"Desire," the first single off Rattle and Hum, captures U2's raw, swaggering, rock 'n' roll energy while holding a mirror up to the decadence and hypocrisy Bono saw in the America of the late 1980s.
As Bono himself explains in U2 by U2, the song grapples with the "religiosity of rock 'n' roll concerts," acknowledging that rock and evangelism share an electrifying allure and spectacle that sometimes crosses into exploitation. Bono stands as both preacher and confessor, exploring the charged duality of desire: its seductive pull and its treacherous bite.
The lyrics work on several levels, each peeling back layers of self-critique and societal observation. On the surface, "Desire" is a rollicking anthem, celebrating the reckless intensity of lust and ambition.
However, Bono quickly complicates this with references to addiction, like "needle and spoon," a line that parallels the cautionary undertones he previously explored in songs like "Bad" and "Running to Stand Still."
The desire here is not just a drive or a thrill; it’s a yearning that risks becoming toxic, suggesting the darker, destructive edges of America’s pursuit of wealth and power in the 1980s.
Bono, as both narrator, Mirror Ball Man, and observer, seems to confront the idea that the pursuit of desire, unchecked and unexamined, spirals into addiction, exploitation, and moral decay—a powerful statement in a decade defined by excess.
Like a preacher stealing hearts...
Another dimension of "Desire" lies in Bono’s confrontation with his own image.
As he sings of "stealing hearts at a traveling show," the lyrics evoke the persona of a rock star evangelist, a role Bono seems to be both reveling in and recoiling from.
There is a critical self-awareness here, where Bono realizes his own proximity to the very figures he critiques—the politicians, the preachers, the frauds who sell salvation to a hungry audience. In that awareness, Bono becomes more than a rock icon; he becomes a kind of modern-day preacher, delivering not a sermon but a performance that blurs the lines between entertainment and enlightenment, raising questions about the authenticity of both.
This meta-awareness is an evolution in Bono’s writing, one that acknowledges the fine line between entertainer and messiah in a culture desperate for heroes. He would later explore this concept more fully in The Showman.
And the fever when I'm beside her
Bono’s comment on "Desire" lays bare the song’s unabashedly sexual core, confronting listeners with a hunger that’s more primal than political. Stripping away the pretenses of righteousness often tied to U2, Bono confesses that at the heart of "Desire" is a raw, visceral lust—a force as intense and consuming as the Bo Diddly rhythm driving the track:
It’s about lust, ambition and sex. The lusts I have. Sometimes, I come across as if I got into U2 to save the world, whereas I got into U2 to save my own ass. ‘Desire’ is my way out. In Downtown LA, South Central LA, the people have different ways out. The crack dealers, that’s their escape. It’s another morality, it’s wrong, but I’m not passing judgement. It’s their only way out. I’ve found mine. I’m singing about sex!
For love or money, money, money
The song also functions as a commentary on the wider American culture, where rock 'n' roll and spirituality frequently intersect and, at times, clash. Bono’s depiction of desire as both salvation and poison reflects a society intoxicated by its own potential for grandeur yet constantly on the brink of moral implosion.
In "Desire," America is a place where everything—from sex to religion to fame—is commodified, a landscape where people seek transcendence through pleasure but find themselves ensnared in cycles of consumption.
This cultural critique speaks to the band's fascination with America as both muse and cautionary tale, where the ideals of freedom and self-expression frequently veer into excess and self-destruction.
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