This is exactly what this blog was made for.
The Edge getting harassed.
We keed, we keed.
When this song came out in 1993, the world was used to Bono as lead vocalist for U2 - so it was a little jarring for this song and video to be released with The Edge as lead vocalist (and Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. as backing vocalists). He was also the lyricist, with the band writing the rather sparse backing music.
The song actually started off as another song from the Achtung Baby sessions, but the band hated that song, sung by Bono. It wasn't until Flood and Brian Eno started remixing it and producing it with The Edge that it turned into this absolute masterpiece of minimalism and unhinged electronics. It ended up being a centerpiece of the Zooropa album.
I remember listening to this song with my girlfriend at the time, who I don't think quite liked the song at first. (If my memory serves me correctly, she came around) I always liked it - it was weird and interesting.
By the way, if you listen closely, you'll hear the song of a cassette tape in a Walkman rewinding - one of many samples included in the song.
The video itself was so iconic, it was the subject of many parodies. This one, made by VH1 to promote The New WKRP in Cincinatti. The show was terrible. The commercial was amazing.
This isn't a song that the band has performed live much - but they did on the 1993 Zoo TV tour.
The band did eventually release the original song they hated - "Down All The Days" - as part of the 30th anniversary reissue of Achtung Baby in 2021.
They were probably right to not go with that song originally. You can really hear the "Numb" in there, though.
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