"Facts" about "Where The Streets Have No Name"

I love reading what other people think about "Where The Streets Have No Name". As an artist it amazes and humbles me how many viewpoints--whoops--I mean "Facts" people can have about an idea, especially a song.



Where The Streets Have No Name by U2
Album: The Joshua Tree
Date: 1987
U.S. Chart: 13
U.K. Chart: 4

In 1985, Bono visited Ethiopia after performing at Live Aid. Many people assumed this song was about that trip, since the streets there really don't have names, just numbers. The song is actually about Ireland. In Ireland, the many cities are divided: rich/poor, Catholic/Protestant, etc. By knowing which street a person lives on you can tell their religion, wealth and beliefs - it's where the streets have no name.
Brian Eno produced this and played the organ intro. The Edge did a D-chord delay arpeggio thing on his 4 track at home for the rest. (thanks, Flanagan - Canada, for above 2)

Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2's first 3 albums, was brought in to do the final mix.

This is the first track on The Joshua Tree, which became the fastest selling album in both the US and UK.

This was extremely difficult to produce. The arrangement was written on a blackboard because it was so complex.

Producer Brian Eno became so frustrated trying to mix this that he almost destroyed the tape and started over.

The video showed U2 putting on an impromptu concert on the roof of The Million Dollar Hotel in Los Angeles. Some onlookers were delighted, while others were upset because they were stopping traffic. It won the Grammy for Best Performance Music Video in 1989.

This song has a very long instrumental intro. Bono's vocals come in at 1:46.
The single also included "Sweetest Thing," which became a hit when it was re-released in 1998.

When asked about the similarity between U2's rooftop video and The Beatles rooftop concert, Bono said, "We've ripped off The Beatles many times before."

U2 performed this at halftime of the 2002 Super Bowl between the Patriots and Rams. As they played, names of victims in the September 11 attacks were scrolled on a giant screen. At the end of the performance Bono opened his jacket to reveal an American flag in the lining.

Bono (from Propaganda 5, 1987): "Where The Streets Have No Name is more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP, because it's a sketch - I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location. I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don't hold you down. An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they're making - literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name." (thanks, bertrand - Paris, France)