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Zooropa Lyrics by U2

Zooropa Lyrics by U2

I think Zooropa was the first U2 album I ever bought. I vaguely recall having heard Numb on what was then called 93 FM and thinking it sounded pretty cool. Then on a triplater  to Taupo with my Dad and brothers I saw a poster with all the song titles on it and it looked awesome and dangerous unlike say the Roxette album we listened to on the way to Taupo. Soon after I bought the album and my musical journey with U2 began.

Anyways you didn't come here for the memories of a teenager, you came for the lyrics of Zooropa, a grammy award winning album that featured a monotoned The Edge, an amazing Johnny Cash and some fantastic Brian Eno keyboard magic on Lemon.

Zooropa was a quick companion piece of sorts to Achtung Baby. Lyrically, Zooropa expanded on many of the Achtung baby tours' themes of  media oversaturation, technology of course love.

Zooropa Lyrics:

1.        "Zooropa"     

2.        "Babyface"    

3.        "Numb" (The Edge on lead vocal)

4.        "Lemon"       

5.        "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"  

6.        "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car"        

7.        "Some Days Are Better Than Others"       

8.        "The First Time"      

9.        "Dirty Day"   

10.      "The Wanderer" 

Achtung Baby Lyrics by U2

Achtung Baby Lyrics by U2


Achtung Baby is U2's crowning glory, their master piece that no band since 1991 has bettered, it is a modern day classic. Following the perhaps inevitable backlash against U2's Rattle and Hum, U2's sound on the album was unlike anything the band had ever produced before.

U2's previous records such as War and The Joshua Tree made lyrical statements about political and social issues. Bono's lyrics for Achtung Baby a realised a more personal and introspective which examined love, sexuality, spirituality, faith, and even betrayal with Until The End of the World being an obvious example.

U2's lyrics for Achtung Baby

"Zoo Station"          

"Even Better Than the Real Thing"

"One" 

"Until the End of the World"

"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"

"So Cruel"

"The Fly"

"Mysterious Ways"

"Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"

"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"

 "Acrobat"     

"Love Is Blindness"  

Rattle and Hum lyrics U2

Rattle and Hum Lyrics by U2

Following on from the mega selling The Joshua Tree was seen as a tough act to follow - U2 were nearly up to the challenge with Rattle and Hum, an album with some killer songs like All I Want Is You and God Part II but as a whole it didn't quite have the same magic as The Joshua Tree. That said the album produced plenty of hits of U2 and songs from Rattle and Hum still feature in most U2 concert set lists.

The album was intended to be a tribute to some musical legends and took a bluesy turn with Desire featuring a Bo Diddley inspired riff being played on Desire, blues maestro BB King featuring his own guitar work on Love Comes To Town and lyrics evoking memories of jazz legends Billie Holiday and Miles Davis and even John Lennon.

The album title, Rattle and Hum, is taken from a lyric from U2's own "Bullet the Blue Sky"

Rattle and Hum Lyrics

            
1. Helter Skelter

2. Van Diemen's Land

3. Desire

4. Hawkmoon 269

5. All Along The Watchtower

6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

7. Freedom For My People

8. Silver And Gold

9. Pride (In The Name Of Love)

10. Angel Of Harlem

11. Love Rescue Me

12. When Love Comes To Town

13. Heartland 

14. God Part II

15. The Star Spangled Banner

16. Bullet The Blue Sky

17. All I Want Is You

The Joshua Tree Lyrics by U2

The Joshua Tree. The follow up to the well received The Unforgettable Fire made U2 globally famous and delivered some of the best songs that the 80's could muster. The Joshua Tree's lyrics delved into the politics of the US Government, heroin addition, love, spirituality and other social issues.

The Joshua Tree lyrics:

1. "Where the Streets Have No Name"
2. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
3. "With or Without You"
4. "Bullet the Blue Sky"
5. "Running to Stand Still"
6. "Red Hill Mining Town"
7. "In God's Country"
8. "Trip Through Your Wires"
9. "One Tree Hill"
10. "Exit"
11. "Mothers of the Disappeared"

The Joshua Tree sold over 30 million albums and the songs With Or Without and Where the Streets Have No Name are played at every single concert as the fans have been known to riot if they are not played!

Fun fact: One Tree Hill is only ever really played in NZ as a tribute to Greg Caroll, a friend of U2 who as killed while employed by U2. When U2 played it in Auckland in 2010 it was dedicated to the miners of  the Pike River Mine Disaster.

The Unforgettable Fire lyrics by U2

The Unforgettable Fire lyrics by U2

The Unforgettable Fire was U2's forth album. With a more ambient or abstract sound than War, U2's new producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno helped deliver an album with lyrics that referenced heroin addiction, Martin Luther King, atomic bombs and Elvis.


The Unforgettable Fire Lyrics

1. "A Sort of Homecoming"
2. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
3. "Wire"
4. "The Unforgettable Fire"
5. "Promenade"
6. "4th of July" 
7. "Bad"
8. "Indian Summer Sky"
9. "Elvis Presley and America"
10. "MLK"

Disappearing Act was a song that was released for the re-issue of The Unforgettable Fire in 2009.

War Lyrics by U2

War album Cover

War Lyrics by U2

War was U2's third album  and could be considered their 'breakthrough' recording. Featuring the big hit of Sunday Bloody Sunday, the album signalled a new change in U2 - pushing aside some of the more earnest spiritual side of Boy and October, War's lyrics were more politically charged. The song 'Seconds' was focussed on Bono's concerns about nuclear arms.

War Lyrics:

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday

2. Seconds

3. New Year's Day

4. Like A Song

5. Drowning Man

6. The Refugee

7. Two Hearts Beat As One

8. Red Light

9. Surrender

10. "40"

A left over from the War recording sessions was the song, Angels Too Tied To The Ground

War was produced by Steve Lillywhite and was U2's first number one album in the UK, knocking off Michael Jackson's Thriller of the chart's top spot.

October Lyrics by U2

October album cover U2

October was U2's follow up to their debut album Boy. Produced again by Steve Lillywhite, it was a more polished effort but did not win over as many critics as the first album. The track Gloria has proved to be a song that has stood the test of time and as the title of that song suggests, October's lyrics were of a heavily spiritual nature and they were all written by Bono.

October Lyrics:

1. Gloria
2. I Fall Down
3. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
4. Rejoice
5. Fire
6. Tomorrow
7. October
8. With A Shout
9. Stranger In A Strange Land
10. Scarlet
11. Is That All?

Fun Fact: October is the least selling of all the U2 albums. Even Pop sold more.....

Boy lyrics by U2

Boy

Here's the lyrics to U2's Boy album. Released on October 20, 1980 it was produced by Steve Lillywhite who would go on to produce several U2 works.

Common lyrical themes among the album's songs are the thoughts and frustrations of adolescence which is not surprising as U2 were just a bunch of 20 something Irish lads when Boy came out!

Boy is probably best known for is classic tracks "I Will Follow" and The Electric Co.

Boy Lyrics:

1. "I Will Follow"
2. "Twilight"
3. "An Cat Dubh"
4. "Into the Heart"
5. "Out of Control"

Side two

1. "Stories for Boys"
2. "The Ocean"
3. "A Day Without Me"
4. "Another Time, Another Place"
5. "The Electric Co."
6. "Shadows and Tall Trees"

A question often asked about the album is, who is the boy on the cover? The answer is Peter Rowen. He went on to become a photographer.