Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The 125 Best U2 Songs

Can you believe it’s been over six years since my last U2 song ranking?  I’ve ranked songs from several different musicians in the interim, yet naturally U2 are the first to get a re-ranking since they’re my favourites.  As I noted last time, this order tends to shift on a pretty regular basis, which is why it’s in many ways drastically different (and way longer) than the last one, though it’s mostly pretty similar at the very top.  This list is based on my personal preference, which makes things challenging in this case since I love all 125 songs.  I could listen to #125 all day, and happily inform you why it’s better than pretty much anything written by, say, the Foo Fighters.  (That one’s for my brother.)

This list only counts songs actually by U2 as a whole, or at least all four U2 members plus another (i.e. U2 plus Eno and Lanois for the ‘No Line On The Horizon’ tracks).  As such, this also counts the U2/Eno Passengers side project since it just felt straight-up wrong to leave ‘Miss Sarajevo’ off this list.  No covers, no songs by just Bono and Edge….only all four guys. 

If your favourite U2 song is somehow not on the list, presume I had it at #126 and agonized over it as a last-minute tough cut.  Whatever helps you sleep at night, pal.

Onto the list!

125. A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
124. No Line On The Horizon
123. The First Time
122. Babyface
121. When Love Comes To Town
120. Numb
119. The Hands That Build America
118. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
117. Blow Your House Down
116. Iris
115. Tomorrow
114. Miami
113. I Fall Down
112. Bullet The Blue Sky
111. Even Better Than The Real Thing
110. The Wanderer
109. MLK
108. Get On Your Boots
107. Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World
106. Seconds
105. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
104. Love And Peace Or Else
103. Miracle Drug
102. Big Girls Are Best
101. Acrobat

100. Cedarwood Road
99. Rise Up
98. Flower Child
97. Elevation
96. Ultraviolet
95. Sleep Like A Baby Tonight
94. Holy Joe
93. Exit
92. Out Of Control
91. Zooropa
90. Hallelujah Here She Comes
89. Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop?)
88. Heartland
87. Window In The Skies
86. Two Hearts Beat As One
85. Desert Of Our Love
84. Ordinary Love
83. Disappearing Act
82. Grace
81. If God Would Send His Angels
80. 40
79. I Will Follow
78. Desire
77. City Of Blinding Lights
76. The Ground Beneath Her Feet

75. Levitate
74. Wave Of Sorrow
73. Van Diemen’s Land
72. Magnificent
71. The Playboy Mansion
70. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
69. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
68. Unknown Caller
67. So Cruel
66. Staring At The Sun
65. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
64. North And South Of The River
63. Red Hill Mining Town
62. I’m Not Your Baby
61. Promenade
60. All My Life (A Moment Of You)
59. Lady With The Spinning Head
58. In God’s Country
57. Winter
56. Gloria
55. Breathe
54. Rejoice
53. This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now
52. North Star
51. The Sweetest Thing

50. Kite
49. Until The End Of The World
48. A Sort Of Homecoming
47. Gone
46. Last Night On Earth
45. California (There Is No End To Love)
44. Every Breaking Wave
43. Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
42. Electrical Storm
41. Yahweh
40. One Tree Hill
39. Fast Cars
38. Xanax and Wine
37. Mercy (original B-side version)
36. Invisible
35. A Celebration
34. Wire
33. Do You Feel Loved
32. The Troubles
31. The Fool
30. Miss Sarajevo
29. Vertigo
28. The Crystal Ballroom
27. Lemon
26. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)

25. Like A Song
24. Running To Stand Still
23. Walk On
22. Mofo
21. Original Of The Species
20. The Electric Co
19. Moment Of Surrender
18. Discotheque
17. Raised By Wolves
16. New Year’s Day
15. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
14. Beautiful Day
13. All I Want Is You
12. Sunday Bloody Sunday
11. In A Little While

10. Stay
9. Angel Of Harlem
8. With or Without You
7. Where The Streets Have No Name
6. The Fly
5. Please
4. One
3. Bad
2. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
1. Mysterious Ways

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