U2’s “Bad” Lyrics Meaning
Lead singer Bono is acknowledged as the member of U2 who actually wrote the lyrics to “Bad”. And he has given various, some may say even conflicting, explanations to the specifics of their meaning. But what it ultimately boils down to is this. U2 are part from a major city in Ireland known as Dublin. And during the time they put this track together, said locality was dealing with a serious youth drug addiction epidemic. And such is the overall issue that they are tackling.
Moreover said lyrics are not only symbolic but also quite vague. Or let’s say some of the terminology used in “Bad” may only be understandable to those who are familiar with the effects of addiction. But ultimately it can be deduced that there are two main ideas being put forth. One is that the singer is alarmed by the state of the addressee (i.e. the addict). That is to say that he sympathizes with this person. And secondly, the vocalist wishes he had the wherewithal to help the addressee overcome this situation.
In Conclusion
With that being established, it should be noted that in 1984 Bono explained that “Bad” has a universal applicability in that it is about addiction in general. In other words, even though he may not have personally had drug issues, the singer still knows how it feels to be addicted to something nonetheless. And as such, to some degree he is even addressing himself.
Facts about “Bad”
This song came out on the 1st of October 1984 as part of U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire” album.
The label behind the tune is Island Records, and they never released it as a single. However, it is still said to be the song that really put U2 on the map.
Throughout the years, live renditions of this classic, which have become a staple of U2’s shows, were better received then the studio version found on “The Unforgettable Fire”. Stated different, many people think that this song sounds better live. For instance, in 2019 Rolling Stone ranked this track, specifically the live version, as the 5th greatest U2 song ever.
Accordingly U2 has featured it on a number of their live musical projects. For instance, as quickly as 1985, just a year after it was originally released, a live version of “Bad” was featured on the band’s EP titled “Wide Awake in America”.
Bad was written by the four musicians whom U2 has been comprised of throughout the decades. And they are:
- Bono
- The Edge
- Adam Clayton
- Larry Mullen Jr.
The Edge (the band’s guitarist) is said to have conceptualized the tune. And ultimately when the band did decide to lay it down, it only took them three takes to do so.
And this track was produced by two of their regular musical collaborators, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
“Bad” at Live Aid
A 12-minute rendering of “Bad” highlighted the band’s setlist as they played at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985. Said event was viewed by millions of people via television, and the entertainment value of U2’s performance led to many of them feeling the group, especially Bono. Meanwhile at the time U2 were actually under the impression that their presentation bombed considering that, due to the length of their execution of “Bad”, they did not have time to play all of the songs they intended to.
During said performance, Bono actually saved a lady’s life. It’s a bit of a long story, but whereas on the surface, it appeared that he was just playing around, he was saving her life. What he was actually doing was use his ingenuity and influence over the crowd to prevent her from being crushed to death. And as fate would have it, although viewers may not have known why he did so, that impromptu dancing proved to be the part of the show which made them really like U2.
The Girl Bono saved at Live Aid
It’s safe to assume that most people perceive Bono as a good dude. This is someone who could have simply enjoyed the good life afforded by his monumental success. However, he has often dedicated his influence to helping those in need. And during the Live Aid concert we got a double dose of his goodness. Said charity concert which was held in London’s legendary Wembley Stadium on the date of 13 July 1985.
First of all the entire Live Aid effort in and of itself was in the name of helping the impoverished people of Ethiopia. But during U2’s performance, an unexpected, amazing event transpired.
There was a 15-year old girl in audience by the name of Kal Khalique. She managed to make her way all the up to the front of the crowd of 72,000 concertgoers, indeed securing a place right at stage side. Like the others, she too was idealizing beholding top-notch rockers like George Michael and Elton John up close and personal. For at that time, U2 had yet to really establish a name for themselves.
Well at one point, Kal must have been convinced that she may have made the biggest, perhaps final mistake of her life by forcing her way upfront, as she was in fact being crushed by crowd. This is when Bono intervened. He was able to grab Khalique (as well as two other ladies) and bring them up closer on stage, i.e. into the spotlight, away from the crowd itself.
Bono later admitted that part of the reason he decided to interact directly with the crowd was because he thought it would look cool on TV. And he was spot-on, as that particular scene proved to be the turning point (i.e. breakthrough) in U2’s career. Moreover, he was in fact able to plant a smooch on Khalique. But more importantly than any of that, Khalique has implied that when Bono secured, he basically saved her life.
