U2 Songs - Bad Lyrics

U2 - Bad

U2 - Bad Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Unforgettable Fire
Released: 1984

Bad Lyrics

If you twist and turn away
If you tear yourself in two again
If I could, yes I would
If I could, I would
Let it go
Surrender
Dislocate

If I could throw this lifeless lifeline to the wind
Leave this heart of clay
See you walk, walk away
Into the night
And through the rain
Into the half-light
And through the flame

If I could through myself
Set your spirit free, I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light
And to the day

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
To let it go
And so to fade away
To let it go
And so, fade away

Wide awake
I'm wide awake
Wide awake
I'm not sleeping
Oh, no, no, no

If you should ask then maybe they'd
Tell you what I would say
True colors fly in blue and black
Bruised silken sky and burning flag
Colors crash, collide in bloodshot eyes

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
If I could, you know I would, if I could, I would
Let it go

This desperation
Dislocation
Separation, condemnation
Revelation in temptation
Isolation, desolation
Let it go

And so fade away
To let it go
And so fade away
To let it go
Oh now, and so to fade away

I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
Wide awake
I'm not sleeping
Oh, no, no, no

Writer/s: ADAM CLAYTON, DAVE EVANS, PAUL HEWSON, LARRY MULLEN
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Bad Song Chart

This started as an improvisation by U2 guitarist The Edge, with the others joining in. It was recorded in three takes at Slane Castle in Dublin. The castle on the cover of The Unforgettable Fire is not Slane, but Moydrum Castle.

The lyrics do not specifically mention heroin, but Bono has introduced the song at concerts by saying it is about heroin addiction. A friend of theirs, Phil Lynott from the group Thin Lizzy ("The Boys Are Back In Town"), died after years of heroin abuse in 1986.

This is the second song on the album where Bono sings about a heroin addict. The first was "Wire."

This was not a radio hit, but it became a live favorite and a centerpiece at their concerts. The live version on their 1985 album Wide Awake In America helped them gain popularity in the US.

U2 performed a 14-minute version of this song at the London Live Aid concert in 1985, which included a trip by Bono into the crowd at Wembley Stadium. Their set, which also included "Sunday Bloody Sunday," was voted Best Live Aid Performance by readers of Rolling Stone.

A prerecorded keyboard track was used for live performances to free The Edge up on guitar.

Bono would mix in snippets of other artist's songs when singing this live. He left it alone for the Wide Awake In America recording because he did not want to get sued, as they did with "The Electric Company."

The Wide Awake In America version contains an edit. They screwed up the last note, so a good one from another show was spliced on.