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 360ยฐ Tour of 2009โ2011 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 Edgeโs brother Dick Evans (later a member of Virgin Prunes), Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. According to legend, Bono originally auditioned as a guitarist but couldnโt play. He auditioned as lead vocals, but really couldnโt 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 โFeedback โ and โThe Hypeโ 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: ยฃ500 and funds to make a record. Paul McGuinness became the bandโs 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 โa different kindโ 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 โto dream it all up againโ, 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 โwatch out, babyโ, artwork feat. make-up artist Nassim Khalifa) & Zooropa. Bono took on many stage personae such as โThe Flyโ, โMirrorball Manโ and โMr. MacPhistoโ 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 90โs into 00โs U2 became less image and more reality. With the death of Bonoโs 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 theyโve returned to a more band-centric sound with albums like All That You Canโt Leave Behind which features a song, Kite, dedicated to Bonoโs father who passed away shortly after the albumโs conception and 2004โs How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The 10s: U2 went on the U2 360ยฐ 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 โYou tooโ and โYou twoโ, etc. Nonetheless the official line on the nameโs origins remains unknown. The band has been quoted as saying that they did think of the U2 spy plane, but remain hushed about other reasonsโฆ U2
Desire
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lover I'm off the streets
Gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
With a red guitar, on fire
Desire
She's the candle
I'm like the needle
Needle and spoon
Over the counter
With a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody got one
And the fever when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
Burning
Burning
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah, she's the promise
In the year of election
Ah, sister, I can't let you go
I'm like a preacher
Stealing hearts at a traveling show
For the love or money, money?
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
The opening lines of the song "Desire" by U2 essentially express a sentiment of leaving past mistakes and intentions behind and moving on to a more exciting future. The singer of the song announces that he is leaving the streets and heading for the city where bright lights and grandeur awaits him. With a red guitar on fire, a symbol of passion and desire, he hopes to ignite his own desires and realise his ambitions.
The song shifts gears in the following lines as it introduces a burning candle in his room, which represents a woman who seems to be the object of his romantic interest. He compares himself to a needle and a spoon, and he is struggling with addiction, as if he cannot break away from his obsession with the mysterious woman. The atmosphere implies a sense of urgency and chaos, with everyone seemingly having access to firearms and an ongoing ever-increasing fever.
The third stanza places the woman on a pedestal, perceiving her not as his lover but also as his protector and defining her as an idea in the promise of a future election. The singer acknowledges that he can't let her go and sees himself like a travelling preacher stealing hearts in his pursuit of love or money, confirming the name of the song. In essence, "Desire" is a powerful, passionate ode to the thrill of the chase and the excitement that comes with throwing caution to the wind in pursuit of one's deepest desires.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah
Expressing excitement and readiness for what's to come.
Lover I'm off the streets
No longer living a life of struggle, hardship or desperation.
Gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
Going to where opportunity abounds and excitement is found.
With a red guitar, on fire
Desire
Using music as an expression of passion, hunger and desire.
She's the candle
Burning in my room
She is the light that illuminates and brightens up his surroundings.
I'm like the needle
Needle and spoon
Being addicted to her love and presence, similar to the addictive nature of drugs.
Over the counter
With a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody got one
The idea of love being like a drug which is easily accessible and everyone is hooked on it.
And the fever when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire
The intense yearning and passion that he feels when he's with her.
Desire
Desire
Repeatedly emphasizing the captivating and all-consuming nature of desire.
Burning
Burning
Intensifying the idea of desire being a fire that consumes and consumes.
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah, she's the promise
In the year of election
The idea of her being his source of wealth, security and fulfilment, almost like his savior or hope for the future.
Ah, sister, I can't let you go
I'm like a preacher
Stealing hearts at a traveling show
The idea of him being unable to let her go and how he has become almost like a charismatic, persuasive evangelist due to his infatuation with her.
For the love or money, money?
Desire
Desire
Desire
Desire
The idea of choosing between love and money, but ultimately realizing that the strongest desire is love, and it's what one truly needs.
Lyrics ยฉ Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul David Hewson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@neritank5883
Lover, I'm off the streets
I'm gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
With a red guitar, on fire
Desire.
She's the candle burnin' in my room
Yeah, I'm like the needle
The needle and spoon
Over the counter, with a shotgun
Pretty soon, everybody's got one
I'm in a fever, when I'm beside her
Desire
Desire.
And the fever, gettin' higher
Desire
Desire.
(Burning, burning).
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Yeah, she's the promise
In the year of election.
Sister I can't let you go
Like a preacher stealin' hearts at a travellin' show
For love or money, money, money... ?
And the fever, gettin' higher.
Desire.
@danielsonnv
Hendrix bridged the gap between rock and blues. U2 never gets credit for what they did for music. They bridged the gap between rock, blues, pop, classical, opera, gospel, and middle eastern. This band had the talent of bringing out simplicity of virtually anything, and making it sound great!
@zakarialaouira
Facts
@petedito337
danielsonnv Amen to that!
@elijahshuler9985
When did they do middle eastern?
@theprinceoftides6836
@@elijahshuler9985 Mysterious ways?,,.
@elijahshuler9985
@@theprinceoftides6836 I actually hear it now.
@lee-annkenyon4748
There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who love U2 and the ones who are wrong.
@juanignacioalvarez3390
xD
@kimclark5736
I guess I'm wrong. They always struck me as bombastic and egotistical, never as good as their press said they were.
@fabioaranha2
"Rattle and Hum" is very underrated. Just to start, "Desire" and "Angel of Harlem" are among U2's greatest songs, in my opinion. The other studio tracks are also strong. "All I Want is You", for instance, is beautiful. I also really like "Van Diemen's Land". And the live part is good too. The covers were well chosen and came out great. U2 was at its peak. Ambitious? Yes. But the result is a fine companion piece to "The Joshua Tree". I think the album aged very well.