Numb (U2 song)

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"Numb"

Single by U2
from the album Zooropa
Released	June 1993
Format	VHS Single
Genre	Rock
Length	4:20
Label	Island / Polygram Video
Producer(s)	Flood, Brian Eno and The Edge (song); Iain Brown (video)
Chart positions
#7 (Australia) #2 (US Modern Rock Tracks) #18 (US Mainstream Rock Tracks)
U2 singles chronology
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (1992)	Numb (1993)	Lemon (1993)
Zooropa track listing
"Babyface" (2)	"Numb" (3)	"Lemon" (4)
The Best of 1990-2000 track listing
"Staring at the Sun" (14)	"Numb" (15)	"The First Time" (16)

"Numb" is the third track from U2's 1993 album, Zooropa and was released as the album's first single. The song is a repeating, monochordic mantra sung by The Edge with a drumbeat sampled from the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. [1] "Numb" also features backing vocals by Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr.

[edit] History

The music video featured The Edge staring straight into the camera sitting under a dripping tap, while strange things happen to him, such as having feet put on his face, being tied down by the other group members, and a belly dancer perform in front of him. The video remix was produced by the performance group Emergency Broadcast Network and features a number of random television and audio clips. The live performance of the song was very similar to the video remix, featuring the same video and sound snippets. The single itself was released in video format only on VHS, echoing the television theme from their Zoo TV Tour.

"Numb's" unusual VHS single.

"Numb" was an unlikely choice for a first single, and was released in an even more unlikely format, being released exclusively as a "video single". Though Madonna had already released "Justify My Love" as a video single in 1990 following the blacklisting of that video by MTV, it was an unusual release mode for the early 1990s; DVD singles became common place by the latter part of the decade.

This song was later remixed by producer Mike Hedges for U2's compilation release for the 1990s, The Best of 1990-2000. The new mix featured a louder, clearer vocal performance from The Edge than used on the Zooropa album, along with more distinct background noises and a new guitar riff.