Top Ten Songs by U2
The Irish rockers are one of the few bands to make the leap from college radio favorites to mainstream acceptance to rock-n-roll gods. It hasn’t always been easy and there have been more than a few bumps along the way, but U2 have put out some of the best music of the past two decades. Here is my list of their top 10 songs, trying to highlight their many different styles along the way.
#10) Angel of Harlem After U2’s multi-platinum “The Joshua Tree”, the band found itself saddled with the moniker, best band in the world. Struggling with that weight, U2 turned its focus on all things American. That influence could be heard on their next album, “Rattle and Hum”. The album tried to be too many things to too many people but it did have some standout cuts, including Angel of Harlem. The song is a bouncy tribute to “Lady Day” better known as Billie Holiday.
“Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got John Coltrane and a love supreme
Miles, and she’s got to be an angel
Lady Day got diamond eyes
She sees the truth behind the lies
Angel
Soul love
This love won’t let me go
So long
Angel of Harlem
Angel of Harlem”
#9) I Will Follow The opening track from U2’s debut album, 1980’s “Boy”, I Will Follow was a college-radio hit. The band had not yet developed its signature sound and the song has a definite, sign of the times, new-wave feel. At the time, it was thought to have religious overtones, while others thought it was about Bono’s relationship with his mother.
“I was on the inside
When they pulled the four walls down
I was looking through the window
I was lost, I am found
Walkaway, walkaway
I walkaway, walkaway…I will follow
If you walkaway, walkaway,
I walkaway, walkaway…I will follow
I will follow.”
#8) City of Blinding Lights Great music can mean different things to different people. Sometimes it’s obvious what the inspiration for a song or lyric is and other times the artist leaves it up to the listener to figure out. In 2004’s “How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”, it’s hard for me to hear City of Blinding Lights and not think about New York City and 9/11.
“The more you know
The less you feel
Some pray for, others steal
Blessings not just for the ones who kneel, luckily”
#7) Stay (Faraway, So Close!) From 1993’s “Zooropa”, Stay is a beautiful song about unrequited love.
“And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don’t feel a thing
If I could stay… then the night would give you up
Stay, and the day would keep its trust
Stay, and the night would be enough”
#6) Bad The standout track from 1984’s “The Unforgettable Fire”, Bad is about struggling with addiction. The song features the perfect blend of Bono’s voice and Edge’s guitar, thanks to the magnificent production provided by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
“This desparation
Dislocation
Separation
Condemnation
Revelation
In temptation
Isolation
Desolation
Let it go
And so fade away
To let it go, oh yeah
And so fade away
To let it go, oh No
And so to fade away
I’m wide awake
I’m wide awake
Wide awake
I’m not sleeping oh no no”
#5) Beautiful Day After 1997’s disappointing “Pop” U2 followed up with “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in 2000, which saw a return to the band’s rock-n-roll roots and said good-bye to the experimental techno-like feel of their previous offerings. Beautiful Day is the opening track and it sets the stage for a return to their 1980s sound with a fantastic song.
“Touch me, take me to that other place
Reach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
You don’t need it now
It was a beautiful day.”
#4) One U2 followed up the disjointed “Rattle and Hum” with 1991’s “Achtung Baby”. The album saw a complete change in sound as instead of exploring America, the band seems intent on showcasing its European side, as they dove head first into rave and electronic-based music. One starts out simply enough but the electronics come on after the tune has started and do not overpower the song.
“Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it’s all I’ve got
We’re one
But we’re not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on
To what you got
When all you’ve got is hurt.”
The song was released as a single to benefit AIDS charities but the lyrics never stoop to afternoon-special status.
#3) Sunday Bloody Sunday The song that vaulted U2 from college radio to the mainstream, Sunday Bloody Sunday sounds dated today but there’s no denying the passion in the song. From 1983’s “War” the song is about the troubles in Northern Ireland.
“And the battle’s just begun
There’s many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart!
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
How long?
How long must we sing this song?
How long?? How looong??”
#2) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me A song that never appeared on a U2 album, it was U2’s contribution to the “Batman Forever” soundtrack for the 1995 film. Composed during the band’s techno days, this song goes in an opposite direction. While it certainly had dark overtones, they were applied to sexual hijinks rather than introspection, creating one of the most unique songs ever made by the group.
“Dressing like your sister
Living like a tart
They don’t know what you’re doing
Babe, it must be art
You’re a headache
In a suitcase
You’re a star
Oh no, don’t be shy
You don’t have to go blind
Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me.”
#1) One Tree Hill U2 became superstars with the release of 1987’s “The Joshua Tree”. The album featured number one hits and several radio favorites but the gem comes with One Tree Hill. The song is an elegy to Greg Carroll, Bono’s personal assistant who died in a motorcycle accident while running an errand for the band. Carroll, a New Zealander, told the band about the volcanic peak in his home country with a single pine tree sitting atop it, which stands as a symbol of national unity.
“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 a river, on to the sea
You run like a river runs to the sea.”
