The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album, Boy (1980). Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album, War (1983), and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and socially conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree (1987), made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby (1991), and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial music into their sound, and embraced a more ironic, flippant image. This experimentation continued through their ninth album, Pop (1997), and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group. Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group's thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence (2014), was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, but received criticism for its automatic placement in users' music libraries.
U2 has released 14 studio albums and is one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising.
Foundation: The band originally formed in 1976 when Larry Mullen posted a bulletin in his school asking for musicians to form a rock band. The band then consisted of the four current members plus three additional guitarists, including The Edge’s brother Dick Evans (later a member of Virgin Prunes), Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. According to legend, Bono originally auditioned as a guitarist but couldn’t play. He auditioned as lead vocals, but really couldn’t sing. He was, however, incredibly enthusiastic about the band, extremely charismatic, a great writer, and was strangely able to reach the audience when the band played, something he is known for still today. Bono will reach out into the crowd and dance or mess with someone in the crowd at every concert. He was kept as a member. The extra guitarists would soon leave the band and the group would go through the names “Feedback ” and “The Hype” before finally settling on U2.
The 70s & 80s: 1978 was a jumping point year for the band, finally finding their sound / voice. U2 won a talent contest in 1978: £500 and funds to make a record. Paul McGuinness became the band’s manager and U2 released an EP called Three and the single Another Day, the following year. U2 went on to release their first album, Boy and then more critically acclaimed albums incl.: October, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire (featuring the song PlayMLK dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr). Seen by many as a political band with more charisma than others, they were called “a different kind” of band. After a short break U2 returned with The Joshua Tree & the USA music inspired Rattle And Hum (also a movie of the same name, based on the tour).
The 90s: Promising ”to dream it all up again”, they added industrial and dance styles to their music. Trying to drop a goody two shoes image, they went to Berlin (Germany), supposedly to develop new self-expressions. From there they started to make fun of themselves and had a good time of it in albums like Achtung Baby (meaning ”watch out, baby”, artwork feat. make-up artist Nassim Khalifa) & Zooropa. Bono took on many stage personae such as “The Fly”, “Mirrorball Man” and “Mr. MacPhisto” for the gigantic ZOO TV Tour. Later they continued to make fun of Pop culture and all its extremes with the album Pop and consequent PopMart tour which was announced to be launched at a Kmart store and included a giant golden arch across the stage.
The 00s: At the end of the 90’s into 00’s U2 became less image and more reality. With the death of Bono’s good friend Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, Bono wrote more songs from the heart surrounding ideas like life and death, children, hope, and the real world past all the pop culture and TV. Some say they’ve returned to a more band-centric sound with albums like All That You Can’t Leave Behind which features a song, Kite, dedicated to Bono’s father who passed away shortly after the album’s conception and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The 10s: U2 went on the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010. This tour set records for the highest-grossing concert tour. The band worked with producer Danger Mouse for their thirteenth album Songs of Innocence, which was released on 9 September 2014 for free to all Apple iCloud users.
The Name: There are many theories as to the origin of the name U2. For example, U2 was an intelligence airplane that was in use by the United States during the Cold War. Other obvious candidates include “You too” and “You two”, etc. Nonetheless the official line on the name’s origins remains unknown. The band has been quoted as saying that they did think of the U2 spy plane, but remain hushed about other reasons… U2
07- Until the end of the world
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world
I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world
Love, love, love
Love
Love, love
Love, love, love
Love (love)
Love, love
In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait
'Til the end of the world
The song "Until the End of the World" by U2 is a story of betrayal and regret. The first verse sets the scene of two people who haven't seen each other for a while meeting in a room with others, having food, drinks, and fun. However, one of them is not enjoying themselves and is instead talking about the end of the world. The second verse reveals that the other person had spiked their drink and took their money, while also hinting at a romantic relationship between them. The chorus of "love, love, love" serves almost as a distraction, a smokescreen in the midst of the treacherous acts taking place.
The third verse takes on a more surreal tone, with the singer drowning their sorrows in a dream only to find that their sorrows have learned to swim and are now engulfing them. In their desperation, they reach out for the one they had wronged, hoping for forgiveness or redemption. The final line of the chorus, "you said you'd wait 'til the end of the world," takes on a new meaning in this context - perhaps the singer is haunted by the thought that even at the end of everything, they will never be able to make things right.
The song has been interpreted by many as a metaphor for Judas' betrayal of Jesus, with the line "I kissed your lips and broke your heart" referring to the kiss of Judas. However, lead singer Bono has stated that the song is actually about someone who had an affair with his friend's wife - a theme that is certainly present in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Haven't seen you in quite a while
It's been a long time since we've seen each other.
I was down the hold just passing time
I was in a dark place, just killing time.
Last time we met was a low-lit room
The last time we met, it was in a dimly lit room.
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We were close, like newlyweds.
We ate the food, we drank the wine
We had a good time, enjoying food and wine.
Everybody having a good time
Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves.
Except you
But you weren't.
You were talking about the end of the world
You were talking about something dark and catastrophic.
I took the money
I stole from you.
I spiked your drink
I drugged you, to take advantage of you.
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lose out on a lot, if you overthink things.
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You charmed me with your innocent looks.
You know I love the element of surprise
You know I like surprises.
In the garden I was playing the tart
I was playing around, acting promiscuous.
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
I betrayed your trust by kissing you, even though I had bad intentions.
You, you were acting like it was the end of the world
You were acting like something terrible was about to happen.
Love, love, love
The power of love.
Love
Love.
Love, love
Love.
Love, love, love
The strength of love.
Love (love)
Love.
Love, love
Affection.
In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
In my dream, I was overwhelmed by sadness.
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
But my sadness didn't drown, it persisted and multiplied.
Surrounding me, going down on me
I was being engulfed by my struggles.
Spilling over the brim
Overflowing with emotion.
Waves of regret and waves of joy
Experiencing mixed emotions.
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
I sought comfort from someone I had hurt before.
You, you said you'd wait
You said you'll wait for me.
'Til the end of the world
Until the very end of everything, you'll wait for me.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADAM CLAYTON, DAVE EVANS, LARRY MULLEN, PAUL HEWSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Martinez
First time I heard this song was in 92', I was on the highway with the top down, heading to partytown. When the guitar solo came up, it sent tingling down my spine, still does to this day.
redshift
And some haters say Edge is a crap guitarist.
Nikola Jelinčić
@redshift They'll have to wait until the end of the world...
Sylvain Laurence
Same for me ,when im working Alone no radio,no distraction on my head looking for a song to sing this on is my best 👑👑
Cindylouwho's
Frisson. Same here!
Benson Hedges
It's the build up atmospheric sounds behind the guitar....amazing!
Richie Aleman
The Fall '91 was the last truly great era of Rock. The breakthrough of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, RHCP, GnR, Alice, REM, NIN, the rise of all/college rock...But Achtung was the best of all the albums that year. No let down and no filler, every song hitting their mark.
Neuquén Max
Oh yeah !!
Stacy Dale Barendse
Seen the concert at the Georgia Dome. Most incredible show ever!
Thomas Fitzsimmons
Probably my FAVORITE U2 song ever