‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's third single in August 1987. The song's hook is a repeating guitar arpeggio using a delay effect, played during the song's introduction and again at the end. Lead vocalist Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast. During the band's difficulties recording the song, producer Brian Eno considered erasing the song's tapes to have them start from scratch.
The music for ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ originated from a demo that guitarist The Edge composed the night before the group resumed The Joshua Tree sessions. In an upstairs room at Melbeach House—his newly purchased home—he used a four-track tape machine to record an arrangement of keyboards, bass, guitar, and a drum machine. Realising that the album sessions were approaching the end and that the band were short on exceptional live songs, he wanted to "conjure up the ultimate U2 live-song", so he imagined what he would like to hear at a future U2 show if he were a fan. After finishing the rough mix, he felt he had come up with "the most amazing guitar part and song of [his] life". With no one in the house to share the demo with, he recalls dancing around and punching the air in celebration.
The lyrics were inspired by a story that Bono heard about Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a person's religion and income were evident by the street on which they lived. He contrasted this with the anonymity he felt when visiting Ethiopia, saying: "the guy in the song recognizes this contrast and thinks about a world where there aren't such divisions, a place where the streets have no name. To me, that's the way a great rock 'n' roll concert should be: a place where everyone comes together... Maybe that's the dream of all art: to break down the barriers and the divisions between people and touch upon the things that matter the most to us all."
The Joshua Tree became the fastest-selling album in both the US and UK. In the band's 2009 bio, U2 By U2, Bono explained why the band chose this as the introductory track: "'Where The Streets Have No Name' was the perfect introduction. It is one of the most extraordinary ideas, only matched by The Doors' 'Break On Through (To The Other Side)' as a throw-down to an audience. Do you want to go there? Because if you do, I'm ready to go there with you, to that other place. Call it what you like, a place of imagination, where there are no limitations."
‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ was praised by critics and became a commercial success, peaking at number thirteen in the US, number fourteen in Canada, number ten in the Netherlands, and number four in the United Kingdom. The song has remained a staple of their live act since the song debuted in 1987 on The Joshua Tree Tour. The song was performed on a Los Angeles rooftop for the filming of its music video, which won a Grammy Award for Best Performance Music Video. Although not as successful as the album's first two singles, the song did chart well. In the U.S., the song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Album Rock Tracks charts. The song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and it topped the Irish Singles Chart.
Label – Island
Songwriters – U2, Bono
Producers - Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I wanna run, I want to hide
I wanna tear down the walls that hold me inside
I wanna reach out and touch the flame
Where the streets have no name (Ah, ah, ah)
[Verse 2]
I wanna feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name, yeah (Oh, huh)
[Chorus]
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
[Verse 3]
The city's a flood, and our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind, trampled in dust
I'll show you a place high on a desert plain (Yeah)
Where the streets have no name (Ah, ha)
[Chorus]
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
[Outro]
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
Ah, we're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do