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U2 - The Wanderer

U2 - The Wanderer Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Zooropa
Released: 1993

The Wanderer Lyrics

I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye

Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can't walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don't want God in it

I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name

I went with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents

I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father's right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don't you wait up
Jesus, I'll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I'd be back by noon

Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

Oh hoo

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

The Wanderer Song Chart

A rare U2 song with no Bono (at least on vocals, he wrote the lyrics), Johnny Cash sang lead on this one. U2 started writing it for Cash when they found out he was coming to Dublin for a show. They decided to keep it for themselves with Cash as guest performer. A song that describes a man's travels and search for redemption, Bono said it was "one of the best things we've ever done, and I'm not even on it."

The working title was "Johnny Cash On The Moon."

U2 recorded this as if they were a bad lounge act. It was the last song on Zooropa, since they wanted to end the album with something that would not be taken too seriously. About a minute after this ends on the CD version of Zooropa, an alarm goes off.

The only time U2 played this live was at the 2005 tribute concert for Johnny Cash - Bono did the vocals. The concert was called I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash.

U2 - The First Time

U2 - The First Time Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Zooropa
Released: 1993

The First Time Lyrics

I have a lover
A lover like no other
She got soul, soul, soul, sweet soul
And she teach me how to sing

Shows me colors when there's none to see
Gives me hope when I can't believe
That for The First Time
I feel loved

I have a brother
When I'm a brother in need
I spend my whole time running
He spends his running after me

When I feel myself going down
I just call and he comes around
But for the first time
I feel love

Hoo ho ho ho ho ho
Hoo

My father is a rich man
He wears a rich man's cloak
Gave me the keys to his kingdom coming
Gave me a cup of gold

He said I have many mansions
And there are many rooms to see
But I left by the back door
And I threw away the key
And I threw away the key
Yeah, I threw away the key
Yeah, I threw away the key

Hoo hoo

For the first time
For the first time
For the first time

I feel love

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

The First Time Song Chart

This was written for Al Green, but U2 decided to keep it for themselves. Bono described the song as "About losing your faith."

Ever wonder about those random words on the Zooropa album cover? They're titles of songs that didn't make the cut.

U2 - Stay (Faraway So Close)

U2 - Stay (Faraway So Close) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Zooropa
Released: 1993

Stay (Faraway So Close) Lyrics

Stay (Faraway So Close) Song Chart

U2 wrote this for the soundtrack of the Wim Wenders movie of the same name. In the movie, angels come to earth and assume human form.

In 2000, Bono teamed up with Wenders to write the movie The Million Dollar Hotel. Wenders directed the film, which stars Mel Gibson and Milla Jovovich.

Bono's duet with Frank Sinatra, "I've got you under my skin," is the B-side of the single.

On the 2001 Elevation tour, while The Edge played the acoustic intro, Bono would say "This is from the period where we got art-y, we went to Berlin, and started out on two extraordinary albums by our point of view (Achtung Baby and Zooropa). Then we thought we were genius. Pop we just floated out there.. this song was kind of a diary of the float.. you find some extraordinary things while you are out there." (thanks, Bill - Johnstown, PA)

In 2002, Bono recorded a new version of this with Scottish composer Craig Armstrong. It is on Armstrong's album As If To Nothing.

U2 - Numb

U2 - Numb Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Zooropa
Released: 1993

Numb Lyrics

Don't move
Don't talk out of time
Don't think
Don't worry
Everything's just fine
Just fine

Don't grab
Don't clutch
Don't hope for too much
Don't breathe
Don't achieve
Or grieve without leave

Don't check
Just balance on the fence
Don't answer
Don't ask
Don't try and make sense

Don't whisper
Don't talk
Don't run if you can walk
Don't cheat, compete
Don't miss the one beat

Don't travel by train
Don't eat
Don't spill
Don't piss in the drain
Don't make a will

Don't fill out any forms
Don't compensate
Don't cower
Don't crawl
Don't come around late
Don't hover at the gate

Don't take it on board
Don't fall on your sword
Just play another chord
If you feel you're getting bored

I feel Numb
I feel numb
Too much is not enough
I feel numb

Don't change your brand
Don't listen to the band
Don't gape
Don't ape
Don't change your shape
Have another grape

Too much is not enough
I feel numb
I feel numb

Don't plead
Don't bridle
Don't shackle
Don't grind
Don't curve
Don't swerve
Lie, die, serve
Don't theorize, realize, polarize
Chance, dance,dismiss, apologize

Too much is not enough
I feel numb

Don't spy
Don't lie
Don't try
Imply
Detain
Explain
Start again

I feel numb

Don't triumph
Don't coax
Don't cling
Don't hoax
Don't freak
Peak
Don't leak
Don't speak

I feel numb

Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest
I feel numb
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest
I feel numb

Don't struggle
Don't jerk
Don't collar
Don't work
Don't wish
Don't fish
Don't teach
Don't reach

Too much is not enough

Don't borrow
Don't break
Don't fence
Don't steal
Don't pass
Don't press
Don't try
Don't feel

I feel numb

Don't touch
Don't dive
Don't suffer
Don't rhyme
Don't fantasize
Don't rise
Don't lie
Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest

Don't project
Don't connect
Protect
Don't expect
Suggest

I feel numb

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

Numb Song Chart

The Edge sang the lead vocal. This is only the third time he did this, the other instances being "Seconds" from War and "Van Diemen's Land" from Rattle & Hum.

The backing drumbeat was taken from the Nazi propaganda film Triumph Of The Will, which shows an 11 year-old boy playing drums at the 1936 Olympics.

This started as an outtake from the Achtung Baby sessions called "Down All The Days."

The Edge wrote the entire song, even the lyrics. He had recently gone through a divorce.

The video showed members of the band methodically tying ropes around The Edge.

U2 - Zooropa

U2 - Zooropa Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Zooropa
Released: 1993

Zooropa Lyrics

(What do you want?)
(What do you want?)

Zooropa vorsprung durch technik
Zooropa be all that you can be
Be a winner
Eat to get slimmer

Zooropa bluer kind of white
Zooropa it could be yours tonight
We're mild and green
And squeaky clean

(What do you want?)
(What do you want?)
(What do you want?)
(What do you want?)

Zooropa better by design
Zooropa fly the friendly skies
Through appliance of science
We've got that ring of confidence

And I have no compass
And I have no map
And I have no reasons
No reasons to get back

And I have no religion
And I don't know what's what
And I don't know the limit
The limit of what we've got

Don't worry baby, it'll be alright
You got the right shoes
To get you through the night
It's cold outside, but brightly lit
Skip the subway
Let's go to the overground
Get your head out of the mud baby
Put flowers in the mud baby
Overground

No particular place names
No particular song
I've been hiding
What am I hiding from

Don't worry baby, it's gonna be alright
Uncertainty can be a guiding light
I hear voices, ridiculous voices
Out in the slipstream
Let's go, let's go overground
Take your head out of the mud baby

She's gonna dream up
The world she wants to live in
She's gonna dream out loud
She's gonna dream out loud
Dream out loud

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

Zooropa Song Chart

This song contains snippets of advertising slogans from various companies, including Colgate, Daz, and Fairy Liquid. It begins with the German phrase "Vorsprung durch technik," the Audi slogan meaning "Lead through technology." The song was influenced by the futuristic novels of William Gibson.

This was inspired by U2's Zoo TV tour, where they bombarded the audience with images from huge monitors behind the band.

After the intro, the backing track is made up of soundchecks recorded on the Zoo TV tour.

This was the title track to what was going to be a mini-album, but grew to full-length.

The Zooropa album cover contains titles of songs that didn't make the cut.

U2 - Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World

U2 - Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Achtung Baby
Released: 1991

Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World Lyrics

Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World Song Chart

On the liner notes to Achtung Baby, they dedicate this to The Flaming Colossus, a popular celebrity hangout in Hollywood.

U2 - Mysterious Ways

U2 - Mysterious Ways Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Achtung Baby
Released: 1991

Mysterious Ways Lyrics

Johnny take a walk
With your sister the moon
Let her pale light in
To fill up your room
You've been living underground
Eating from a can
You've been running away
From what you don't understand
Love

She's slippy
You're sliding down
She'll be there
When you hit the ground

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways

Johnny take a dive
With your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things
You can't explain
To touch is to heal
To hurt is to steal
If you want to kiss the sky
Better learn how to kneel (on your knees boy!)

She's the wave
She turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child, yeah

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
Lift my days, light up my nights

One day you'll look back
And when you see
Where you were held
How by this love
While you could stand there
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright
She moves in mysterious ways
Ah oh oh ah huh
Move, move, move, move
She moves with it
She moves me like
Lift my days and light up my nights
Love

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

Mysterious Ways Song Chart

From Into The Heart by Niall Stokes: "It's a song about a man living on little or no romance," Bono says. "It's a song about women - or a woman - but it's addressed to him." Bono talks a bit about theology and about El Shadi - the third and least used name for God in the Bible, which translates as "the breasted one." "I've always believed that the spirit is a feminine thing," he says. "Mysterious Ways" is not about a particular woman. It is about women in general, and the way they entrance, and often dominate men. Says Bono, "At times I do tend to idealize women. It's easy to fall into the trap of separating them into angels and devils for the sake of the drama. But there's no way that there's ever anything anti-women involved. Our songs are not politically correct. They are written from a man's point of view. He's wrestling with different things, there's a flash of anger and hurt here and there. But I don't think women come out badly." (thanks, Oscar - College Station, TX)

While recording this in Berlin, U2 came up with the basis for their song "One." In a rush of creativity, they put together "One" and finished "Mysterious Ways" later. This was very refreshing for the band - they were having a hard time coming up with anything and even considered breaking up.

The line: "If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel - on your knees boy!" is probably a reference to oral sex, although it can have a more innocent religious meaning.

Bono performed this on the Zoo TV tour in character as The Fly, a parody of an egomaniacal rock star, wearing huge sunglasses and leather.

U2 performed this on the Zoo TV tour with a bellydancer on stage for visual aids. The Edge took up with Morleigh Steinberg, who was the dancer for part of the tour. He went on to marry her. (thanks, Viv - Windhoek, Africa)

A dance remix by Paul Oakenfold became popular in clubs.

U2 - Until The End Of The World

U2 - Until The End Of The World Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Achtung Baby
Released: 1991

Until The End Of The World Lyrics

Haven't seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world

Love, love, love
Love
Love, love
Love, love, love
Love (love)
Love, love

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait
'Til the end of the world

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

Until The End Of The World Song Chart

Bono sang this as Judas in a biblical setting. It contains sexual imagery between Judas and Jesus that is open for interpretation.

U2 also released this on the Until The End Of The World soundtrack in 1991. Bono and film director Wim Wenders collaborated together on the soundtrack. They asked contemporary artists to imagine what they would sound like in 2001, the time that the film is set.

There is another version of this song on the Shalom 3 disc bootleg called "I Feel Free." (thanks, James - Knoxville, TN, for above 2)

This was used in the trailer for the 2000 movie Proof Of Life.

U2 played this when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Bono introduced the song by saying it was, "A little Pop diddy - a conversation between Jesus and Judas."

Although never released as a single, this song quickly became and still remains a fan favorite. (thanks, Leon - Waterbury, CT)

U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing

U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Achtung Baby
Released: 1991

Even Better Than The Real Thing Lyrics

Give me one more chance
And you'll be satisfied
Give me two more chances
You won't be denied

Well my heart is where it's always been
My head is somewhere in between
Give me one more chance
Let me be your lover tonight

You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing

Give me one last chance
And I'm gonna make you sing
Give me half a chance
To ride on the waves that you bring

You're honey child to a swarm of bees
Gonna blow right through you like a breeze
Give me one last dance
We'll slide down the surface of things

You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing

We're free to fly the crimson sky
The sun won't melt our wings tonight

Oh now
Here she comes

Take me higher
Take me higher
You take me higher?
You take me higher?

You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing

Even better than the real thing
Even better than the real thing
Even better than the real thing

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

Even Better Than The Real Thing Song Chart

This song began with the title "The Real Thing" during the Rattle And Hum sessions. It's a play on the Coca-Cola slogan "It's The Real Thing," and the song was intended to make a statement about commercialism.

U2 performed this on the Zoo TV tour with huge monitors flashing messages and video clips behind the band. It was mocking the advertising messages that were constantly bombarding the public.

A single of dance remixes went to #8 in England and was popular in clubs.

Richard Branson asked to use this to launch his Virgin Cola, a competitor of Coke, but U2 refused.

Back when they gave out such an award, this won the MTV Video Music Award for best special effects in 1992.

U2 - All I Want Is You

U2 - All I Want Is You Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

All I Want Is You Lyrics

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you'll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night

You say you'll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbor in the tempest

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You...

Writer/s: EVANS CLAYTON
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

All I Want Is You Song Chart

Bono wrote the lyrics about his wife Ali. The quiet verses are him telling her the words, the loud guitar pieces at the end of the verses is her reaction. At the end when he screams "All I want is you" 4 times, the Edge solos for that amount of time, as her reaction. (thanks, Bill - Johnstown, PA)

The Edge came up with the guitar part while working on U2's song "Desire."

Van Dyke Parks arranged the strings. He was best known for working with Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys Smile project, writing intricate lyrics for Wilson's melodies, but many other artists have called upon his services as a session musician and arranger, including T-Bone Burnett, Rufus Wainwright and Joanna Newsom. When we spoke with Parks in 2011, he talked about "framing" a song to give it "greater power of enunciation so that it will be noticed." "All I Want Is You" is a great example of his work, as the strings bring out an emotive quality in the song without detracting from its other elements.

On The Best Of 1980-1990, "October" comes on as a hidden track about a minute after this.

The single is backed with a cover of "Unchained Melody."

This was used in the trailer for the 2000 movie All The Pretty Horses. It was also on the soundtrack to Reality Bites. (thanks, Wendy - Yakima, WA)

This plays under the credits of the U2 documentary Rattle And Hum.

U2 - Heartland

U2 - Heartland Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

Heartland Lyrics

See the sun rise over her skin
Don't change it
See the sun rise over her skin
Dawn changes everything
Everything
And the delta sun
Burns bright and violet

Mississippi and the cotton wool heat
Sixty six a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
Of the shining cities

In this heartland
In this Heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland, heartland

See the sun rise over her skin
She feels like water in my hand
Freeway like a river cuts through this land
Into the side of love
Like a burning spear
And the poison rain
Brings a flood of fear
Through the ghost ranch hills
Death valley waters
In the towers of steel
Belief goes on and on

In this heartland
In this heartland soil
In this heartland
Heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland, heaven knows this is a heartland
Heartland, heartland
Heartland, heaven's day here in the heartland
Heart

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

Heartland Song Chart

This was written in 1986 and intended for The Joshua Tree. It was bumped by "Trip Through Your Wires," which they felt was a better song to perform live.

U2 wrote this about Ireland, but they were also inspired by the American heartland. It talks about the "Mississippi delta sun, Mississippi and the cotton wool heat, Sixty-six a highway speaks." Route 66 is a historic interstate highway in the USA. (thanks, Richard - St. Louis, MO)

U2 - Love Rescue Me

U2 - Love Rescue Me Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

Love Rescue Me Lyrics

Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up and don't let me fall
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me
Love rescue me

Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal
Love rescue me

And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea
I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
Said, love rescue me

In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
See the dark shades of what I used to be
See the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies
Love rescue me

Yea, though I walk
In the valley of shadow
Yea, I will fear no evil
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me
Love rescue me
Sha la la, sha la la la
Sha la la la, ha la la
Sha la la la, sha la la la
Sha la la la, sha la la
Sha la la la, sha la la la
Sha la la
I said love, love rescue me

I said love
Climb up the mountains, said love
I said love, oh my love
On the hill of the son
I'm on the eve of a storm
And my word you must believe in
I said love, rescue me
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Yeah I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love rescue me

I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance
To a new world I can see
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me
Love rescue me

Writer/s: ADAM CLAYTON, LAURENCE MULLER, DAVID EVANS, PAUL HEWSON, BOB DYLAN
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Love Rescue Me Song Chart

Bob Dylan helped Bono write this. As he wrote it, Bono thought it may have been a Bob Dylan song he had heard. He asked Dylan, who told him it wasn't and helped him finish it.

Bono started writing this while staying with The Edge at his place in Los Angeles. After The Edge moved out, the Menendez family moved in. Eric and Lyle Menendez killed their parents there in 1989 and were sentenced to life.

Bob Dylan recorded a vocal track, but it was not used because of contractual obligations to The Traveling Wilburys, a group Dylan was playing in with George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.

U2 recorded this at Sun Studios in Memphis during their 1987 US tour. Sun is considered by many to be the "Birthplace of Rock and Roll." Elvis recorded there as well as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.

U2 - Silver And Gold

U2 - Silver And Gold Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

Silver And Gold Lyrics

Silver And Gold Song Chart

Bono wrote this after going on a relief mission in Ethiopia. It's an anti-apartheid song, but the lyrics make a broad political statement about how money seems to be more important than personal freedoms in the eyes of many world leaders.

Bono was part of Little Steven Van Zandt's 1985 Artists United Against Apartheid collaboration, which brought attention to the racist policy in South Africa and to the plight of Nelson Mandela. Over the years, Bono has been part of many causes as he uses his celebrity status to gain access to political leaders and raise money for relief organizations.

This was first released as an acoustic song on the compilation Artists United Against Apartheid, with Keith Richards and Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones sitting in with Bono. Little Steven put Artists Against Apartheid together with the intention of releasing just one song - "Sun City." Some of the artists offered other songs, so they were able to release a full album.

Bono got the lyric "I have seen the comings and goings, the captains and the kings," from Irish poet Brendan Behan. The line, "I am someone" came from a quote by US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Before The Edge's guitar solo, Bono says: "OK Edge, play The Blues."

This appeared on the 7" single that also included "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Sweetest Thing."

U2 - Hawkmoon 269

U2 - Hawkmoon 269 Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

Hawkmoon 269 Lyrics

Like a desert needs rain
Like a town needs a name
I need your love

Like a drifter needs a room
Hawkmoon
I need your love
I need your love

Like a rhythm unbroken
Like drums in the night
Like sweet soul music
Like sunlight
I need your love

Like coming home
And you don't know where you've been
Like black coffee
Like nicotine
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)

When the night has no end
And the day yet to begin
As the room spins around
I need your love
I need your love

Like a Phoenix rising needs a holy tree
Like the sweet revenge of a bitter enemy
I need your love

Like the hot needs the sun
Like honey on her tongue
Like the muzzle of a gun
Like oxygen
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love (I need your love)

When the night has no end
And the day yet to begin
As the room spins around
I need your love

I need your love
Whoa!
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love

Like thunder needs rain
Like a preacher needs pain
Like tongues of flame
Like a sheet stained
I need your love
I need your love

Like a needle needs a vein
Like someone to blame
Like a thought unchained
Like a runaway train
I need your love

I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love
I need your love

Like faith needs a doubt
Like a freeway out
I need your love

Like powder needs a spark
Like lies need the dark
I need your love

In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love
In the heart of the heat of the love

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

Hawkmoon 269 Song Chart

269 refers to the number of mixes they tried before getting it right.

Hawkmoon is a town in North Dakota U2 passed through in 1986 on the Conspiracy Of Hope tour for Amnesty International. Bono liked the name and used it in the title.

Lyrics about the room spinning around refer to a hangover Bono had while writing it.

Bob Dylan played the organ.

U2 - Van Diemen's Land

U2 - Van Diemen's Land Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Rattle And Hum
Released: 1988

Van Diemen's Land Lyrics

Hold me now,
Oh hold me now
'Til this hour
Has gone around
And I'm gone
On the rising tide
For to face
Van Diemen's land

It's a bitter pill
I swallow here
To be rent from one so dear
We fought for justice
And not for gain
But the magistrate
Sent me away

Now kings will rule
And the poor will toil
And tear their hands
As they tear the soil
But a day will come
In this dawning age
When an honest man
Sees an honest wage

Hold me now,
Oh hold me now
'Til this hour
Has gone around
And I'm gone
On the rising tide
For to face Van Diemen's land

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

This song is about John Boyle O'Reilly, the leader of a 1848 Irish uprising after the Great Famine. He was banished to Australia for rebelling against the government.

Van Dieman's Land is the former name for the Australian state of Tasmania. British convicts were sent there for committing crimes and forced to live in the dirty jail cells there. Now in Tasmania at the sites of the jail cells, they are used for ghost stories during the night. (thanks, James - New York, NY)

The Edge sings lead on this song and wrote the lyric. He got the idea after a trip to County Meath in Ireland where the came across a monument to John Boyle O'Reilly.

There is a completely different traditional Irish folk song of the same name.

U2 recorded this at The Point Theater in Dublin and used it in their movie Rattle And Hum.

This is based on an old Irish folk song called "The River is Wide."

U2 - Mothers Of The Disappeared

U2 - Mothers Of The Disappeared Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Joshua Tree
Released: 1987

Mothers Of The Disappeared Lyrics

Midnight, our sons and daughters
Cut down, taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall

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

Mothers Of The Disappeared Song Chart

As he explains when introducing this song in concert, Bono wrote this when he made a trip to El Salvador in the middle of the civil war in the '80s. In San Salvador, he met with the Comadres, who were a group of women also known as the "mothers of the disappeared." These women had lost their children, who were taken in the night by death squads, leaving the mothers unsure if their children were alive or dead. He then stayed with a group of guerillas in the middle of the mountains in the north of the country, where he was inspired to write "Bullet The Blue Sky," another single from The Joshua Tree album. (thanks, Alexis - San Salvador, El Salvador)

This song ties in with U2's work with Amnesty International. In 1986, they participated in 6 concerts as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy Of Hope tour. Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Brian Adams, and Sting were also on the tour with U2.

On February 5, 1989, U2 played in Buenos Aires with The Mothers of the Disappeared onstage with pictures of their missing children. After this song, the women draped scarves around Bono's neck and the crowd sang the Argentine National Anthem.

At some concerts, U2 would lead into this with a song called "El Pueblo Vencera," which is Spanish for "A People United." Bono would often implore the crowd to sing with him.

U2 - One Tree Hill

U2 - One Tree Hill Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Joshua Tree
Released: 1987

One Tree Hill Lyrics

We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy love
The sun so bright it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone
On the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

You run like river, on like a sea
You run like a river runs to the sea

And in the world a heart of darkness
A fire zone
Where poets speak their heart
Then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon
In the hands of love
You know his blood still cries
From the ground

It runs like a river runs to the sea
It runs like a river to the sea

I don't believe in painted roses
Or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful
I'll see you again
When the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red
Over One Tree Hill

We run like a river
Run to the sea
We run like a river to the sea
And when it's raining
Raining hard
That's when the rain will
Break my heart

Raining, raining in the heart
Raining in your heart
Raining, raining to your heart
Raining, raining, raining
Raining to your heart
Raining, raining in your heart
Raining in your heart
To the sea

Oh great ocean
Oh great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea

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

One Tree Hill Song Chart

U2 wrote this about Greg Carroll, a Māori from New Zealand who became an assistant and close friend of Bono after he met the band in 1985 while they were in his country. He was killed a year later when he was hit by a car while running an errand for Bono on Bono's motorcycle. The album The Joshua Tree, as well as this song, are dedicated to Greg Carroll.

One Tree Hill is the tallest of 5 volcanic islands in Auckland where Greg Carroll took Bono his first night in New Zealand. It is a tourist attraction in Auckland, with a monument at the summit dedicated to John Logan Campbell, one of Auckland's founding fathers.

The lyrics describe the traditional Māori burial that Greg Carroll was given at One Tree Hill.

In 1994, the One Tree Hill tree was the victim of a chainsaw attack by a Māori activist which almost ringbarked it. A further attack in 1999 all but finished the job and the life expectancy of the tree was estimated to be only three years. By October 2000, the pine had become unstable and was a danger to the public. After careful study of the condition of the tree, the decision was made to take it down. The felling operation was successfully carried out on October 26 amid much public attention, and the Auckland skyline was changed forever. (thanks, Copper - Auckland, New Zealand)

"Jara" refers to Victor Jara, a folk singer from Chile who was killed after a military uprising for his political beliefs.

Bono felt he could perform this only once, and did just one take in the studio.

There is a place in England called One Tree Hill, but it has nothing to do with this song.

The American TV show One Tree Hill, which went on the air in 2003, was named after this song. The show takes place in a fictional North Carolina town called Tree Hill. The show's creator, Mark Schwahn, decided to use the name after hearing the song. The title implies that there is only one Tree Hill- one place the characters can really call home.

U2 - In God's Country

U2 - In God's Country Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Joshua Tree
Released: 1987

In God's Country Lyrics

Yeah

Desert sky
Dream beneath a desert sky
The rivers run but soon run dry
We need new dreams tonight

Desert rose
Dreamed I saw a desert rose
Dress torn in ribbons and in bows
Like a siren she calls to me

Sleep comes like a drug
In God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's country

Set me alight
We'll punch a hole right through the night
Everyday the dreamers die
See what's on the other side

She is liberty
And she comes to rescue me
Hope, faith, her vanity
The greatest gift is gold

Sleep comes like a drug
In God's country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's country

Naked flame
She stands with a naked flame
I stand with the sons of Cain
Burned by the fire of love
Burned by the fire of love

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

In God's Country Song Chart

One of the songs on The Joshua Tree that explores American culture and politics, Bono's lyrics were inspired by the Statue Of Liberty in New York City. He was concerned that the American Dream was being threatened by shady politics.

The lyric, "I stand with the sons of Cain," refers to the Biblical Cain in the Book of Genesis. One of the sons of Cain, Jubal, was the first ever musician. According to the Genesis account, he was the "father of all who play the harp and lute."

U2 - Running To Stand Still

U2 - Running To Stand Still Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Joshua Tree
Released: 1987

Running To Stand Still Lyrics

And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was
Lying still
Said I gotta do something
About where we're going

Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah da da da de day
Ah la la de day

Sweet the sin
Bitter than taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out

You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice

You know I took the poison
From the poison stream
Then I floated out of here
Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day

She runs through the streets
With eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will

Suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand

Still

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

Running To Stand Still Song Chart

This is about heroin addiction. Bono was inspired by a story he read about a man who smuggled heroin into Dublin to feed his habit. Bono was interested in how he got in that position.

The line about the "Seven Towers" refers to housing projects in Dublin where many drug users lived.

U2 has remained mostly drug-free, but they know many people who became addicts. A friend of theirs, Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy, died from heroin abuse in 1986.

Bass player Adam Clayton was arrested in Ireland for marijuana possession in 1989. The conviction was waived in lieu of a donation to charity.

Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" was a big influence on this song.

Bono, March 1987, on the Joshua Tree songs: "A lot of the songs were ones that were recorded in Larry's spare bedroom or Adam's living room. When the red light's on we often don't respond to it. When we're just left to be, left to make music our own way, well some of the tracks are almost like demos. We had to fight to make them work and there were a lot of songs left over. It could have gone off in a number of different directions. We wanted the idea of a one-piece record, not a side-one, side-two thing." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

U2 - With Or Without You

U2 - With Or Without You Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Joshua Tree
Released: 1987

With Or Without You Lyrics

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait, without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
Oh

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you

With or without you

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

With Or Without You Song Chart

This was U2's first #1 hit in the US. It was the first U2 single to do better in America than in England.

The lyrics are about relationships, but can be interpreted many ways. They were written by Bono, who wanted to write a love song that dealt with real issues in relationships.

In 1987 Bono explained that everybody in the group knows what the line "And you give yourself away" means: "It's about how I feel in U2 at times - exposed. I'm not going to do many interviews this year. Because there's a cost to my personal life, and a cost to the group as well." (thanks, Kristine - Davenport, IA)

The Edge used a distortion device called an "Infinite Guitar" to create the wail. It was invented by Michael Brook, who The Edge worked with on the soundtrack for The Captive. Brook created the Infinite Guitar by replacing the pickup on a guitar with a magnetic device that vibrates the strings. Co-producer Daniel Lanois told Mojo magazine January 2008 about the recording of this song: "'For 'With Or Without You' we had the rhythm and the chords then we were testing Michael Brook's Infinite Guitar Invention. I asked Edge just to play a little something with it. He did two takes and those are the ones in the ultimate mix of 'With Or Without You.' Beautiful sounds, stratospheric."

This was voted best single of 1987 in a Rolling Stone magazine readers poll.

This won an MTV Viewer's Choice award in 1987.

Bono intended this as part of a trilogy with 2 other songs that did not make the album. At the time, he felt this did not make any sense without the other 2 songs.

This was played on 2 episodes of the show Friends. First towards the middle of the second season, then in the middle of the third season. It became the anthem of the characters Ross and Rachel after it was used in an episode where he dedicated it to her on the radio. (thanks, Britney - Calabasas, CA)

On the Rattle and Hum tour, Bono added the lyrics at the end... "Yeah, we'll shine like stars in the summer night, We'll shine like stars in the winter night, One heart, One hope, One love." (thanks, Bill - Johnstown, PA)

This was the first single that U2 released on CD. The single also appeared in CD Video format and is a rare collectible. About 50 copies were made to demo the Philips CDV system.

U2 played this for the first time in Tempe, Arizona on April 4, 1987, the second night of The Joshua Tree tour. Bono mixed in parts of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

This was used in the 1994 movie Blown Away. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 3)

This returned twice to the UK Top 75 within the space of eight months, both due to performances by reality show contestants. In October 2008 following a performance by contestant Diana Vickers on X Factor and again in May 2009 thanks to Shaun Smith's rendition of the song during a semi-final edition of Britain's Got Talent.