What references has Bono made to wind in U2 songs?



What references has Bono made to 'wind' in U2 songs?



The critics of U2 and Bono would have fun with mentioning Bono talking about wind as the man does talk about a lot of many things - but here's a serious collection of references that U2 have made to wind in their songs.

When you think about it, the wind is commonly used in songs - think of the Scorpion's Winds of Change as obvious example.

The use of wind is typically used to describe a change that is happening to someone or somewhere.

Here's occasions that U2 have referred to making wind in their songs, if you don't take yourself too seriously.

Kite

A fan favourite from All That You Can't Leave Behind, The initial draft of the lyrics were written with Bono's daughters Eve and Jordan in mind.

The Edge assisted Bono in writing the lyrics and has suggested that they were actually about Bono's emotionally-reserved father, Bob Hewson, who was dying of cancer at the time the song was written.

When Bob did die, the lyric 'last of the rock stars' was changed to 'last of the opera star's when sung live, reflecting Bob's past opera career. Ultimately, Kite is a song of hope.

Bullet the Blue Sky

"In the howling wind comes a stinging rain, see it driving nails into souls on the tree of pain" And so opens Bullet the Blue Sky from The Joshua Tree.

This line is poetic pain and sets the tone of the whole song.

A stinging attack on America's position in foreign politics and especially those of El Salvador in America's quest to stop communism at all costs.

Exit


Taken from The Joshua Tree, Exit tells the bleak tale of what I often think of as a desperate cowboy but in reality Bono's inspiration source was inspired by Norman Mailer's novel The Executioner's Song, the subject of which was serial killer Gary Gilm.

 Lyrically, it's a pairing to Bullet the Blue Sky as it refers to a howling wind.

Indian Summer Sky

A cut from The Unforgettable Fire album, Indian Summer sky is considered to be a social commentary on the prison-like atmosphere of city living in a world of natural forces.

An actual Indian Summer is is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather - to which the wind that Bono ask's to blow through so as to give some relief.

Ordinary Love

A sweet lyric about how the wind can lift us up:

"Birds fly high in the summer sky and rest on the breeze.
The same wind will take care of you and I.
We'll build our house in the trees."