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
Walk To The Water
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She left her coat at home that day
She wore canvas shoes
White canvas shoes
Around her neck
She wore a silver necklace
It was given to me by my father, she said
It was given to me
She took the back way home
Passed the lights and the Summerhill
Turned left onto the North Strand
And on, and towards the sea
He said he was an artist
But he really painted billboards
In large capital letters
Large capital letters
He was telling jokes
Nobody else would listen to him
I saw you that day
Your lips were cherry red
Your legs were crossed
Your arms wide open
Your hair was colored gold
Like a field of corn
You were blown by the wind
You were blown by the wind
Walk, walk, walk to the water
Walk with me a while
Walk, walk, walk to the roadside
Walk me in the light
A room in the Royal Hotel
Sea facing views
A man with a suitcase
Full of things he doesn't need
I'm looking through your window
I'm walking through your doorway
I'm on the outside
Let me in
Let me love you
Let me love you
Let me
Walk, walk, walk to the water
Walk with me yeah
Walk, walk, walk to the roadside
Walk with me again
The lyrics of U2's song "Walk To The Water" describe a chance encounter between two people. The first verse describes a girl who left her coat at home on a cold day and wore white canvas shoes and a silver necklace given to her by her father. The second verse introduces a man who claims to be an artist but actually paints billboards in capital letters and tells jokes to no one who listens. The chorus repeatedly urges someone to walk with the singer to the water and the roadside.
The song seems to be about the search for love and connection. The singer saw the girl on the day that is described and her red lips, open arms, and flowing golden hair made an impression on him. He is looking for a way in and wants to love her. The lyrics mention a man with a suitcase full of things he doesn't need and describe sea-facing views from a room in the Royal Hotel. This could be symbolic of the superficiality and materialism that the singer is trying to rise above.
Line by Line Meaning
She said it wasn't cold
The weather was cool but she chose not to wear a coat that day
She left her coat at home that day
She intentionally did not bring her coat along with her
She wore canvas shoes
Her shoes were made of canvas material
White canvas shoes
Her shoes, made of canvas material, were white in color
Around her neck
She was wearing a necklace
She wore a silver necklace
The necklace she was wearing was made of silver
It was given to me by my father, she said
The necklace was a gift to her from her father
It was given to me
She received the necklace as a gift
She took the back way home
She chose to take a different, less common route to get home
Passed the lights and the Summerhill
She passed through a well-lit area and a place called Summerhill
Turned left onto the North Strand
She made a left turn onto a street called North Strand
And on, and towards the sea
Continuing forward, she headed towards the sea
He said he was an artist
He claimed to be an artist
But he really painted billboards
In reality, he painted advertisements on billboards
In large capital letters
He used large, capitalized letters in his work
He was telling jokes
He was trying to make others laugh by telling jokes
Nobody else would listen to him
No one else paid attention to his attempts at humor
I saw you that day
I had a visual sighting of you on that day
Your lips were cherry red
Your lips had a bright red color, similar to that of cherries
Your legs were crossed
Your legs were situated with one crossed over the other
Your arms wide open
Your arms were extended outwards from your body
Your hair was colored gold
Your hair was dyed a gold/yellow color
Like a field of corn
Your hair resembled the color of a field of corn
You were blown by the wind
The wind caused your hair to move around and blow with it
Walk, walk, walk to the water
Let's walk together towards the sea
Walk with me a while
Let's walk together for some time
Walk to the roadside
Let's walk to the side of the road
Walk me in the light
Let's walk while there's still daylight
A room in the Royal Hotel
A place to stay located in the Royal Hotel
Sea facing views
The view from that room is of the sea
A man with a suitcase
There is a man who has a suitcase with him
Full of things he doesn't need
The suitcase contains unnecessary items
I'm looking through your window
I am peering through your window to see inside
I'm walking through your doorway
I am entering your space through the doorway
I'm on the outside
I am not currently a part of whatever is going on inside
Let me in
Allow me to come inside
Let me love you
Allow me to show you affection
Walk with me yeah
Let's keep walking together
Walk with me again
Let's walk together once more
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
A me
on eleven o' clock tick tock
And girls can make children but not like this one...so will just have to walk around with a painted face then...
LMewdowlark
on One
Baby, baby, baby, I know I'm not alone
Ha, ha, ha
Oh, it's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
Let's shout into the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we're gonna go crazy, you know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy, if we don't go crazy tonight
Oh, slowly
Oh
Hold me slow
Again, these are the wrong lyrics. They are not the lyrics for 'One' but a different song. I pasted the correct lyrics in my other comment.
LMewdowlark
on One
And there's a part of you that wants me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet-tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
Oh, change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubting?
We're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won't listen to you boys and girls
Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard?
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
But we're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
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 holdin' 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
One