Unforgettable Single

10 Aug 2012541
Over on our Discography page you'll find dozens and dozens of singles the band have released over the years.

Starting with U23 way back in 1979 - Out of Control, Stories for Boys, Boy-Girl - the trail leads all the way to 'I'll Go Crazy', third single from No Line On The Horizon, in 2009.

Maybe you'd forgotten Lemon was a single. Or you've never listened to Fire. Or you just recently discovered Please. But there'll be a U2 single that's special to you in some way - the one that comes on the radio or arrives unnoticed when your iPod's on shuffle and suddenly a moment in your life comes back to you.

What was the U2 single that stopped you in your tracks - and still does ?

It might depend on where you were when you first heard it, what was happening in your life, how you first got into the band?

Remind yourself of the history of the band's single releases and look through the promotional videos on this page in our Video Gallery (set aside a week or two for this) -  find the one that reminds you of a time and place in your life.

In the comments below tell us why this song is special for you. Is there a story behind it - an anecdote from your life ?

What brings the track alive for you? What was happening to you at the time you first heard it that means you'll never get over this single?

We have prizes for the best, the funniest, the most moving or surprising entries. Add them in the comments below. Did we mention that ? (Don't forget - we're not talking about any U2 track but about those released as singles...)


Comments
541
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luvitbear
The Fly
Although The Unforgettable Fire, With or Without You and Streets are my Favourite U2 songs. the Fly will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember hearing it for the first time thinking is this really U2 and been captivated by it listening to it constantly while queuing at midnight for release of Achtung Baby
ScottyH
With or Without you
Played this at my Dads funeral and will never forget it. Took me over 3 years to beable to listen to it again withou shedding a tear. Miss you Dad.
iseirinne
New Year's Day
During my school years I missed school for 1 day only. One day of sickness. I was so miserable and could do nothing else than watch TV. Around midday, there was that stunning video, a group in a field of snow, waving a flag and singing a song about a New Year's Day. The song was so powerful. The next weekend, in the supermarket, I saw that vinyl with a boy on it. That boy was looking me in the eyes, like he was seing my soul. We were in 1983. I had to wait one more year to get my first U2 record. A birthday gift from my best friend. At the time it was a lot of money, 1 month pocket money. Months after months I spent all my money on U2 vinyls : 33T or 45T. I still have them.
Grinnik
With or without you
On this U2 song I kissed my first girlfriend......a memorable moment I think about each time I hear the song......
saraelaine1977
One
I wish I could remember exactly how old I was, MTV still played videos though. I was getting ready for school and this beautiful man with piercing eyes came on my screen. He had the voice of an angel and sang this beautiful song. I got a little older, dated a couple of guys who I was more interested in than they were me, "Did I ask too much? More than a lot?You gave me nothing now it's all I've got" struck a chord. The lyrics are so transcendant: is a song about lovers? friends? how we should be treating each other as fellow humans? a struggle with faith? is it God singing to us? Yes, it's all of that. And the instrumentation - it's so tightly woven together, it's almost like a circle. All of it just goes to my soul, it fits together so perfectly. I cry whenever I hear it live. I demand silence in the car if it's on the radio.
barbrocks
Bad
I first got introduced to U2 by the songs "New Year's Day" and "Pride" in the early 80's and instantly loved the music. It took me a few years to discover the rest of their music, but once I heard "Bad" I knew that I had discovered my favorite song.....ever! There's so much emotion in the song, the riffs, the lyrics, that you can't help but be moved. The build up to the bridge is beautifully orchestrated and I completely get lost in the song, body and mind. To this day, 25 years later, that song still evokes that same emotion in me. I've never had a song touch me so deep, stir my soul, and make me lose myself completely. It's still my all-time favorite song ever and probably always will be. There's something so hauntingly beautiful about it that makes me ache for more. My only complaint is that in all the U2 concerts I've been to, which is probably around 10 times, I've only seen "Bad" performed twice. I wish they would play it more often.
snodrog
1 tree hill
I rode my bike CCW around the USA for 6 months in the late 80's. I had a walkman, 3 tapes equaling 6 records. Police, Stones, Gabriel and U2. I really fell in love with the feel of this one song and somehow ended up promising myself that wherever I was, regardless of how I felt at that moment...that I would ride at 100% during this entire song..while singing it aloud...like a mad man! I never actually hurled at the end but came really close several times after giving it all I had to offer. 30 years later...it is one of my fondest memories from that trip...and one of my favorite songs ever. I discovered the origins of the lyrics 20 years later and was very moved. A song written about a kid who died on 2 wheels that inspired a kid to endure 6 months in the saddle above 2 wheels.
Hilda Canes Garduno
Bad
My reaction to “Bad” was visceral: goose bumps. I wanted – no, needed – to know who this band was. The lyrics, the melody, that guitar… So began my journey as a U2 fan. I was about 13 years old at the time (now 35) and U2 is, and shall forever remain, my favorite band of all time.
jamesvclark9
Still haven't Found what I'm looking for
Way back in 1988, my aunt who lives in the UK was in Malta, my home country, on holiday. I was 13 and I remember her vividly telling me "you know which band you ought to be listening to? they're called U2, they are Irish and they're awesome! You will certainly love them." A few months after that, a friend of mine lent me two albums, The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum and I was left in awe! Still haven't found what I'm looking for is such a transcending song - so uplifting and consoling at the same time. especially when I found a repeat live version on Rattle and Hum. Then in 1992, whilst watching the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, U2 came on stage through a satellite connection as they were touring at that time and I see Bono singing whilst lying on the floor and kissing the camera and I said "what the f***!" they were performing Until the End of the World and that song made me go and buy Achtung Baby - the album that defined my teenage years. But Still haven't Found what i'm looking for, 'still' revives that very first raw inspiring feeling....I find myself in the car singing it as though no one's listening. Sadly, I still hope to get to watch U2 in my home country one day....i had bought a ticket for the sarajevo concert in 1996 but had to give it away as couldn't travel, years later, i won a radio competition to watch U2 live in berlin on behalf of a friend of mine for whom i completed the lyrics of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, and he got to watch them instead of me.....oh well......:-)
jkestere
City of blinding lights
Time, won't leave me as I am, But time won't take the boy out of this man! These two lines say it all!
romulovitralu2
Where the streets have no name
This is the U2 song I most heard in my life, it makes me remember all the best moments I lived, because in all of them there were songs from U2, and this one for me is the best... And for sure, the best moment in Sao Paulo, April 9 2012, was when you played Streets. Really amazing!!!!!
bingo1967
The Unforgettable Fire
Excuse my conceit. This is the best song of U2. WTSHNN is next.
LenDog
Pride In the Name of Love
It's my favorite song of all time. It has everything... Great lyrics about a great man (MLK). Bono sings it with so much passion. The Edge's guitar is spine tingling. Adam's bass fills the song with power. Larry's beat makes me feel like jumping up and down. I didn't become a serious U2 until 1987. Pride has been my favorite song ever since. It's the one track I most look forward to during the shows.
1980fan
A Celebration (1982)
I had picked up on U2 and watched them on the TV in the UK, a fantastic performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test got me fired up and then this single came out, I bought it from the record store, rushed home as fast as I could and played it LOUD (it's the only way to play it) and it was AWESOME, I just can't describe the emotions, I still have goosebumps just thinking about it. Then even more! another surprise on the B side - U2 do this all the time..... a song called Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl . Such a rare single and the song never came out on an album! I have it framed on my wall so I can I celebrate the memory any day I like.
ElizabethDabney
where the streets have no name
since i have listened to each U2 hundreds and hundreds of times individually....this is a very hard question....so i guess the only way to answer it is when I was eight years old....it was summer and my dad always went to the video store to bring us a home a chevy chase comedy or any comedy he approved for us to see...he always would suprise us and say you will like this one...so i put the vhs cassette into our zenith videocassette playwr which i still have and works like a charm...i popped it in and then the tape would automatically start...i sat on the blue basement carpet with all the lights off and used to love the previews...then all the sudden i remember hearing this organ that sounded like the endless echoes of heaven and just seeing red...just read...then all the sudden this drummer in the shadow tapping his kit...and this echoe reverb...then all of the sudden this guitar echoe that changed my life at that very exact moment and i couldnt believe what I was hearing...so i guess where the streets have no name, the first song that i ever heard from U2 has to be my unforgetalbe single just because of that moment...it wasnt until junior high when i bought achtung baby that I heard U2 again and then i ran to my friend and said...is this the same band that has that heavenlike song and my best friend who was a huge fan said you mean this song and she put her joshua tree tape in her boombox and played it and i spent the whole day in her room listening to it over and over again...unforgetable
wishchris
Please
This relentless song transformed the kitche that was the Popmart tour, and turned it on it's head. I was a young artist still inspired by the Achtung Baby reinvention, and actually enjoying their popular decline with a fist in the air for their envelope pushing of techno-rock. They were paving their own path, but Please revealed the bands familiar underbelly. When fans had the bubblegum Discoteche hook, or were disconnecting from u2 altogether, I heard this and felt like reeling everyone back in with a bullhorn, shouting "don't you get it? Their still here!" Gorgeous, yearning lyrics and vocals, but wait, that's nearly every U2 track...
papillon1962
BAD or How I learned to stop worrying an
In October of 1984, I heard a song for the first time called BAD by U2 off their great new album, “The Unforgettable Fire” (on vinyl of course), and I was devastated. Not since The Who’s “Quadrophenia” and The Stones “Exile on Main Street”, had I heard music that reached down into my guts and stir my soul like this. When U2 toured the States in support of the new album a few months later in mid 1985, my best friends and I went to see them at the Meadowlands Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This was to be the second time I would see this band perform in concert. The first time was three and half years earlier on November 25, 1981, at a tiny seaside club called Hitsville South, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was there that this relatively unknown band (unknown to me) performed about 19 songs I had never heard before and literally wore me out with their original and electrifying sound. A sound like nothing I'd heard before. I was simply blown away at hearing this great new music played not ten feet from where I was standing, packed in like a sardine among the hundred or so of us lucky enough to squeeze into the venue. It didn’t matter that I was not familiar with the band or their music before that night because they connected and the music connected. After the show, we got to meet all four members of the band in the bar, as was commonplace for them in those days, and found out that they were a relatively new band out of Ireland touring the clubs of the US in support of their second album called “October”, trying to find an audience. An audience they certainly found in me that night. In less than a week I had copies of both “Boy” and “October”, and upon listening to the studio versions of all the songs I had just witnessed days before, I was completely and utterly converted to lifelong fandom. I knew they were destined for bigger things, and this was affirmed less than two years later with the release of 1983’s “War” album. A year and a half later, just three and half years after my conversion, I found myself in a car with my three best friends in the whole world on the way to see U2 again for “The Unforgettable Fire Tour”, only this time I would be among 20,000 fans. The date was April 15th, 1985, and it shall live in the annals of my mind as one of the greatest nights of my life. Halfway to the show, my friend who purchased the tickets and was driving the car, bravely announced that he had screwed up, and the tickets in his possession for the U2 concert were in fact for the night before. After the initial shock and chaos, we calmed down when he assured us that he would, one way or another, get us into that show. And he did. Out of his own pocket, he got us even better seats than we originally had. U2 was about half way through a staggeringly good show when they launched into BAD, a song I had come to love and cherish over the months, because of its haunting melody and moving and passionate vocals. I already had tears in my eyes singing along with Bono, when knee deep into the song, he veered left and starting singing lyrics from Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting For The Man”, and before I could catch my breath, he hung a right and started singing one of my favorite Lennon Beatle tracks, “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”. I was balling at this point, and just in case my heart hadn’t taken a proper pounding yet, Bono turned twice more and hit me over the head with snippets from the Stones “Ruby Tuesday” and “Sympathy For The Devil”, before returning for the crescendo of BAD…”I’M WIIIIIDE AWAAAAAKE…I’m not sleeping.” I was wide awake alright. And even though I was wide awake two years later when I heard “With Or Without You” on the radio for the first time, I was not prepared for how big they were really about to become. This little band out of Ireland I met in a club down at the Jersey Shore just six years earlier were about to become the biggest band in the world.
luiscanf
new year´s day
1983, i was eleven years old, .. my sister told me about an irish rock band, called U2; radio was the only way to hear music, i didn´t have money to buy records....and in that time in Spain it was so difficult to get that kind of music unless you could pay much money for import LP,s;..... one night i heard on the radio station..... "and now U2, new year´s day".... that was the beginning..... the voice of Bono, the piano , the guitar solo... it was so amazing, so beautiful music.... 1983, i was eleven years old....
luisalex
One....
ONE...amazing!!! special!! "One love, one life" Thanks U2 for this song!!
roomerang
Monday morning, 18 years of dawning....
May 1987. It was a Monday, and I was 18. I dusted off a 12" record I'd bought a few years previously from Rox Records in Moreton - it's name was U23. The needle hit the groove, and a dodgy old Pye audio system spewed out U2's angst-ridden lyrics about the on-set of adult hood in a way that hit hard. Two years previously, my father had passed away (only days after I had proudly showed him my latest purchase of the 7" of Unforgettable Fire). I was still angry and this song said it all. Out of Control proved cathartic that day, and still does. U2..best band in the world, always.
rvuurens
gloria
because this song is still good and they play it so well on the live album under a blood red sky and that was first live album i buy . and that was in the year 1984 when i was 15
VitoM
BAD
Modena, Italy 1987 .... I was only 19 ...
The Penney
Beautiful Day
I've been a U2 fan for the better part of my life and when I first saw this I had a hard time picking just one song as many of the bands songs have touched me or moved me in some way. However, the song Beautiful Day from 2000's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" has turned out to be the song that has lifted me up and carried me through the highs and lows of my life. I remember seeing the video premier on Muchmusic in Canada as the first time I heard the song. The first song from the new album which saw U2 return to its past sound I found this song to be almost musically perfect and so fun to listen to. This upbeat song about losing everything but still being able to find joy in what one has made me feel great every time I heard it. As soon as I heard those opening keyboard bars, my heart would life up and I'd dial-up the volume so I could feel the positive energy of the song. Initially this was just an awesome U2 song that all of my friends and I loved. We forced a U2 cover band to sing it four times in one night at a local bar we loved it so much. Little did I know how much this song was going to help me through the next 13 years of my life. Nine months after the songs release I lost my job due to budget cuts. This was the first low point in my life where this song would help me through. I felt like a total and complete failure for not being able to hang on to my first professional job. I spent 6 months searching for a new job and "Beautiful Day" was there every day to help get my spirits up. In 2005 I experienced the most devastating lose of my life when I lost my wife after only three months of marriage to a sudden and fatal heart attack. I would spend three years trying to pull myself back together and re-build my life to start over again suffering that lose. Through it all, I needed "Beautiful Day" to remind me that life is a wonderful thing and that you need to enjoy ever second of every minute of every hour of every day. Be thankful for what you have experienced and what you will experience. Be thankful for the time you have with everyone you have in your life regardless of the amount of time you have together. Without this song I might not have been able to see all of these things and might not be sitting here writing this comment today. I remember vividly the first time I saws this song performed by U2 live during the Vertigo Tour in Nov of 2005. I remember being in general admission with one of the best friends. When the song started I felt such a warm feeling inside, such a positive vibe all through the The Corel Center. And when the chorus hit I remember jumping and yelling out the lyrics and feeling so fantastic. It's just such an awesome song with such a great message, great lyrics, great music. This songs ability to change my mood, life my spirits and move me in a positive way through life makes me feel like this song is not just a song, but a gift. To Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam thank you for creating this masterpiece of music, I will be forever grateful. Cheers
The Electric Co.
Hot May evening in Toronto back in 1983 I was 14 and lying on the floor listening to U2 on Q107 when I heard for the first time The Electric Co. It blew me away, and today almost 30 years later it still sends a shock through my body whenever I heard it.
sean_morton
Window in the Skies
I find it hard to believe that no one has mentioned Window in the Skies! For some background: I got into U2 in my teens (mid-2000s) through borrowing some of their albums from my local library. Achtung Baby really connected with me musically and lyrically, but I did not dig deeper into U2, let alone did I know what a single was. All I was familiar with were full albums. Fast forward to post-high school (Age 18): A local electronics store was on its way out, slashing the prices of many CDs and DVDs. While perusing the CDs, I came across the Canadian and Alternative CD Single versions of All Because of You and the two versions of the Window in the Sky CD Single. I did not appreciate the Atomic Album and was not a fan of opera, then, either, so those singles were not even contenders. Leonard Cohen was also not my cup of tea, so one version of Window was ruled out. Down to one remaining option, I scoped the extra tracks on this Window single, also noticing its longer length (I liked stretching the buck). Liking the song, Zoo Station, I decided that I could happily go home with this CD Single. You must understand, I do not recall if I was even familiar with Window in the Skies, but the idea of possessing a CD single was an alluring prospect. Present Day: Seeing this post, I pulled out that CD single again, the only U2 CD Single I possess, and rediscovered this too-often overlooked treasure from U2s career. Window in the Skies is a beautiful song, and the live version of Zoo Station and, especially, Kite played in Australia with a didgeridoo is just grand! I have also come to make amends with the Atomic album, and have discovered many U2 singles since, via the reissues. But Window in the Skies will hold a special place without a doubt. Who knows, I may just keep it at one?
coach
Beautiful Day
I remember coming home from school, and MTV was playing it every hour on the hour, I taped it and kept listening to it straight for days and days, and I just remember the 747 taking of before the last chorus and it just blew my mind. Good times.
fly39
the unforgettable fire
that song means a lot to me even if it's not the first u2 song ever heard in my life ( the first was october-live from red rocks- the vhs ) i love it for its deep atmosphere that it brings.the profound lyrics that enter my heart and make it beat faster.it's like a prayer to god even if i'm an atheist.it makes me cry and it makes me smile too.i'm happy thet u2 played it in Milano for the 360°.everytime i listen to it i go back in my childhood when i really couldn't understand all the words of the ssong.now i'm 40 and many lyrics have flown....i like playin it on my turntable cos the sound of the vynil is more.....open.it surrounds me and i forget everything around me.i mean,it's unforgettable.like Bono used to say live : there's some fire you can't pull out...
cwocky
Gloria..
Though if I really go back into the archives of my brain, Gloria on some hot hits program sticks in my mind. Didn't know who it was, didn't know where they would take me, but it's been a wonderful journey :) Thank you
cwocky
Josh Tree
Yeah this is where it all started, even tho i'd heard of the unforgettable fire on countdown via molly meldrum, Josh was my initiation to the 2's. Loved the singles, but it was the rest of the album that grabbed me. Running, One Tree Hill, Exit and Mothers. Then one night at work, and I remember it distinctively. I even remember where i was, Triple M Sydney plated this song, I knew it was Bono, I knew it was U2, just didn't know the song.. It was Bad.. The song still gives me goosebumps, the whole album gives me goosebumps, Unforgettable is the epitome of U2. Is their finest work. Love the space, the atmosphere, the whole album takes me back to joyous time..
justinsider
Mysterious Ways & New Year's Day
I had heard a lot of U2 growing up throughout the 80s because of my older brother and my sister's boyfriend, as well as the huge hit With Or Without You. But, it wasn't until I heard Mysterious Ways with that distorted intro and the dance/rock feel it had that completely turned my on to U2. I went to bed and woke up listening to the entire Achtung Baby album. One is my favorite U2 song of all time, but Mysterious Ways to this day sounds fresh. Bands nowadays wish they could make song like this. U2 could release this song today and it would still be a huge hit all over the world. After Achtung Baby came out I made my way backwards and picked up The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum. I then went back to War. New Year's Day screams at me with driving guitar and bass lines that match Bono's aching voice. I was hurting a lot during my teens and this song spoke hope to me. I got my first chance to see U2 live for the first time on the Popmart Tour after ditching college in Nebraska for a few days to drive to Minneapolis. The version the band played on this tour is like nothing else before or after. Proof to me is how powerful and how precise New Year's Day is on the Popmart Live From Mexico video. Oh my god, they nail it. So much emotion and the crowd seems ready to shake the stadium to its core.
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