Pride (In the Name of Love)
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| "Pride (In the Name of Love)" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by U2 | ||
| from the album The Unforgettable Fire | ||
| Released | September 1984 | |
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette, CD single (re-release only) | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:40 | |
| Label | Island | |
| Producer(s) | Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| U2 singles chronology | ||
| "40" (Germany only) (1983) |
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1984) |
"The Unforgettable Fire" (1985) |
| The Unforgettable Fire track listing | ||
| "A Sort of Homecoming" (1) |
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (2) |
"'Wire" (3) |
| Rattle and Hum track listing | ||
| "Silver and Gold" (Live) (8) |
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Live) (9) |
"Angel of Harlem" (10) |
| The Best of 1980-1990 track listing | ||
| N/A | "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (1) |
"New Year's Day" (2) |
| U218 Singles track listing | ||
| "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (2) |
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (3) |
"With or Without You" (4) |
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" is the second song on U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire and was released as the album's first single. Written about Martin Luther King, Jr., "Pride" is one of the band's most recognized songs, and appeared as the opening track on the compilation The Best of 1980-1990, and on the 2006 compilation U218 Singles. The song was a mixed critical but major commercial success for the band.
Contents |
[edit] History
The melody and the chords came out of a 1983 War Tour sound check in Hawaii. The song was originally intended to be about Ronald Reagan's pride in America's military power but Bono had been influenced by Stephen B. Oates's book Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as by a biography of Malcolm X. These caused Bono to ponder the different sides of the civil rights campaigns, the violent and the non-violent.[1] In subsequent years, Bono has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lyrics, which he describes, along with another Unforgettable Fire song "Bad", as being "left as simple sketches." He blames this on being swayed by Edge and producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who played down the need to develop the lyrics as they thought the impressionistic nature was more important to the songs' 'feeling', particularly when heard by non-English speakers.[2]
"I looked at how glorious that song was and thought: 'What the fuck is that all about?' It's just a load of vowel sounds ganging up on a great man. It is emotionally very articulate - if you didn't speak English."
Critical opinion on "Pride" was mixed. Besides Loder, Robert Christgau in The Village Voice complained of "the moralism with the turn-somebody-else's-cheek glorification of Martin Luther King's martyrdom."[4] In 2005, Dave Marsh wrote of "Pride": "I hated it, and I hate it still.... What kind of overweaning, sanctimonious little amateur-ass parson wrote that simpering idiocy? If you ask ME, when you bleed to death from the bullet, you ain't got anything left to be proud with."[5]
"'Pride' gets over only on the strength of its resounding beat and big, droning bass line, not on the nobility of its lyrics, which are unremarkable."
However, the 1984 Pazz & Jop poll of 240 music critics ranked "Pride" as the 12th best single of that year (a higher ranking than the overall album, which finished 29th)[7], which was the highest ranking of any U2 single until "One" placed 8th in 1992.[8] Also, Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at #378 of their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
The first line of the last verse erroneously refers to King's shooting as "Early morning, April 4", when it was actually after 6PM. Bono admits the error and in live performances he usually changes the lyric to "Early evening...".[9]
Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders sang back-up vocals on the recording. She was thanked in the credits as, 'Christine Kerr' (she was married to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds fame at the time).
Two music videos were made. The most-shown one features opening and closing shots of the docklands area in Dublin (including the recently opened East-Link) in between which U2 performs the song in an empty school auditorium that gradually draws in children and staff members. The other video portrays recording the song at Slane Castle, and also features Eno and Lanois.
"Pride" reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. While not a big chart hit in the United States, it gained considerable album oriented rock radio airplay and its video was on heavy rotation on MTV, thus helping U2 continue its commercial breakthrough begun with the War album.
"Pride" has appeared in virtually every U2 concert since the Unforgettable Fire Tour. As of 2006, it is the second-most performed song in the band's history, registering 746 known performances [10]. ("I Will Follow" has 753 known performances with many more earlier performances not documented). Clips from King speeches are often shown on the stage's video screens during these performances.
[edit] Track listings
[edit] Version 1
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Single Version) – 4:40
- "Boomerang II" – 4:48
A 7" release.
[edit] Version 2
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Single Version) – 4:40
- "Boomerang I" (Instrumental) – 2:47
- "Boomerang II" – 4:48
- "4th of July" (Long Version) – 2:38
A 12" release in Ireland and the UK. The CD re-release has the same tracklisting.
[edit] Version 3
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Single Version) – 4:40
- "Boomerang I" (Instrumental) – 2:47
- "Boomerang II" – 4:48
- "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Long Version) – 4:10
- "Touch" – 3:21
The second 12" release, with the tracks from the "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" single.
[edit] Version 4
- "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Single Version) – 4:40
- "Boomerang I" (Instrumental) – 2:47
- "Boomerang II" – 4:48
- "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Long Version) – 4:10
- "A Celebration" – 2:54
A cassette version released in the UK.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| USA Billboard Hot 100 | 33 |
| USA Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
[edit] Covers
- The Christian band Delirious? sang a version of this song on the album In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa.
- The French cover band Nouvelle Vague covered the song on their Bande A Part album.
- Shawn Colvin covered the song on her 2006 album These Four Walls.
- Flyleaf performed live version of the song with Richard Patrick (formerly of Filter, now in Army of Anyone) on Family Values Tour 2006 and the performance is available on the live compilation from this tour.
- C+C Music Factory, as Clivilles + Cole, remade the song in 1991. This version was referred to as "In the Name of Love."
- Kane covered the song on their live CD/DVD album With or Without You
[edit] References and notes
- ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 145. ISBN0-00-719668-7.
- ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 151. ISBN0-00-719668-7.
- ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 179. ISBN0-00-719668-7.
- ^ Village Voice Consumer Guide, "The Unforgettable Fire".
- ^ "Bono Must Be Stopped", second Dave Marsh entry, 11 November 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
- ^ Loder, Kurt. "The Unforgettable Fire Album Review", Rolling Stone, 11 October 1984.
- ^ "The 1984 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". Retrieved 14 December 2006.
- ^ "The 1992 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". Retrieved 14 December 2006.
- ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 151. ISBN0-00-719668-7.
- ^ http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/tourdb-stats.html
[edit] External links
- Pride's performance history at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com—Lists all concerts at which "Pride" has been performed.
- Discography entry at U2 Wanderer—Comprehensive details on various editions, cover scans, lyrics, and more.
