U2 Song: "The Electric Company"

On Boy (1980), U2 was still young and raw, but already their songs carried the urgency of voices crying out against the world’s brokenness. The Electric Co. is one of the fiercest examples. At first listen, it sounds like a punk-inspired release of energy, Bono spitting and screaming over the Edge’s jagged guitar lines. But underneath that urgency is a lament.

The title refers to electric shock treatment, once prescribed in Ireland for depression and trauma, often without care or dignity. Bono has said the song was sparked by the suicide of a friend after such treatment. In that light, the “electric company” becomes more than just a hospital ward. It becomes a symbol for systems that dehumanize, institutions that silence suffering, and the machinery of power that uses force to erase inconvenient voices.

That cry against injustice echoes the psalms of lament. Psalm 10 asks, “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” The psalmist sees the wicked prosper and rails against their arrogance. Similarly, The Electric Co. erupts with a fury that refuses to let violence and exploitation go unanswered. It might be compared to Jeremiah shouting in the streets or Amos condemning the trampling of the poor.

Theologically, the song reminds us that outrage can be holy. Too often we imagine faith as quiet acceptance, but scripture gives us space to rage at injustice. To sing with raw voice against abuse is not faithlessness. It is the kind of prayer God Himself inspired. U2’s song channels that spirit: when the world inflicts wounds, when institutions betray the weak, when a friend is lost to despair, the right response is not silence but protest.

We don’t see this voice much in the biblically conservative church of west today. Instead of crying out against injustice towards the downcast, Christians today are often more concerned about their own perceived mistreatment.