U2 of the 80's: The Stories Behind The Songs

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Alternative Rock
Artist:	U2

1. "I Will Follow" (1980) This peppy tune, released on the Boy album, is still as fresh today as when it debuted nearly three decades ago. The song is charged with Edge's gritty guitar riffs and a pounding drum beat by Larry Mullen, Jr., still played with the intensity of an 18 year old. According to Bono, the lyrics are about the unconditional love between mother (or God) and child. Whatever the child does, whatever his or her faults, a mother (or God) still loves her child.

2. "Out of Control" (1980) Another toe-tapper from Boy, "Out of Control" has the distinction of being the first song the guys heard played on the radio. Bono wrote the lyrics in the wee hours of the morning following his eighteenth birthday. "It was one dull morning/I woke the world with bawling/I was so sad/They were so glad . . ." The song is about being born -- or rather objecting to it -- and feeling that you have no control over your life.

3. "Gloria" (1981) No, it's not a cover of fellow Irishman Van Morrison's 1960s hit. This one comes from U2's sophomore album, October, which was heavy-laden with references to religion and spirituality. Bono has said he had a difficult time writing the lyrics, so he turned it into a psalm, complete with verses in Latin. The music is quite edgy considering the subject matter, which is what makes it classic U2.

4. "Tomorrow" (1981) Most U2 lyrics are pretty heavy. But with "Tomorrow," from October, Bono was truly speaking from the heart. When he was 14, his mother suffered a brain hemorrhage at her father's funeral and died a few days later. Bono would later state that the melancholy lyrics to "Tomorrow" were a description of her funeral.

5. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1983) From the War album, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a powerhouse in the U2 canon, performed on every major tour since its debut. It's a classic U2 protest song about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Larry's militaristic drumming and Edge's abrasive guitar drive the song, while Bono's powerful lyrics cry out "How long, how long must we sing this song?"

The song, which reached number seven on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in the 1980s, has now become a global plea to end the violence that threatens the world today.

6. "New Year's Day" (1983) This song, inspired by the solidarity movement in Poland, reached number two on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. It was also the first U2 video to get major airplay on MTV, giving the band the exposure that would get them named "Band of the Eighties" by Rolling Stone magazine just two years later. During live shows, Edge takes control on this song, playing guitar and keyboard simultaneously in parts and also singing backup vocals.

7. "40" (1983) Also from War, Bono based the lyrics of this bass-driven song on Psalm 40. Although the song was only released in Germany, it is a fan favorite that has frequently been used to close shows. When a show ends with "40," guitarist Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments, and the band members leave the stage one by one -- first Bono, Adam, then Edge, leaving Larry alone onstage to perform a brief (but kickin') drum solo, as fans chant the chorus.

8. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1984) Released on The Unforgettable Fire album, this song about Jesus ("one man betrayed with a kiss") and Martin Luther King, Jr., reached number two on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Bono gave his all recording "Pride," shouting the lyrics from the depths of his soul.

But don't rely on Bono for a history lesson; the lyric referring to Dr. King ("Early morning, April four/Shot rings out in the Memphis sky . . .") is
incorrect -- King was actually killed around 6:00 p.m. Bono has since realized his mistake and now sings "Early evening, April four" in live shows.

9. "Bad" (1984) From The Unforgettable Fire album, "Bad" was never released as a single, but it's a fan favorite that sometimes closes shows. As always, the lyrics are subject to much debate, but according to Bono, the song is about drug addiction, specifically heroin, which ran rampant in Dublin in the early 1980s and had taken hold of one of his friends.

Ever the perfectionist, Bono feels the song could've been better if he'd "finished" it. Most fans think it's a masterpiece as it stands.

10. "With or Without You" (1987) This perpetual crowd-pleaser, released on the Grammy Award-winning album The Joshua Tree, was U2's first number-one song in America. Some feel the song is about Jesus ("see the thorn twist in your side"); others think it's about romantic love and longing for someone you can't be with.

The song is rife with symbolism, in both the lyrics and the music. Adam's bass is the pulse. Larry's drumming is the heartbeat. Edge's guitar chords represent the agony of a heart breaking. And Bono's voice and haunting lyrics are the personification of love and longing and the agony of unrequited love.

When his voice cries out, you know he's not just reciting the words but truly feeling the pain of loving someone he can't be with . . . and you feel that pain with him.

11. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (1987) No dual meaning here -- U2's second song to top U.S. charts, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," is a gospel song about searching for and understanding one's spiritual beliefs. U2 even took a gospel choir with them to sing backup vocals during The Joshua Tree tour.

Bono often says he's not satisfied with some of his recorded lyrics, so he tends to "rewrite" them during live performances. For example, the original lyric: "You broke the bonds/And you loosed the chains/Carried the cross of my shame/Oh my shame . . ." is now sung: "You broke the bonds/And you loosed the chains/Carried the cross/Took my shame/You took the blame . . ." The change is ever so slight, but it makes the song much deeper and more meaningful.

12. "Where the Streets Have No Name" (1987) Although "Streets" didn't crack the top ten in the States, it's a fan favorite that was frequently used to open shows on The Joshua Tree tour. The lyrics were inspired by a trip Bono and his wife took to Ethiopia in the mid-1980s, during which they volunteered at a refugee camp orphanage. With Edge's distinctive scratchy chords, Larry's enthusiastic drumming, and Adam's deep bass holding it all together, even the band admits it's much better live.

13. "Desire" (1988) With "Desire," released as the first single from the album Rattle and Hum, Bono parodies and criticizes evangelical preachers, politicians, and the greed ingrained in the landscape of 1980s America. But the lyrics can have a more carnal interpretation as well.

Either way, the song was a hit, reaching number one on both Billboard's Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. The song also won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance, and it was U2's first song to reach the top of the charts in the U.K.

14. "Angel of Harlem" (1988) With "Angel of Harlem," U2 racked up another number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Recorded in Sun Studios in Memphis, Elvis's legendary music engineer Cowboy Jack Clement pitched in on this one, and it was all captured on film in the "rockumentary" Rattle and Hum.

The song chronicles the band's arrival in America for their first tour in 1980 ("It was a cold and wet December day/When we touched the ground at JFK . . ."). It is also a tribute to Billie Holiday, the "Angel of Harlem."

15. "All I Want Is You" (1989) Bono has said that "All I Want Is You," from Rattle and Hum, is dedicated to his wife, Ali. The poetic and symbolic lyrics describe his desire for true, unconditional love, and the promises his lover makes show the depth of her feelings. The song closed the Rattle and Hum movie, and much to the surprise of fans (because it seldom closes a live show), it was the last song played on the Vertigo tour, when it closed the show in Honolulu in December 2006.