“Wake Up Dead Man” illustrates the human struggle with belief in the presence of adversity. The song’s direct appeals to Jesus, “Jesus, Jesus help me,” echo biblical pleas for divine intervention, reflecting the Psalms’ raw emotionality where the psalmist often expresses feelings of abandonment and appeals to God’s salvific power (e.g., Psalm 44).It is reminiscent of Hebrews 13:6, where the scripture emphasizes Jesus as a steadfast helper and savior. The query about eternity, “Tell me, tell me the story / The one about eternity / And the way it’s all gonna be,” taps into the biblical discourse on eternal life and God’s salvific plan, as expressed in John 3:16 and Revelation 21:1-4, promising eternal life through trusting Jesus.
Kevin Holm-Hudson views “Wake Up Dead Man” as a dialogue rather than a diatribe, proposing that the titular phrase is not merely an indictment of divine inaction but also a call to humanity to awaken from spiritual slumber, akin to the biblical exhortation in Ephesians 5:14, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Holm-Hudson). It serves a dual purpose: it echoes the despairing cry of Jesus on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), and anticipates the eschatological hope in Christian doctrine, where Jesus will awaken the dead and establish his eternal kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The song’s depiction of divine inaction, questioning if “your hands aren’t free,” contrasts with the biblical assurance in Isaiah 40:31, which speaks of God’s unwavering support for those who wait upon Him, highlighting a tension between human perception of divine absence and the scriptural promises of God’s omnipresence and omnipotence.
References to creation in “Your Father, He made the world in seven” allude to the Genesis creation narrative and the Psalms, asserting God’s sovereignty and creative power. The intercessory plea, “Will you put a word in for me?” match the New Testament’s depiction of Jesus as the mediator between humanity and God, in 1 Timothy 2:5.
The song’s exhortation to “Listen to the words they’ll tell you what to do” resonates with biblical wisdom literature, which advocates for heeding divine guidance, as for example in James 1:22 and Proverbs 1:5. The desired “hope and peace” are promised in Romans 15:13 and Isaiah 26:3 through the sustaining and peaceful presence of God in the midst of adversity.
The questions, “Jesus, were you just around the corner?” and “Did you think to try and warn her?” evoke biblical examples of vigilance and divine warning, reminiscent of the prophetic literature and the New Testament’s eschatological warnings. The inquiry “Were you working on something new?” echoes Isaiah 43:19, where God proclaims the initiation of a transformative act, symbolizing hope and renewal.
The contemplation of order amidst chaos, “If there’s an order in all of this disorder,” recalls 1 Corinthians 14:33, which posits a divine order transcending earthly confusion. The question, “Is it like a tape recorder?” that one could “rewind it just once more” engage with biblical themes of memory, remembrance, and restoration, like the redemptive promise in Joel 2:25-26, restoring what has been lost or damaged.
Trenton Merricks posits that the song’s anger and frustration are balanced by a hope rooted in the promise of a future life free from evil, in the lines “Tell me, tell me the story/The one about eternity/And the way it’s all gonna be” (Merricks, 102). This dichotomy of despair and hope mirrors the biblical narrative, where lament and assurance coexist.
Richard Briggs interprets the song as reflecting on the goodness present in the world despite pervasive brokenness, suggesting a complex relationship with faith where doubt and affirmation are intertwined (Briggs, 83). This interpretation aligns with the biblical acknowledgment of God’s sustained presence and care, even when His actions or inactions are not fully understood.
Briggs, Richard S. “Sarajevo and the Popmart Lemon: The Fractured Form and Function of U2’s Walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Pages 75–86 in U2 and the Religious Impulse: Take Me Higher. Edited by Scott D. Calhoun. Bloomsbury Studies in Religion and Popular Music. London: Bloomsbury Press, 2018.
Holm-Hudson, Kevin. “Et Tu, U2? ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ and Bono’s Perceived Betrayal of the Faith.” The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 16.1 (2007): 5. https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.16.1.005, https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/jrpc.16.1.005.