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One Tree Hill (song)

"One Tree Hill"
One tree hill cover.jpg
Single by U2
from the album The Joshua Tree
B-side "Bullet the Blue Sky"
"Running to Stand Still"
Released 7 March 1988
Format
Recorded July 1986 – January 1987
Studio Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin
Genre Rock
Length 5:23
Label
Writer(s)
  • U2 (music)
  • Bono (lyrics)
Producer(s)
U2 singles chronology
"In God's Country"
(North America only)
(1987)
"One Tree Hill"
(1988)
"Desire"
(1988)
The Joshua Tree track listing
"Trip Through Your Wires"
(8)
"One Tree Hill"
(9)
"Exit"
(10)

"One Tree Hill" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the ninth track on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. In March 1988, it was released as the fourth single from the album in New Zealand and Australia, while "In God's Country" was released as the fourth single in North America. The release charted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

The track was written in memory of Greg Carroll, a Māori man the band first met in Auckland during the Unforgettable Fire Tour in 1984. He became very close friends with lead singer Bono and later served as a roadie for the group. Carroll was killed in July 1986 in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. Following the tangi (funeral) in New Zealand, Bono wrote the lyrics to "One Tree Hill" in Carroll's memory. The lyrics reflect Bono's thoughts at the tangi and during his first night in New Zealand when Carroll took him up Auckland's One Tree Hill. They also pay homage to Chilean singer-songwriter and activist Víctor Jara. Musically, the song was developed in a jam session with producer Brian Eno. The vocals were recorded in a single take, as Bono felt incapable of singing them a second time.

"One Tree Hill" was received favourably by critics, who variously described it as "a soft, haunting benediction", "a remarkable musical centrepiece", and a celebration of life. U2 delayed performing the song on the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987 because of Bono's fears over his emotional state. After its live debut on the tour's third leg and an enthusiastic reaction from audiences, the song was played occasionally for the rest of the tour and semi-regularly during the Lovetown Tour of 1989–1990. It has appeared only sporadically since then, and most renditions were performed in New Zealand. Performances in November 2010 on the U2 360° Tour were dedicated to the miners who died in the Pike River Mine disaster.


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Wikipedia

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