Until the End of the World (song)
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| “Until the End of the World” | |||||
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| Song by U2 | |||||
| Album | Achtung Baby | ||||
| Released | 19 November 1991 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 4:39 | ||||
| Label | Island | ||||
| Producer | Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno | ||||
| Achtung Baby track listing | |||||
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"Until the End of the World" is the fourth track from U2's 1991 album, Achtung Baby. The lyrics describe a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.[1] The first verse discusses The Last Supper; the second is about Judas identifying Jesus with a kiss on the lips in the Garden of Gethsemane; and the final is about Judas' suicide after being overwhelmed with guilt and sadness.
The song is the 14th most frequently played song in concerts,[2] and has been played on every U2 tour since it debuted on Zoo TV Tour. The song frequently segues into New Year's Day. Only until the third leg of the Vertigo Tour did it not regularly secure a setlist position, having appeared occasionally as a part of the Zoo TV-themed encore. By the fourth and fifth legs it secured the usual set position it has occupied on tours past (before "New Year's Day"). It was played at an award ceremony when U2 won for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the BRIT Awards in 2001, along with "Beautiful Day", "One", and "Mysterious Ways". It was also performed when the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
It has appeared on the concert DVD releases Zoo TV: Live from Sydney, PopMart: Live from Mexico City, Elevation 2001: Live from Boston and U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle. It also appeared on the CD and DVD versions of The Best of 1990-2000 compilation album. It was featured (in a different version) on the soundtrack to the movie Until the End of the World and also (once again in a different version) in the movie Entropy.
There was a video created for this song which appeared on the video release Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and A Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV. However, it was never publicly released. There was also a live video composed of footage from two performances on the Outside Broadcast leg of the Zoo TV Tour, from Yankee Stadium and Houston, which appeared on The Best of 1990-2000 DVD.
Edge has always used a Gibson Les Paul to play this song. On the Zoo TV Tour, he used the Les Paul Custom. On the PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo Tours, he has used the Les Paul Standard Goldtop. On the last two tours, that guitar has exclusively seen action on "Until the End of the World". It is also interesting to note that on the last two tours that is song was played 3 semitones up (normal guitar tuning with a capo on the 3rd fret) where as on Zoo TV and PopMart, it was played just one full tone up (E flat tuning with a capo on the 3rd fret).
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