U2 Songs - I Will Follow Lyrics

U2 - I Will Follow

U2 - I Will Follow Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Boy
Released: 1980

I Will Follow Lyrics

I will follow

I was on the outside when you said
You said you needed me
I was looking at myself
I was blind, I could not see

A boy tries hard to be a man
His mother takes him by his hand
If he stops to think he starts to cry
Oh why

If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow

If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow, I will follow

I was on the inside
When they pulled the four walls down
I was looking through the window
I was lost, I am found

Walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow
I will follow

Your eyes make a circle
I see you when I go in there
Your eyes, your eyes, your eyes, your eyes

If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow

If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away, I will follow

I will follow
I will follow
I will follow
I will follow
I will follow

Writer/s: B. HEWSON, L. MULLEN, A. CLAYTON, D. EVANS
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

I Will Follow Song Chart

Bono's lyric was inspired by his mother, who died in 1974 when he was 14. Bono calls it "a song about unconditional love."

The love he refers to is between a mother and a child, how no matter what the child does, the mother will still love him. There is a biblical component to the song as well, as it's an analog to the love of God as expressed in Romans 8:39: "In neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God."

This was the first song on the first U2 album. It was released as a single at the same time as the album Boy.

This song is an example of what would become The Edge's distinctive guitar style. He felt he could play only a few notes, but make it work by finding the right ones.

The spiritual themes in the lyrics were typical of early U2. Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen were members of a devout Christian group.

For sound effects, bottles were thrown on the floor and bicycle wheels were spun and hit with bottles and knives. (thanks, Bill - Johnstown, PA)

A glockenspiel, which is a percussion instrument similar to a xylophone, was used.

A concert favorite, this appears on their live album Under A Blood Red Sky.

Collective Soul played this at Woodstock '99. Other groups who played it from time to time include Third Eye Blind and Hootie & the Blowfish. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

The Replacements recorded an answer song to this called "Kids Don't Follow" on their album Stink.

What happened to the boy on the album cover? His name is Peter Rowen and he is the younger brother of Bono's friend, Guggi, a one-time member of the goth/post-punk band The Virgin Prunes. Peter also appeared on several other of U2's release covers and is now a renowned Irish photographer.