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
Wild Irish Rose
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My love and I did lie
And on my naked shoulder
She too proud to cry
She said that I must leave her
An icy tear she froze
How could I melt the heart
Of a wild irish rose
Well a gypsy she has made of me
A servent of the street
And back to bed I've travelled
To taste a love as sweet
Well the heart it knows no reasons
And reason never knows
As I lie with them I'm thinking
Of a wild irish rose
Well I saw the city of angels
It brought a devil out in me
And hell's hotel on sunset
Showed a whore no mercy
As the orange sky was screaming
From the roof I let her go
These are the dizzying heights that brought me
My wild irish rose
Now red is the rose
That she layed on my grave
A life is what she wanted
And a life I surely gave
Like a hundred men before me
They lay lying here in rows
Young men, bloody
As a wild irish rose
The song "Wild Irish Rose" by U2 is a haunting ballad about lost love and the destructive nature of desire. It tells the story of a man who has been turned into a "servant of the street" by a gypsy woman, and who is unable to resist the allure of other women. He thinks back to a former lover, the "wild Irish rose" of the title, with whom he spent a tender moment lying in a field by a river. But although she was too proud to cry when he left her, he now realizes that he has left a trail of broken hearts in his wake. The song ends with a sobering reflection on mortality, as the man imagines himself lying in a grave alongside "a hundred men before me", all of whom have been killed by the same reckless pursuit of pleasure.
The lyrics are full of powerful imagery and metaphors that speak to the human experience of love and loss. The field by the river represents a moment of purity and innocence, while the city of angels and hell's hotel on Sunset Boulevard evoke the darker side of desire. The wild Irish rose is both a symbol of beauty and a warning of the dangers of unchecked passion. The song is a poignant reminder of the cost of living life without restraint, and a plea for the redemption that can only come from facing up to one's shortcomings and finding a way to reconcile with the past.
Line by Line Meaning
In a field by a river
My love and I lied together in a peaceful and natural surrounding
My love and I did lie
We shared a moment of intimacy
And on my naked shoulder
She was vulnerable and leaned on me for support
She too proud to cry
She refused to show weakness through tears
She said that I must leave her
She acknowledged that the relationship could not last forever
An icy tear she froze
A single tear fell from her eye and solidified into ice
How could I melt the heart
How can I change the mind of someone so determined?
Of a wild irish rose
Of someone with a free and unpredictable spirit
Well a gypsy she has made of me
She has turned me into a wanderer without a permanent home
A servent of the street
I am a street performer and play music for others
And back to bed I've travelled
I returned to the comfort of a lover's embrace
To taste a love as sweet
To experience the same level of intimacy with someone else
Well the heart it knows no reasons
Emotions cannot always be explained rationally
And reason never knows
Reason cannot always justify our actions and choices
As I lie with them I'm thinking
While I am physically with others, my thoughts drift back to the person I truly desire
Of a wild irish rose
Of the free-spirited person I cannot forget
Well I saw the city of angels
I visited Los Angeles and was changed by the experience
It brought a devil out in me
I was tempted by the vices and thrills of the city
And hell's hotel on sunset
I stayed at a shady hotel on Sunset Boulevard
Showed a whore no mercy
I was unforgiving towards a sex worker
As the orange sky was screaming
The sky was a bright orange color, representing the many things I wanted to say but could not
From the roof I let her go
I let go of my anger and resentment
These are the dizzying heights that brought me
These experiences led me to where I am today
My wild irish rose
The person I cannot forget
Now red is the rose
The flower symbolizes the love and passion we once shared
That she layed on my grave
She mourns my death and places a rose on my resting place
A life is what she wanted
She wanted a life together but it was not possible
And a life I surely gave
I gave everything I could but it was not enough
Like a hundred men before me
I am not the first nor the last to die for love
They lay lying here in rows
Countless others also rest in the same graveyard
Young men, bloody
Many died violently and too soon
As a wild irish rose
Symbolizing the unpredictable nature of life and love
Contributed by Anna B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jim C
Great tune .. 1st heard this way bak late 30 years ago at least 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌
Jette Pedersen
Wonderful song.
Andrew Fineberg
the part between 2:50 and 3:26 reminds me of a tune that would have been in the series Twin Peaks, has that feel and tone about it..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7d0Lm_31BE - Twin Peaks theme at 1:18 mark.
Beatrice Sanfilippo
They are actually irish, U2
Maria Costa
Sweet
stephen .kannankara
on a compilation album "bringing it all back home"
Jason Lefler
It was not included on the compilation.
This was only featured in the documentary.
James Adcock
@Jason Lefler bono walking through a grave yard