The Unforgettable Fire (song)

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“The Unforgettable Fire”
Single by U2 from the album The Unforgettable Fire
Released	April 1985
Format	Vinyl (7" and 12"), cassette, CD single
Genre	Rock
Length	4 m 56 s
Label	Island - IS220
Producer	U2, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
U2 singles chronology
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1984) "The Unforgettable Fire" (1985) "With or Without You" (1987)
The Unforgettable Fire track listing
"Wire" (3) "The Unforgettable Fire" (4) "Promenade" (5)
The Best of 1980-1990 track listing
"I Will Follow" (8) "The Unforgettable Fire" (9) "Sweetest Thing" (10)

"The Unforgettable Fire" is the fourth track on U2's 1984 album of the same name and was released as the album's second single. The song was inspired by an art exhibition of the same name by victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The song became the band's third Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at #6 on the UK singles chart and #8 on the Dutch singles chart, but it was yet to break them in the U.S.. The track's string arrangement was by Irish jazz musician, Noel Kelehan.

Contents 1 History 2 Track listings 2.1 7": Island / IS220 2.2 7": Island / K-9561 2.3 2x7": Island / ISD220 2.4 12": Island / 12IS220 2.5 12": Island / L18002 3 External links

[edit] History

"The Unforgettable Fire" made its live debut at the fourth show of the Unforgettable Fire Tour on September 2, 1984 (1984-09-02) in Auckland, New Zealand. It was subsequently played at almost all Unforgettable Fire Tour shows, usually early in the setlist. On the first European leg of the tour, "MLK" was placed immediately before it in the setlist and this pairing lasted for the rest of the live career of "The Unforgettable Fire". It was played at the majority of Joshua Tree Tour shows and the song appeared at approximately every third concert of 1989's Lovetown Tour. Its last performance to date was on January 6, 1990 (1990-01-06). It was used, however, as the outro music after the band left the stage at their concert filmed for U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle on September 1, 2001 (2001-09-01); the song had been recorded at Slane Castle.

There is some confusion about the b-sides as a variety of versions of some of the tracks exist. There exists, for example, three versions of the track "Love Comes Tumbling", even though the label simply states "Love Comes Tumbling". Two versions are identical except for a false start at the beginning. The false start mix is on the Canadian cassette and vinyl and The Best of 1980-1990 album. The non-false start mix is on the German CD single. The third mix, featuring an alternate vocal, can be found on the Australia 12".

There are also two mixes of the live performance of "A Sort of Homecoming". Identical in length, the Australian 12" features a mix that includes The Edge's background vocals and somewhat different vocals by Bono.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] 7": Island / IS220

1. "The Unforgettable Fire" - 4:56
2. "A Sort of Homecoming" (Live from Wembley) - 4:06

The most common 7" release. A shaped picture disc was issued with this tracklisting.

[edit] 7": Island / K-9561

1. "The Unforgettable Fire" - 4:56
2. "MLK" (Album Version) - 2:32

[edit] 2x7": Island / ISD220

1. "The Unforgettable Fire" - 4:56
2. "A Sort of Homecoming" (Live from Wembley) - 4:06

1. "Love Comes Tumbling" - 4:45
2. "The Three Sunrises" - 3:52
3. "Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come" - 3:15

• also released in Ireland (CBS / DA 6185)

[edit] 12": Island / 12IS220

1. "The Three Sunrises" - 3:52
2. "The Unforgettable Fire" - 4:56
3. "A Sort of Homecoming" (Live from Wembley) - 4:06
4. "Love Comes Tumbling" - 4:45
5. "Bass Trap" - 5:17

• also released as German CD (Island / 664 974), Canadian MC (Island / ISMC-1026).
• The Canadian edition had a false start at the beginning of "Love Comes Tumbling".

[edit] 12": Island / L18002

1. "The Three Sunrises" - 3:52
2. "The Unforgettable Fire" - 4:56
3. "A Sort of Homecoming" (Live from Wembley Different Mix) - 4:06
4. "Love Comes Tumbling" (Alternate Vocal) - 4:37
5. "Bass Trap" - 5:17

12" issued in Australia. Both "A Sort Of Homecoming" and "Love Comes Tumbling" were different versions.

[edit] External links

• "The Unforgettable Fire" video at YouTube
• The Unforgettable Fire's live history at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com - Lists all known performances of "The Unforgettable Fire".

v • d • e U2's singles discography 1980s 1980: "Another Day" • "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" • "A Day Without Me" • "I Will Follow" • 1981: "Fire" • "Gloria" • 1982: "A Celebration" • 1983: "New Year's Day" • "Two Hearts Beat as One" • "Sunday Bloody Sunday" • "40" (Germany only) • 1984: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" • 1985: "The Unforgettable Fire" • 1987: "With or Without You" • "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" • "Where the Streets Have No Name" • "In God's Country" (North America only) • 1988: "One Tree Hill" (Australia / New Zealand only) • "Desire" • "Angel of Harlem" • 1989: "When Love Comes to Town" (with B. B. King) • "All I Want Is You" 1990s 1991: "The Fly" • "Mysterious Ways" • 1992: "One" • "Even Better Than the Real Thing" • "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" • 1993: "Numb" • "Lemon" • "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" • 1995: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" • "Miss Sarajevo" (as Passengers) 1997: "Discothèque" • "Staring at the Sun" • "Last Night on Earth" • "Please" • "If God Will Send His Angels" • "Mofo" • 1998: "Sweetest Thing" 2000s 2000: "Beautiful Day" • 2001: "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out Of" • "Walk On" • "Elevation" • 2002: "Electrical Storm" • 2004: "Vertigo" • 2005: "All Because of You" • "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" • "City of Blinding Lights" • "One" (with Mary J. Blige) • 2006: "The Saints Are Coming" (with Green Day) • 2007: "Window in the Skies" • 2008: "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" (with The Dubliners, Kíla, and A Band of Bowsies)