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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Summer David
Electrical Storm
In the fall of 2002 I was a freshman at college. Three weeks before Electrical Storm was released I met a very special girl in a theater production where I was invited to participate. As days passed, I realized I had trouble concentrating on anything but her. I was unsure of what to do, whether I should follow my heart. Then, days later, I heard Electrical Storm boom out of the radio. Those Irish boys have done it again, I thought. I felt so inspired by the song that I decided to take a chance. So, as Bono once said, not much has changed since then, I'm still with the band, and I'm sitll with the girl. We got married in June 2012. Our wedding song, naturally, was Electircal Storm, and it was a beautiful stormy, romantic night.
gpresa
ELEVATION MEXICO 15 MAY 2011
It was the first time that regrouped to a concert with my family is my children and my husband can say that I am fan of U2 at home and my family well listen but are not so say their favorite because not but that day may 15, 2011 was a day awaited by my since I bought it almost eight months tickets were saved is me towards eternal that come a day of the concert and finally came the anelado May 15 for my good my husband was quiet in cambi never does stop early and we invite you to breakfast to be already ready to go to the concert and not being late well arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon to the stadium had heat rain until I get the time of the concert all went normally I sang with everything as what we usually do Mexicans until get good elevation my children and husband began to sing and jump as grasshoppers and since then not silent until I finish the concert can not forget q...at that time u2 Unió to the Chávez family presa with his music Thanks Larry Adam bono and the edge
lassche
ONE:
I HAVE THINK A LOT OF THIS SONG: ON MY WEDDING-DAY WE? HAD THIS SONG ON TAPE: THAT WAS ON 16-08-02 ALSO MY BIRTH-DAY. THE SONG IS SO STRONG THAT IT WILL BE FOR OVER 100 YEARS ON THE RADIO.(EVER LASTING LOVE). THE PART: WE? ARE ONE BUT WE? ARE NOT THE SAME MAKES ME SOMETIMES CRY! AND WHEN THE VERTIGO-HUNTER HAVE TEARS IN HIS IES THAN THE SONG IS MAGNIFICENT! FOR ME U2 IS THE DRUG TO KEEP ME CLEAR! THANKS FOR HANGING AROUND AND I HOPE ONE OF MY 22 U2 DREAMS WILL COME OUT! LOVE AND LIGHT: DETLEV LASSCHE, BETTER KNOWING AS THE VERTIGO-HUNTER. FROM THE UNDERGROUND/OLDENZAAL-TOWN, THE NETHERLANDS. MISS YOU SUGAR. BY.............ONE; UNOS DOS TRES CATORCE! IS U2 READY FOR THE NEXT ONE STEP? WE? WILL PATIENTLY WAITING, TAKE THE TIME U2 FOR THAT NEXT ALBUM! GOOD LUCK!
U2October1980
Vertigo
I was 12 when it came out and when I first heard it and I was hooked and its been like 8 years now and I still love them.I remember jumping on our giant trampoline listening to it. Unforgettable Fire is also one of the U2 songs that I love becuase its so earie and love the video, also Wire ever since I heard it on a Miami Vice episode.
FMinVT
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I was traveling in Ireland with a group of high schoolers from Vermont. Our guide used this song to explain some of the history of the country. This isn't my favorite U2 song - I can't narrow it down to just one - but after that I really started listening to the lyrics of all the songs and it made me love this band even more than before!
pappy67
Pride (In the Name of Love)
1984. Australia. I'm 16 years old. We had Under a Blood Red Sky in our house and I was fond of U2's previous singles without buying them or the albums. 1984. Madonna explodes. Prince releases Purple Rain. Van Halen and the other big hair metal acts like Twisted Sister are on the radio. Culture Club and Nik Kershaw and Duran Duran define the British haircuts and synth dominated music. Then along comes Pride on the radio. The first piercing guitar intro. The strong drum and bass. And then Bono starts singing. Wow. It was like the music came from another planet. There was no other artist out there with a voice or the searing passion of this singer. It was so at odds with everything on the radio. The simple video. In the hall with some other shots of Dublin streets and docks. Included the sound of the ships and the sounds of the docks at the beginning and end of the video. The band were serious and intent. Passionate Bono. There was nothing else like it on radio or TV. I bought Unforgettable Fire and the entire back catalogue in the space of a few weeks. I made a pledge there and then I would visit Dublin (I did in 1989 when I was 21). A love affair started and is still there to this day. Bring on the new album. Please.
ioutou
Pride
I discovered U2 through "Under A Blood Red Sky". And then came the unforgettable fire: when I heard "Pride" for the first time, I thought it was the most epic song ever written. I still think it is. 28 years after, "Pride" always thrills me. I remember being at a show in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1992. Bono had his hands on his ears: the crowd was singing "Pride" so loud he couldn't hear himself singing in the mic. Epic, as I said!
joeycub1
One
Christmas 1992, my best friends and I performed songs at a Christmas party at my house. Me on guitar , my friends on bass and Vocals and my mom played accordion. . I rarely played music with my mom but that night we played One and it was absolutely perfect. It was the last time I played music with her as she died the next year. Cant hear One now without thinking about that night.
tinoftuna
New years day
I was 14 years old when this came out and when I first heard the piano intro my ears pricked up and I fell in love with this song. Brilliant guitar, bass, drums and vocals make this my favourite but it has to be the full length version.
redandwhitepebble
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
I was about 13 when I first started listening to U2 with more than a passing interest. New Year’s Day was my Favourite Video on the late night video shows, I snuck out of bed to watch, but I had stumbled across it and Two hearts after the single releases. I had tickets to see the band for their first Australian show EVER and my first concert EVER, in September of 1984. I can still remember it vividly and I couldn't wait to get a copy of their new album (I was and still am all about the entire album). The first time I recall hearing Pride – outside of the concert - was later that week. The single release coincided with the start of the Australian tour so I hadn’t heard it before then. The radio DJ made such a big deal about playing it. I was sitting at the dining table doing my homework on the Sunday and he told us it was 'going to be in stores tomorrow'. I had goose bumps and I sat enthralled while it was on, staring out my front door and remembering how alive I had felt at the concert. I had then tried in vain to talk my mum into letting me see their final Sydney show that night. Sadly she informed me 14 year olds did not run around the city chasing rock bands and that once was enough. (I might add, now she encourages me to chase them around the world – but I guess I’m paying for those trips and am a little older than 14) Little did I know that was the start of a very long love affair and something very very special.
Constant Woninck
Out of Control
The boys are still out of control
RonDell
The Fly
It came at a time when I was a heart broken 21 year old.The Music I was hearing didn't sound like U2 but the Lyrics about love was unmistakeable ,nobody writes songs about love like U2. Then the video came out and I said "what the hell?!" That's U2??? They reinvented themselves and I followed their lead.Thanks boys ! You saved my life!
Nanda260
In the name of love
I think I was seven when I first heard it, probably in the late 80's or early 90's... the chorus stuck on my head and you might know why... all that passion in Bono's voice. It's not a perfect voice technically, but it got a plus... I think it's a kind of energy that has been moving U2 until now. Hmmm... some people might call it gift, others Holy Spirit. Anyway, it is definitely something from above
Knuddandersen
Staring at the sun
In 97' I was in highschool, and my class and I was going to Barcelona. Just af few days before, I bought Pop, and listened to the album nearly non stop until we left from Copenhagen to Barcelona. As a result of this, every song from this album reminds of Barcelona in the spring (i believe it was late march or early april). The light in the city, the atmosphere, my freinds and I at a very impressionable point in our lives, and the soundtrack from the record, that was almost vibrating in my head, all makes this record special. But above all stands "Staring at the sun", not only because I think it is one of U2's finest, and one of the best on the cd: the first lines "Summer streching on the grass, summerdresses pass" encapsulates the mood of the week we spend there perfectly. I always flashback to Park Güell and the Barceloneta when I hear it. Years later, I started singing the song as a bedtime-song to my daughter, and when she was four years old, she could sing the first to verses perfectly, even though she does'nt speak english...so you could say I passed it along "there's an insect in your ear/if you scratch, it wont' dissapear"....!
NotFadeAway
One
One is probably one of the first songs by U2 I have ever heard, but it is not the one who made me love them, cause that song is bad. Anyway, I chose one for a strange fact that happened about it: I already knew the song, but, some time ago, I discovered that my favourite Italian singer had sung it. And I was so jealous, cause I knew Bono sang it better that him! By now, things have changed, When I hear Bono sing and U2 play, I can't be but proud of them, as a mother of her child!
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Life as a teenager is very strange. Not only is your body awkwardly changing but so is your mind. In my case, I was struggling to exist in such a way that was acceptable to both my peers and my parents. My peers were acting like faux adults, while my parents urged me to enjoy my youth, to not rush out of childhood. Trying to satisfy both wants and expectations proved to be fruitless, as I began to feel a disconnect with much of the people and world around me. I suppose that's where U2 somehow stumbled in from the outside world through the doorway into the confines of my mind. The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I can't even remember how or where I first heard it, but it happened, and it changed me. Granted I had listened to U2 before this experience, this was something different than 'Vertigo'. For the first time, I was able to connect my feelings and thoughts just purely to a sound. It was a dark sound, with dynamics that flow and soar in a way that has since been unmatched. When finally I had a chance to watch the film sequence for the song, i had some sort of realization I can only describe as something close to a full-circle moment. There is one moment in the song and film where at its most desperate moment, the protagonist takes a leap; and for whatever reason, at that point, I felt a sort of relief and understanding. I was 15 when I first heard this song, and I don't believe myself to have been suicidal, but I did on occasion think to myself "what is this and what would it be like without me?" A combination of self-doubt and vanity; both things which now seem to be utterly teenageresque. Ultimately, this song became my gateway drug to not just U2, but various other genres/artists/bands, literature, and most importantly the guitar. I picked up the instrument, and haven't let go since the age of 15. As a result, I am in a band that is starting to "take off", something I can fully recognize as impossible had it not been for U2 and Salman Rushdie. Were this an ideal world, I would be able to provide a relevant line of lyric from the aforementioned song to conclude this already lengthy post. My own opinion is that relevancy is overrated and quite subjective, so I will end with this, "let me lead you to where two roads meet, my oh my."
skywarn
The First Time
October 22, 2005 was a night I looked forward to for months. Being the die-hard fan I am, I knew it would be exciting and fun to finally see The Boys again. I had not seen them live since Zoo TV. Anyway, did not expect to have a life-altering epiphany at the show in Pittsburgh that night. Something came over me that I never experienced before. I felt moved by the Holy Spirit to stop focusing on myself so much. When you are depressed, that's exactly what you are doing. I never thought of it that way before. My entire perspective on life changed. I can't pinpoint the exact moment during the show when I got "struck" by this revelation, but I was immediately convicted of my negativity and felt this wonderful thing happening. Their performance of "The First Time" was one of the most memorable moments that night. Each time I hear it I stop in my tracks and think about how that night changed me.
Redhead11
City of Blinding Lights
I come from a family of U2 fanatics. My dad has been a fan ever since he saw them at the 1979 Dandelion Market shows in Dublin. My mother fell in love with U2 shortly after falling in love with my dad. They loved U2 when they both cried after hearing "Streets" on record for the first time; they loved U2 when they embarked on their first concert together; and they loved U2 when they took me to my first concert. But, let me explain. I did not like U2. Not a bit. In fact, I was quite embarrassed by them. Growing up, I would shy away in sheer terror when my dad would blast U2 in the garden. However, when I was only eight years old, something happened. My eight year old ears were filled with the sound of "City of Blinding Lights" for the first time. I remember the anticipation, the joy, and the curiosity as Edge's guitar invited my heart in. It was as if I was being transported into another moment, another world; my shoes disappeared, the scars on my knees faded, and I started to float. All my eight year-old troubles (if you could call them that) disappeared. I didn't know it then, but the sounds and lyrics of "City of Blinding Lights" had latched themselves onto me. "City of Blinding Lights" was the start of my U2 journey. It's funny, really. How moments can reappear throughout your life. Years later, my mom and dad took me to see U2 live for the first time (Rose Bowl 09). I only knew two or three songs and was still embarrassed to be seen at a U2 concert. However, things changed when I heard "City of Blinding Lights" that night. I remembered all the feelings I had felt when I was eight years old. My teenage soul had been lifted and embraced. The naivety, the adventure, the hope...it all returned. And after that show, I had become a full-fledged U2 fanatic. And, as I listen to it today, I meet and say hello to my eight year-old self again. And I realize...I'm the same girl I was even then. Because... "Time, time Time won't leave me as I am But time won't take the boy out of this man" Sometimes, a song could be a guiding light. And in my life, the "City of Blinding Lights" I journeyed to as a child has been the light at the end of the tunnel of uncertainty.
CoolBeans
Please—Underrated single from an underra
Just in general, the song is an underrated gem. The album version—though the band is not happy with it, apparently—is raw and mesmerizing, the single version is more pop—pun intended—, but the live version just puts you right in the middle of that conflict. Adam's walking bass line, Edge lost in his effect pedals, Larry's military style riff and Bono's lyrics—surprisingly deep for "Bongolese" :P—just mesh so well; and yet, they still tell a beautiful—if not horrifying—story. "Sermon on the mount / From the boot of your car" just gives me goosebumps.
From Poland
It is dificult to choose only one among so many great single. I`ll write about 3 singles. One I heard for the first time when i was 3 years and up to now i can not break up with her and i am 21 year. It`s like the air, and so beautiful and consoles. Every moment of th One is priceless. The seconds single Two Hearts Beat As One A brilliant melody, beautiful sound of guitars, wonderful voice is eveything I love Third single A celebration Wakes me up every day i get up very positive attitude to life and people. All these singles in my opinions, seem still alive and can not beat. Thank You
adamoldsmusic
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
it was a while back when i heard this on the radio, back when the resident djs had taste and a backbone..... i thought of many things when i listened to it, a lot of emotions flying around from lyric to line, but mostly i felt elation purely because of the way the song grabs hold of my ears and demands that i listen to it, and due to there being very few songs that give me that same feeling it gets my vote
nick\\\'s original species
Where the Streets Have No Name -Nick fro
The best of the best. I remember the first time I heard it back in 1987. I had to play it again immediately to make sure what I heard wasn't a dream. This is my national anthem. Love it live and love the studio version. What more can you say about this master piece. This is my funeral song and my kids know to it is a must.
sadcosmonaut
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live from Sarajevo
Ukraine, 1997, I'm walking around in my room with the boombox desperately trying to get a stable reception of a Polish FM radio station broadcasting PopMart live from Sarajevo, in post-war Bosnia. I was waiting for them to perform Miss Sarajevo and they did (for the first time ever as a band)! The concert was unbelievable and the fact that Bono lost his voice halfway through the show only made the already emotional experience even more personal and moving. Edge stepped up and I was stunned by the stripped-down, solo performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday. Despite the cracks and hiss of the FM broadcast, I felt like I was there with all the people. I had no idea this performance was released as a B-side on the "If God Will Send His Angels" CD. Years later, when I heard the track, it immediately brought back those memories. It still does.
30yearsoflove
Fan forever
I do not have a "Unforgettable single" I have been a fan for over 30 years and EVERY SINGLE ONE IS UNFORGETTABLE.
aad0309
Electrical Storm
The first girl I fell in love with gave me this single when it came out....Till this day, every time I hear this song I'm back in that period of my life. It's magic.
BatHunterOfDevon
Wire
This song is AMAAAZING!!! It really gets my blood pumping. If I ever turn out getting chased by a mafia hitman, or a tiger, I want this song to be playing in my head.
u2vibe4ever
With or Without You
My husband and I met the very month this song hit the airwaves-we were just teenagers. It was our song. Who would have known at that time how much it would echo our lives. "Through the storm we reach the shore....My body bruised, she's got me with nothing to win, and nothing left to lose....I CAN'T live with or without you". Ten years ago he laid across my lap during a horrific auto accident to protect me and seperated his spine from his pelvis. He is totally handicapped now but with every breath he swears he would do it over and over again as long as it meant having me with him here today. That song goes to my soul everytime.
D1A31O
One
there are many songs I can relate to... but this particular one, is above any other... it was magical re-encounter with the band... there's only ONE
phllee
With or Without You- For Gina
Spring 1987, I was in the US Army, getting ready to ship to Germany for two years. When I got there, a month later, one of the guys from my unit woke me up and told me to get into his room and hear what he had just bought, The Joshua Tree. At the same time, I was hearing it, the love of my life, the girl next door, who I was only coming to terms with my feelings about her was killed in an auto accident. With or Without You is that one song that when I hear it, will always remind me of her and the angst I felt over revealing my true feelings with her. This would of been that song I could express to her how I felt. Such a haunting, beautiful song and I know how Bono felt when he wrote this..
jimefernandezcardenas
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
The lyrics of this song reflects the true meaning of love. To me the best part of this song: You're an accident waiting to happen You're a piece of glass left in a beach. Each person who enters deeply into our lives and in our hearts, in their own way of being, become an accident waiting to happen in our destiny. Love is really an accident waiting to happen
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