"Bullet the Blue Sky" | ||||
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Song by U2 from the album The Joshua Tree | ||||
Released | 9 March 1987 | |||
Recorded | 1986 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 4:32 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Writer(s) | U2 (music), Bono (lyrics) | |||
Producer(s) | Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno | |||
The Joshua Tree track listing | ||||
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"Bullet the Blue Sky" is a song by rock band U2 and is the fourth track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. "Bullet the Blue Sky" is one of the band's most overtly political songs, with live performances often being heavily critical of political conflicts and violence.
The song was covered by Sepultura in their covers album Revolusongs, by P.O.D. in their album The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and Queensrÿche in their album Take Cover.
"Bullet the Blue Sky" first originated as a demo recorded during a jam session at STS Studios in Dublin with producer Paul Barrett prior to the proper Joshua Tree recording sessions. As guitarist the Edge played a riff, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. joined in playing. According to the Edge, at the time he was irritated that the rhythm section was playing in half-time, thinking "What the fuck are they doing?", and he considered stopping the jam. Lead vocalist Bono recalled that Clayton was playing in a different key from the Edge. After the take was completed, the band listened to playback in the control room and realized that the demo was "absolutely brilliant". Compared to the final version of the song, the Edge described the demo as a "much more bare-boned, like a heavy funk track".
In July 1986, Bono and his wife Ali travelled to Nicaragua and El Salvador, where they saw firsthand the distress of peasants bullied by political conflicts and United States military intervention. The trip angered Bono and formed the basis of the song's lyrics. In August, after reconvening with his bandmates in Dublin to resume work on The Joshua Tree, Bono instructed the Edge to "put El Salvador through an amplifier", resulting in the song's harsh, feedback-charged guitar part. The Edge said that his guitar playing was also informed by Bono's lyrics.