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
Summer Rain
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You start growing old
The lines on your face
Are a map to your soul
When you stop taking chances
You'll stay where you sit
You won't live any longer
I lost myself in the summer rain
I lost myself
I lost myself in the summer rain
In the summer rain
Tequila and Orange
Jamaica and rum
At the Morella
Honey on my tongue
In a small boat on a generous sea
You let me be your enemy
Tiny hand
With a grip on the world
Holding our breath now
Diving for pearls
I lost myself in the summer rain
I lost myself
I lost myself in the summer rain
Just as you find me
Always I will be
A little bit too free
With myself
Just as you find me
Always I will be
A little bit too free
With myself
I lost myself in the summer rain
I lost myself
Now there's no one else
In the summer rain
Raining down
Raining down
Rain
Raining now
Raining now
Just as you find me
Always I will be
A little bit too free
With myself
Just as you find me
Always I will be
A little bit too free
With myself
It's not why you're running
It's where you're going
It's not what you're dreaming
But what you're gonna do
It's not where you're born
It's where you belong
It's not how weak
But what will make you strong
The opening lines of "Rain" by U2 speak of the effects of getting older, pointing out that when we stop seeing the beauty in life, we stop growing and just age. The lines on our faces become a map to our soul and reveal the experiences and emotions that we have encountered along the way. The song then shifts to a more poetic verse about the summer rain, where the singer loses himself in the midst of the storm, along with tequila and orange, Jamaica and rum at the Morella, and honey on his tongue. He feels like he is in a boat on a generous sea, where everything is peaceful and calm.
The chorus then repeats the refrain, "I lost myself in the summer rain," emphasizing the idea of getting lost in the beauty of life and abandoning ourselves to everything around us. The song encourages people to take chances in life and not to settle for remaining stagnant, otherwise we will just feel like we have grown old. The song then ends with the lines, "It's not why you're running, it's where you're going, it's not what you're dreaming, but what you're gonna do, it's not where you're born, it's where you belong, it's not how weak, but what will make you strong." These lines encourage listeners to focus on their direction and purpose, to move forward with strength and determination.
Line by Line Meaning
When you stop seeing beauty
When you cease to recognize the beauty around you
You start growing old
Your spirit starts to age
The lines on your face
Each mark on your face
Are a map to your soul
Is an indication of your soul's journey
When you stop taking chances
When you stop pursuing new opportunities
You'll stay where you sit
Your personal growth will be stagnant
You won't live any longer
Your life doesn’t extend in time
But it'll feel like it
But it'll seem that way due to inactivity
I lost myself in the summer rain
I was wholly absorbed by the rain in the summer
In the summer rain
While the rain was falling in the summer
Tequila and Orange
Tequila along with orange
Jamaica and rum
Jamaican rum
At the Morella
At a place called Morella
Honey on my tongue
Savouring honey on my tongue
In a small boat on a generous sea
In a small boat, in the vast ocean
You let me be your enemy
You and I became enemies
Tiny hand
Small hand
With a grip on the world
Grasping the entire world in his fist
Holding our breath now
Maintaining silence at the moment
Diving for pearls
Delving deeply into the ocean for pearls
Now there's no one else
There’s no other person
Raining down
The raindrops are falling
Rain
Rain
Just as you find me
The way you found me before
Always I will be
I'll always be
A little bit too free
Excessively expressive and outgoing
With myself
When it comes to myself
It's not why you're running
The reason for your race
It's where you're going
Your destination is more important
It's not what you're dreaming
What you're imagining isn't important
But what you're gonna do
But your potential for action matters
It's not where you're born
Your native location doesn't matter
It's where you belong
Your rightful place is where you fit in the best
It's not how weak
Your lack of strength isn't important
But what will make you strong
But what will strengthen you is important
Lyrics © MUSIC & MEDIA INT'L, INC., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Cloud9, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAN LOECHEL, ANDRE TANNEBERGER, RUEDIGER DITTMANN
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