Hawkmoon 269

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"Hawkmoon 269"
Song by U2
from the album Rattle and Hum
Released	10 October 1988
Genre	Rock
Length	6:22
Label	Island Records
Producer(s)	Jimmy Iovine
Rattle and Hum track listing
"Desire" (3)	"Hawkmoon 269" (4)	"All Along the Watchtower" (5)

"Hawkmoon 269" is the fourth track from U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum.The organ heard at the beginning of the track, is thought to be played by Bob Dylan. In an interview, Bono said the song was titled "Hawkmoon 269" in part as a tribute to writer Sam Shepard, who had released a book entitled Hawk Moon. Shepard's second book is titled Motel Chronicles, which is probably where the 269 comes from. Bono also said that the band mixed the song 269 times. This was thought to be a joke for years until it was recently confirmed by The Edge in "U2 by U2," who said that they spent three weeks mixing the song. He also conflicted Bono's assertion about Shepard, saying that Hawkmoon came from a section of a town in the midwestern United States. The song was used as one of the many concert openers for the band's Lovetown Tourand has hardly ever been played again, making only a few apperences on the Zoo TV Tour.