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
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can see through you
From where you're sitting, pretty one
I know it got to you
I see the stars in your eyes
You want the truth, but you need the lies
Like Judy Garland, like Valentino
Uh huh
Stand, we're on a landslide of love
You got everything you want
But what you need you give away
For primitive love
And a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel
You say it's love, it's not the money
You let them suck your life out like honey
Turning tricks, you're on the street
Selling your kisses so bittersweet
My life yeah
Oh, yeah yeah
I wanna love
Did he bed again?
I gotta know
Oh the price
Is too hard to pay
A primitive love
A and a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak, the Heartbreak
The Heartbreak Hotel, Hotel
[Repeat until end]
"A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel" by U2 is a song that draws the picture of a music industry that is glamourous and powerful, yet deceptive and destructive. The lyrics are written in the form of an address to a woman, who is sitting pretty and seems to be deeply involved in music. From where the singer stands, he sees through her and knows how much the music has gotten to her. The stars shining in her eyes give away her desire for truth, but her actions reveal that she needs lies to survive. The song then alludes to two icons of the music industry - Judy Garland and Rudolph Valentino, to suggest that the woman is giving her life away to rock and roll.
The chorus of the song talks about the woman's pursuit of primitive love and her ride on the mystery train that leads her to a room at the Heartbreak Hotel. The name is symbolic, as it represents the heartbreaks that the woman has faced due to the treacherous nature of the music industry. She has everything she wants but gives away what she needs, adding emotional depth to the song. The song then addresses the woman directly, saying that she claims to be in love, but in reality, she lets the forces of the industry suck the life out of her like honey. She is left to turn tricks on the street, selling her kisses bitter-sweetly. The song ends with the singer willing to love her after she has paid the price to the industry, suggesting that she needs to work through her struggles to attain true love.
Line by Line Meaning
From where I stand
I have a different perspective from where I'm standing
I can see through you
I can see what you're hiding
From where you're sitting, pretty one
You have a different perspective than me, and I find you attractive
I know it got to you
I know the music industry is affecting you
I see the stars in your eyes
I see your passion for music
You want the truth, but you need the lies
You want honesty, but it's difficult to be truthful in the music industry
Like Judy Garland, like Valentino
Like famous performers of the past, you give everything for your music
You give your life for rock n' roll
You're willing to sacrifice everything for your music
Stand, we're on a landslide of love
We're all in this together, experiencing the ups and downs of the music industry
You got everything you want
You have success and material possessions
But what you need you give away
You're willing to sacrifice true happiness for material possessions
For primitive love
You're willing to accept love that is basic and unsophisticated
And a ride on the mystery train
You're willing to go along with the music industry's unpredictability
You say it's love, it's not the money
You claim your love for music isn't driven by money
You let them suck your life out like honey
The music industry is taking its toll on you
Turning tricks, you're on the street
You're doing whatever it takes to succeed in the music industry
Selling your kisses so bittersweet
You're selling yourself for success, but it's not as sweet as it seems
My life yeah
My life is challenging
Oh, yeah yeah
But I'm not giving up
I wanna love
I want love in my life
Did he bed again?
Did he betray me again?
I gotta know
I need to find out
Oh the price
The cost of success is high
Is too hard to pay
It's difficult to keep paying this price for success
A and a ride on the mystery train
Accepting unpredictability in the music industry
A primitive love
Accepting basic love in the music industry
A room at the Heart
A place in the music industry
The Heartbreak Hotel
A place where musicians come to experience the heartache of the industry
A room at the Heartbreak, the Heartbreak
Still looking for a place in the music industry
The Heartbreak Hotel, Hotel
The heartache of the music industry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADAM CLAYTON, DAVE EVANS, LARRY MULLEN, PAUL ; HEWSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
腓力
From where I stand
I can see through you
From where you're sitting, pretty one
I know it got to you
I see the stars in your eyes
You want the truth, but you need the lies
Like Judy Garland, like Valentino
You give your life for rock n' roll
Uh huh
Stand, we're on a landslide of love
You got everything you want
But what you need you give away
For primitive love
And a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak
Heartbreak Hotel
You say it's love, it's not the money
You let them suck your life out like honey
Turning tricks, you're on the street
Selling your kisses so bittersweet
My life yeah
Oh, yeah yeah
I wanna love
Did he bed again?
I gotta know
Oh the price
Is too hard to pay
A primitive love
A and a ride on the mystery train
A primitive love
A room at the Heart
The Heartbreak Hotel
A room at the Heartbreak, the Heartbreak
The Heartbreak Hotel, Hotel
Dhevin Govender
Thanks for posting this - shades of Hawkmoon 269 with the rousing backing vocals at the end. Rattle and Hum is probably the most underrated of all their albums. The critics seemed hell bent on savaging them because they'd gotten "too big" but they should have rather taken time to rather listen to the songs, which stand up really well on their own merits (apart from the cover versions, which I thought were unnecessary). Doing a follow up to The Joshua Tree was essentially mission impossible - viewed in this context of the pressure they were under, Rattle and Hum is a really impressive effort. I find U2 bland and unlistenable in their current form, but those 80s albums and B-sides were unbelievably brilliant.
Ken Vail
U2 are still imo the greatest band in my lifetime. So much feeling in What they do
Park James Shaw
Hell yes Ken I've probably responded to u a hundred times and like I've said, u nailed it
Doug Joaquim
I really love this song. The mix of Bono's vocals and Edge's guitars is awesome. Tanks for posting.
Lucky Denmark
Good
WookieeWarrior
Very underrated song.
Matt Girvin
Wookiee Warrior yup yup yup!
David D'Orazi
This is definitely in my top 5 U2 songs - uttter genius on every level . By the way, I’m not an out of out U2 fan ....
Hermann Grech
Excellent chorus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wilber Carvalho
Que música linda , perfeita 👏👏👏♥️🎵🎵🇧🇷