the work of God, that no one can fathom what has been done under the sun. Even though one toils with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, he cannot discover the reason for it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:17). Bono draws a parallel between the Preacher’s journey and the overall concept of the album, which grapples with uncertainty and the search for meaning. He states that “The Wanderer” presents a possible solution to this existential dilemma, suggesting that finding fulfillment in one’s work and embracing uncertainty can be a path forward. Bono’s quote about Johnny Cash contributing to the song and embracing the unexpected rhythm also highlights the collaborative and experimental nature of the album’s creation process.
From the outset, images of streets paved with gold evoke Revelation 21:21 and the quest for the heavenly city, New Jerusalem. The wanderer’s lament of familial division (“sons turn their fathers in”) echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:35 and Luke 12:53. The song’s critique of worldly desires within the church aligns with James 4:4 and 1 John 2:15-17. Before seeking redemption, the wanderer yearns to experience the fullness of life, mirroring the biblical calls for repentance in Acts 3:19 and Luke 17:4. His search for “one good man” recalls Ezekiel 22:30, as well as the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14. The line “A spirit who would not bend or break” to recalls 2 Corinthians 4:8 and Matthew 12:20’s “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Similarly, sitting at the father’s right hand alludes to Matthew 20:21, Psalm 110:1, and Ephesians 1:20-21. The juxtaposition of carrying a Bible and a gun echoes Matthew 10:34, where Jesus warns that he came “not to bring peace, but a sword.” When “the word of God lay heavy on my heart,” the wanderer echoes the Psalmist’s experience in Psalm 32:4, with the weight of divine truth upon the soul. The conviction of being “the one” finds strength in Philippians 1:6, a testament to a divinely ordained purpose like Jeremiah’s in Jeremiah 1:5. Finally, the line “Now Jesus, don’t you wait up, Jesus I’ll be home soon” subtly references the Second Coming as described in Revelation 22:12 and the urgency of preparation found in Matthew 24:44.
https://x.com/BonosBible/status/1771854494705299793?s=20