About The Song
“Bad” is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the seventh track on their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. Thematically, the song is about heroin addiction, though lead vocalist Bono has given varying accounts of who was the inspiration behind his lyrics. “Bad” is considered a fan favourite and is one of U2’s most frequently performed songs in concert. The band’s 12-minute performance of the song at the Live Aid charity concert in 1985 was a breakthrough moment for them.
A live version of the song appears on U2’s 1985 EP Wide Awake in America; this rendition became popular on album-oriented rock radio stations. In the United States, the song peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. The album version of the song featured on the trailer of Brothers and in the opening and closing sequences of Taking Lives.
“Bad” originated from a guitar riff that the Edge improvised during a jam session at Slane Castle, where U2 were recording The Unforgettable Fire. The basic track was completed in three takes. Of its immediate and live nature, the Edge said, “There’s one moment where [drummer] Larry [Mullen Jr. puts down brushes and takes up the sticks and it creates this pause which has an incredibly dramatic effect.” Producer Brian Eno added the sequencer arpeggios that accompany the song.
The early 1980s recession had led to a high number of heroin addicts in inner city Dublin. In concert, lead vocalist Bono frequently introduced the song as a song about Dublin. The Edge and the album’s producers, Eno and Daniel Lanois, were focused on the music and were less interested in the lyrics. Bono said that he left the song unfinished.
Video
Lyrics
If you twist and turn away
If you tear yourself in two again
If I could, yes I would
If I could, I would
Let it go
Surrender
Dislocate
If I could throw this lifeless lifeline to the wind
Leave this heart of clay
See you walk, walk away
Into the night
And through the rain
Into the half-light
And through the flame
If I could through myself
Set your spirit free, I’d lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light
And to the day
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
To let it go
And so to fade away
To let it go
And so, fade away
Wide awake
I’m wide awake
Wide awake
I’m not sleeping
Oh, no, no, no
If you should ask then maybe they’d
Tell you what I would say
True colors fly in blue and black
Bruised silken sky and burning flag
Colors crash, collide in bloodshot eyes
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
If I could, you know I would, if I could, I would
Let it go
This desperation
Dislocation
Separation, condemnation
Revelation in temptation
Isolation, desolation
Let it go
And so fade away
To let it go
And so fade away
To let it go
Oh now, and so to fade away
I’m wide awake
I’m wide awake
Wide awake
I’m not sleeping
Oh, no, no, no