Gloria (U2 song)

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For other uses, see Gloria (song).

"Gloria"

UK cover
Single by U2
from the album October
Released	October 1981
Format	7" vinyl
Genre	Rock
Length	4:12
Label	Columbia / Island
Producer(s)	Steve Lillywhite
Chart positions
#55 (UK Singles Chart)
U2 singles chronology
"Fire" (1981)	"Gloria" (1981)	"A Celebration" (1982)
Alternate Covers

Netherlands cover


New Zealand cover
October track listing
	"Gloria" (1)	"I Fall Down" (2)
Under a Blood Red Sky track listing
	"Gloria" (1)	"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (2)

"Gloria" was the second single and opening track from U2's 1981 album, October. It was unusual in that it featured a chorus in Latin, from the liturgical "Gloria in Excelsis Deo."

1 History
2 Track listing
3 Chart positions
4 External link

[edit] History

The chorus "Gloria in te Domine / Gloria exultate" translates into "Glory to God in the highest". In addition to this reference to the song of the angels in Luke chapter 1, the song also contains a reference to Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 ("Only in You I'm complete") and James 5:7-9 ("The door is open / You're standing there").

"Gloria" was the subject of U2's first music video; the video was filmed on a barge near Hanover Quay in Dublin.

"Gloria" made its concert debut on 16 August 1981; the October album had not yet been finished and Bono announced it was "Gloria and Gloria". It was used as the opening song for almost all October Tour dates in 1981-82, but during the War Tour's "Pre Tour", it was moved to the end of the main set as "Out of Control" became the band's concert opener. At the start of the first proper leg of the War Tour, "Gloria" reverted to its position as opener, while on the second leg, it soon gave way again to "Out of Control" and became the final song of the main set. It was filmed in this role for Under a Blood Red Sky.

On the Unforgettable Fire Tour's first leg, "Gloria" and "Out of Control" rotated as concert openers. This was the last time "Gloria" was used as a concert opener - on subsequent legs of the Unforgettable Fire Tour and then the Joshua Tree Tour, it was used in the encore. As the Joshua Tree Tour progressed, it moved to the main set, and this move became permanent on the Lovetown Tour. Its last Lovetown performance was on 9 January 1990, and this was the last time U2 played the song - or any from the October album - until it returned to the setlist on 30 March 2005 at the second show of the Vertigo Tour. It was played sporadically on the Vertigo Tour's first leg, typically segueing into "The Ocean" from Boy. It then made just one appearance on the second leg before a few more sporadic appearances on the third leg until the final weeks, when it was played at six concerts in a row. It failed to appear at any of the 21 Vertigo Tour concerts in 2006, with its current last performance taking place on 14 December 2005.