U2 – Bullet The Blue Sky (4:32)

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Popular tags: rock, u2, 80s, alternative, classic rock See more

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About This Track

“Bullet the Blue Sky” is the fourth track from U2’s 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. The song is one of the band’s most overtly politically toned songs, with live performances often being heavily critical of war and guns. Today it receives regular airplay on rock radio stations.

The song was originally written about the United States’ military intervention during the 1980s in the El Salvador Civil War. Bono told The Edge to “put El Salvador through an amplifier”. The song is a combination of The Edge’s guitar slides, Adam Clayton’s laid back bassline, Larry Mullen Jr. ’s cold drumming and Bono’s aggressive and growly vocals during the verses, and a spoken word section during the bridge. Clayton played the song in a different key from the rest of the band: Clayton’s bass riffs are in E flat minor while The Edge is playing D flat. Bono was thinking of American President Ronald Reagan as he sang “This guy comes up to me / His face red like a rose on a thorn bush / Like all the colors of a royal flush / And he’s peeling off those dollar bills / Slapping them down.”

Although it was never released as a single, “Bullet the Blue Sky” has been played at nearly every one of the band’s live concerts since its first performance at the opening night of the Joshua Tree Tour on April 2, 1987. Its live performances have traditionally been paired with “Running to Stand Still”; this took place on the Joshua Tree Tour, Lovetown Tour, Zoo TV Tour, and the first 46 concerts of the Vertigo Tour.

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Albums featuring this track

The Joshua Tree
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Rock's Hottest Ticket, Volume 2
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The New Year's Concert (disc 1)
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2005-12-19: Portland, OR, USA (disc 1)
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hsxeric wrote:
December 2011

Fav. U2 song. Just so different from everything else they or anyone else has done.

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Jealousheart wrote:
November 2011

Huge

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prismism wrote:
October 2011

Impressionism at its finest.

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innerspeaker wrote:
October 2011

Man I hate Bono, but even I have to admit his vocals are fucking awesome on this.

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andymadden wrote:
October 2011

lyrical perfection and musical genius

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echo725 wrote:
September 2011

The live versions of this song from the Zoo tour are scathing.

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pjb808 wrote:
September 2011

Most excellent tune :-)

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first_cluster wrote:
September 2011

Solo like a David Gilmour in One of These Days

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Aki_of_the_dead wrote:
May 2011

I love how fiercely he growls that first verse.

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daydream_set wrote:
May 2011

As a man breathes into a saxophone, and through the walls you hear the city groan - outside is America.

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JuniorMcCartney wrote:
April 2011

in the Arms... of America.

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jjamavizca wrote:
April 2011

Well the god I believe in isn't short of cash, mister

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Allard7351 wrote:
March 2011

And I can see the fighter planes...

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clarky212 wrote:
March 2011

............................and we run into the arms of America!!!

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lfsc25 wrote:
January 2011

great.

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Bub_Clifton wrote:
January 2011

That solo is ridiculous.

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zodiac_4_music wrote:
December 2010

best track on the joshua tree!!

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adace wrote:
September 2010

An oft-ignored aspect of this song: I love those lyrics. The Bono of the 80's wrote with such a fierce passion about the injustices in the world as well as love. There's just such a gritty realism to the lyrics that really helps the listener connect on an emotional level and Bono is able to switch seamlessly from one landscape to another yet he ties it all together brilliantly. The lyrics here and in many other U2 songs are downright stunning. And of course the guitar work is phenomenal!

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theytsejamer wrote:
July 2010

One of the best U2 Livesongs ever. I love the ZooTV-Version (2)

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Giusychevola wrote:
July 2010

♥ ♥ ♥

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