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Angel of Harlem

"Angel of Harlem"
Angel harlem.jpg
Single by U2
from the album Rattle and Hum
B-side A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel
Released 1 December 1988
Format CD, cassette, 7", 12"
Genre Heartland rock, soul
Length 3:47
Label Island
Writer(s) U2 (music), Bono (lyrics)
Producer(s) Jimmy Iovine
U2 singles chronology
"Desire"
(1988)
"Angel of Harlem"
(1988)
"When Love Comes to Town"
(1989)

"Angel of Harlem" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the tenth track on their 1988 studio album Rattle and Hum and was released as its second single in December 1988. It peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, number eight on the Dutch Top 40, number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Written as a homage to Billie Holiday, it was released with two different B-sides; one was an original U2 song called "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel," while the other was a live version of Rattle and Hum's "Love Rescue Me".

The lyrical content of the song refers to various New York City-area landmarks, including JFK airport, WBLS radio and Harlem. It also refers to jazz-related history including John Coltrane and A Love Supreme, Birdland club, Miles Davis and Holiday herself ("Lady Day").

"Angel of Harlem" was written during 1987's Joshua Tree Tour and the in-studio performance on the Rattle and Hum movie dates from a recording session at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee during the later stages of the tour's third leg. The song was a regular on 1989's Lovetown Tour and was played with B.B. King's band. A stripped-down acoustic rendition was performed on the Zoo TV Tour in 1992 and 1993 on a b-stage positioned in the midst of the crowd. It was then not played again until 2001's Elevation Tour, when it was sometimes performed acoustically and sometimes in its original electric style, albeit without the brass section.


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