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
She's a Mystery to Me
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Will take me by the hand
Take me to some twilight land
Where all but love is gray
And I need find my way
Without her as my guide
Night comes, I'm fast beneath her spell
Am I left to burn, and burn eternally?
She's a mystery to me
She's a mystery girl
She's a mystery girl
She's a mystery girl
She... is a mystery girl
In the night of love
Words tangled in her hair
Words soon to disappear
A love so sharp it cut
Like a switchblade to my heart
Words tearing me apart
Night falls, I'm cast beneath her spell
Daylight comes, our heaven turns to hell
Am I left to burn, and burn eternally?
She's a mystery to me
She's a mystery girl
She's a mystery girl
She's a mystery girl
She... a mystery
Not quite sure how to end this
song interpretation because it's one of those songs that can be interpreted in many ways depending on the listener's personal experience. But generally, the song speaks of a woman who has a hold on the singer and is a mystery that he can't quite unravel. The opening lyrics suggest that the singer is lost in the darkness, and this woman takes him by the hand into a world where everything is gray except for love. He feels helpless without her and seems to need her as his guide since she's the only one who can lead him through this darkness. However, as the chorus suggests, their love is not quite stable. Despite being in love in the night, during the daylight, their love turns into a disaster that's accompanied by the feeling of burning and burning eternally.
The second verse paints a different picture of the woman. She's charming and irresistible, with a certain power over the singer that's almost lethal. The words of love she speaks to him are like a switchblade, cutting him deep to the heart, and yet, he can't help himself from falling over and over. The chorus repeats, emphasizing the fact that this woman is a mystery to him, and he can't help himself from being under her spell.
Line by Line Meaning
Darkness falls and she
As night falls, she appears, intriguing me with her mysterious aura
Will take me by the hand
She takes my hand and leads me to a world of obscurity
Take me to some twilight land
She takes me to a place between light and darkness - a land of beauty and mystery
Where all but love is gray
In this world, love is the only shining light among grayness and uncertainty
And I need find my way
I am lost in this twilight land and need her to guide me
Without her as my guide
Without her, I am lost in the grayness and unable to find my way
Night comes, I'm fast beneath her spell
At night, I am enchanted by her and fall deeply under her mysterious charm
Daylight comes, our heaven turns to hell
In the light of day, the mystery fades away and reality sets in, revealing pain and heartbreak
Am I left to burn, and burn eternally?
Am I doomed to suffer in the flames of this love forever?
She's a mystery to me
She is a puzzle that I can never solve; her essence is too elusive to comprehend
She's a mystery girl
She is an enigmatic figure, a woman whose true nature is concealed behind a veil of mystery
Words tangled in her hair
Her words are so complicated that they become entwined in her hair, impossible to disentangle
Words soon to disappear
The words that she says are fleeting, they quickly evaporate and are forgotten
A love so sharp it cut
The intensity of our love was so high that it was almost painful, cutting right through my heart
Like a switchblade to my heart
It was a love that felt like a sharp switchblade, piercing my heart with both pleasure and pain
Words tearing me apart
The power of her words was so intense that they had the capability to break me apart
She... is a mystery
She is an enigma, an entity beyond human comprehension
Not quite sure how to end this
The songwriter could not fully express the complexity of this mysterious woman in this song
Contributed by Chase A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@gabrielafonseca4034
I love this song so much. It actually makes me think of the difficult relationship I had with my mother. Shes passed 14 years ago, we made peace with each other, but she's still a mystery to me
@Luileadolfo
What a beautiful song. Nice to hear their version. One can easily notice how Roy Orbison took the song to another level.
@anderola
Very nice song written by the best band ever... .love it.......
@KatieCatWalker
I love how he wrote this for Roy Orbinson at the motel room then they finished the song together at Roy's house while recording. This became his last hit right after his death sending Roy to platinum for the first time in his career. Such a beautiful gift to give a legend. Thank you bono.
@merchant099
Very well said and I agree, thank you Bono...Roy Orbisons voice still gives me chills :)
@mattfinansys3902
@David Hinkle
written by Bono and the Edge of U2
@j_freed
It's a magic tune. Roy isn't gone, just gone home!
@jorgemanuel5401
Tks a lot Bono... you wrote the perfect song for Roy Orbison
@HeRedeemsUs
The greatest poet/lyricist of our generation.
@billvassi
I couldn't agree more