Still building, then burning down love

Many consider "Where the Streets Have No Name" the high point of any U2 concert. There is a funny story about the guitar part to this song. If you listen closely you may note that it begins with arpeggios that are not quite in the same time signature as the rest of the song. Gradually the tempo of the guitar accelerates until the guitar and the song come into focus together.

The story goes that this guitar part was so convoluted and it took so long to record this song (weeks and weeks) that at one point the producer decided to erase the whole thing and force the band to start over. An engineer had to physically hold him back from hitting the erase button -- which would have been a disaster. The song eventually came together and has become one of U2's most classic and enduring anthems.



I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

I still haven't found...

It's a rare U2 concert that doesn't feature the classic "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The song dates from the 1987 album The Joshua Tree. One of the producers, Daniel Lanois, said: "I've always liked gospel music and I encouraged Bono to take it to that place...It was a very non-U2 thing to do at the time, to go up the street of gospel. I think it opened a door for them, to experiment with that territory." It's amazing to hear the audience sing along when the band plays this song -- 50 or 100 thousand voices strong, all knowing every word.

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

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Is it getting better?

There is no U2 song more significant, more touching, more compelling than "One." It sounds like a love song, but if you listen closely, it's nothing of the sort. It's a challenge to those whose religion stands in judgement of others. "You ask me to enter - but then you make me crawl." Many interpret the song as being written from the point of view of a boy explaining to his father that he has AIDS.

In the 360 Tour, "One" is introduced by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, reinforcing the connection between the song and the One Campaign.



Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same
Will it make it easier on you now
You got someone to blame
You say...

One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's...

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...
Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I 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 got is hurt
One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One...life

One

The Heart is a Bloom

"Beautiful Day" is the quintessential U2 song, and it will be played early in the concert. When you hear the opening chords the crowd will roar its approval. I fell in love with U2 over this song. I remember driving to work and hearing it on the radio and feeling like I was just...airborne. The video was filmed at Charles de Gaulle airport.



The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town

You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere

You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day

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
Don't need it now
Was a beautiful day