Love Is Blindness
Encyclopedia
"Love Is Blindness" is a song by rock
band U2
. It is the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby
. The song was written on a piano by lead singer Bono
during the recording sessions for U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum
. Intended for singer Nina Simone
, the band elected to keep it for Achtung Baby after playing it together. Thematically, the song describes a failing romance, mixing personal themes with imagery of metaphorical acts of terrorism. During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, guitarist The Edge
separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. The separation had a major effect on the development of the song; the ending guitar solo
was a cathartic experience for The Edge, as he snapped several guitar strings during the song's recording.
"Love Is Blindness" made its live debut on the group's 1992-1993 Zoo TV Tour
and was performed regularly during the tour, appearing at 154 of its 157 concerts. It was commonly played as either the penultimate or closing song; as the penultimate song, it was usually followed by a rendition of the Elvis Presley
song "Can't Help Falling in Love
". Following the tour, "Love Is Blindness" has been played live only two other times. The track was favourably received by critics and has been covered
by multiple artists.
during the recording sessions for U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum
. He wrote the song on a piano, which guitarist The Edge
noted is "not an instrument he is noted for playing." The torch songs of Jacques Brel
provided an influence for him. His initial plan was to send it to Nina Simone
, one of his favourite singers. After playing the song together, the band decided to keep it for their own efforts. It was not included on Rattle and Hum because the band did not believe it was "U2 enough".
During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, The Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. Reflecting on the impact it had on U2, Bono said, "We're a really tight community. This is not like somebody's, you know, girlfriend's left. We've grown up with these people, this our family, our community. This was really hard for us... It was like the first cracks on the beautiful porcelain jug with those beautiful flowers in it that was our music and our community, starting to go 'crack'." The Edge explained that travelling to Berlin to write and record provided him with an escape from his failing marriage: "I was disappearing into the music for a different reason. It was a refuge in a way. That approach didn't completely work. You know, I wasn't really... in a good positive headspace. I was running away, I suppose." While recording the solo that appears at the end of the song, The Edge "put everything into it, all the feeling, all the hurt, all the angst, everything went into that solo." Bono said, "his whole life came out of him when he played... when we went for the take, one string broke and he just kept playing harder and harder. Another string broke. And he has such a light touch, ordinarily, he's so gentle. All that left him for a kind of rage. And yet there's not one bum note in there." Audio engineer Flood said the "bold, unadulterated, naked [guitar solo] sound was a combination of the part, the moment, a good guitar, a small amp, a simple mike. Edge just got an idea, tried it, and it worked straightaway."
at a tempo
of 48 beats per minute in a key
of B minor
.
The production team gave bassist Adam Clayton
's bass a "low end bass throbbing effect", which The Edge described as "a real stroke of genius from the production team." Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drum pattern was taken from U2's 1987 single "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
" and slowed down. The lyrics "[mix] up the personal and the political." Bono noted that "There was some reference to the little death, which can be taken to mean a faint during orgasm but also works as an image of terrorism." Quoting the lyric "A little death without mourning / No call and no warning / Baby, a dangerous idea / That almost makes sense", he said, "There's nothing more deadly than an idea – or a person – that's almost right. You know, it took the 20th century a hundred years to get over communism. There's another dangerous idea that almost made sense."
U2 biographer Bill Flanagan
credits Bono's habit of keeping his lyrics "in flux until the last minute" with providing a narrative coherence to the album. Flanagan interpreted Achtung Baby as using the moon as a metaphor for a dark woman seducing the singer away from his virtuous love, the sun; he is tempted away from domestic life by an exciting nightlife and tests how far he can go before returning home. For Flanagan, the final three songs on Achtung Baby—"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
", "Acrobat
", and "Love Is Blindness"—are about how the couple deal with the suffering they have forced on each other. Uncut
contributor Gavin Martin believed the song contained "images of love, debased or abandoned." He wrote, "With its stark, churchlike organ intro, pulsating bass synth and guitar reverb stretched into a hallucinatory squall, it brilliantly describes the discord and dread that provide a constant undertow to Achtung Baby. And yet, through its alluring sonic palette and wounded but sensual vocal, 'Love Is Blindness' also maps out a search for harmony and salvation".
Author Atara Stein wrote that the song "suggests that love can operate only through a willful self-deception, a voluntary surrender to what one knows is an illusion. The singer begs his lover to 'wrap the night' around him because, as he proclaims, 'I don't want to see.' The singer knows that the image he creates of his loved one is false, but it is the only image that can satisfy him. He must perceive his beloved in idealized terms, so she can reflect back to him the image of himself that he desires to see." Journalist Bill Graham believed the song was a bleak account of a failing romance. Hot Press
editor Niall Stokes
wrote that the song "takes us back – again – to the shadowy world of deceit, infidelity, and betrayal. It depicts love at the end, the very end, of its tether. It is as bleak and as despairing a view of the world as you're likely to get, reflecting the emotional climate in which the entire album had been made." He noted, "In terms of its mood, 'Love Is Blindness' had the dark, sensual and decadent feel of pre-war Berlin", adding that the lyric "Love is blindness / I don't want to see" was "a desolate acknowledgement of the terrible reality that it is sometimes better not to know."
reviewer Roland Howard described it as "haunting and melodic", believing it to be about the loss of virginity. Music journalist Bill Wyman said The Edge's guitar playing on the song sounded like a "dentist's drill". Jon Pareles
of the New York Times described it as "a kind of summation", calling it "an elegy that compares love to 'drowning in a deep well' and wishes for it anyway." Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post
wrote that it has "a gospel quality, as swooning synth parts are set against block piano chords, and Bono acknowledges that mismatched lovers will suffer their inevitable fate."
Greg Potter of The Vancouver Sun
believed it to be a "dour closer" that was "riddled with images of self-doubt and uncertainty". A critic for the Waterloo Region Record said it was "hardly great U2, but U2 closers have always been anti- climactic." Writing for the Boston Herald, Romandetta called it a "broken-hearted [lament]" that was "gentle" and "subdued". George Varga of The San Diego Union-Tribune
said it was one of the most interesting tracks on the albums, calling it a "spare, David Bowie
-like [ode] to tormented love". Michael Ross of The Sunday Times
and James Healy of The San Diego Union-Tribune lamented that U2 did not include it on the compilation album The Best of 1990–2000. The Edge called it "a great end to the album and probably one of Bono's finest lyrics." Bono said, "The bass sounds like liquid at the centre of the earth, a kind of molten lava bass sound." Describing The Edge's guitar playing, he said, "It's incredible."
, where it closed the concert. It remained in this position throughout the first and second leg of the tour, with only two concerts concluding with an alternate song – "With or Without You
". "Love Is Blindness" was not performed on either of those two occasions. Beginning on the third leg of the tour it was followed by a cover of the Elvis Presley
song "Can't Help Falling in Love
" and, on one occasion, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?
". The song was performed at 154 of 157 concerts on the tour, closing 67 of them. On multiple occasions Bono brought a girl from the audience on to the stage to dance with during the song. Following the conclusion of the Zoo TV Tour, "Love Is Blindness" has appeared in concert only twice. The first occasion was on the Elevation Tour
; while performing in Calgary, Alberta, on 10 April 2001, Bono sang a few lines from the song at the conclusion of "One
". The final appearance was during a Vertigo Tour
concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 1 March 2006, when U2 performed the song spontaneously to conclude the concert.
U2 concert historian Pimm Jal de la Parra called the live rendition "sultry, as the screens show a constellation map, giving the crowd a feeling of floating across the universe by the way it moves, transmitting a mood of distance and loneliness that corresponds with the nature of the song." Mark Lepage of The Gazette
described the dance at the conclusion as "an appropriate moment of human contact after almost two hours of uproar." Julie Romandetta of the Boston Herald
believed it to be an anticlimatic finish to the concert, calling the song "low-key" and saying "U2 soared for more than 90 minutes, but left with a whimper, instead of a bang." Gary Graff of the Houston Chronicle
believed it to be a "moody show-closer". Writing for The Arizona Daily Star, Gene Armstrong called it an "achingly romantic closing tune", describing The Edge's solo as "especially tender".
A live performance of the song appears on Zoo TV: Live from Sydney
(1994), and Zoo TV Live
(2006). The Zoo TV Live performance is an audio rip of the performance from Zoo TV: Live from Sydney. One performance, recorded on 30 August 1992 in New York City, was included as a B-side on some versions of U2's 1994 single "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
". A video for the song, directed by Matt Mahurin, was included on the 1994 VHS single "Numb
". It featured the studio recording set to footage of the Zoo TV Tour. An acoustic performance by The Edge appears in the 2011 documentary From the Sky Down
.
included it on her 1995 album New Moon Daughter
. Dutch band Kane
recorded a version for their 2000 album With or Without You
. Trespassers William
covered it on the 2001 tribute album Even Better Than the Real Thing, and on their 2002 self-released album Different Stars
. Sixpence None the Richer
recorded a cover for the 2004 benefit album In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa
. The Devlins
featuring Sharon Corr
included a version on the 2005 tsunami relief album Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 3
. Angolan musician Waldemar Bastos
recorded a cover for the 2008 album In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. A rendition by Jack White
appears on the 2011 tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered.
Additional performers
Technical
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
. It is the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative...
. The song was written on a piano by lead singer Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
during the recording sessions for U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
. Intended for singer Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, the band elected to keep it for Achtung Baby after playing it together. Thematically, the song describes a failing romance, mixing personal themes with imagery of metaphorical acts of terrorism. During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. The separation had a major effect on the development of the song; the ending guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
was a cathartic experience for The Edge, as he snapped several guitar strings during the song's recording.
"Love Is Blindness" made its live debut on the group's 1992-1993 Zoo TV Tour
Zoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
and was performed regularly during the tour, appearing at 154 of its 157 concerts. It was commonly played as either the penultimate or closing song; as the penultimate song, it was usually followed by a rendition of the Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
song "Can't Help Falling in Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...
". Following the tour, "Love Is Blindness" has been played live only two other times. The track was favourably received by critics and has been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by multiple artists.
Writing, recording, and inspiration
"Love Is Blindness" was developed by lead singer BonoBono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
during the recording sessions for U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
. He wrote the song on a piano, which guitarist The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
noted is "not an instrument he is noted for playing." The torch songs of Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
provided an influence for him. His initial plan was to send it to Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, one of his favourite singers. After playing the song together, the band decided to keep it for their own efforts. It was not included on Rattle and Hum because the band did not believe it was "U2 enough".
During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, The Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. Reflecting on the impact it had on U2, Bono said, "We're a really tight community. This is not like somebody's, you know, girlfriend's left. We've grown up with these people, this our family, our community. This was really hard for us... It was like the first cracks on the beautiful porcelain jug with those beautiful flowers in it that was our music and our community, starting to go 'crack'." The Edge explained that travelling to Berlin to write and record provided him with an escape from his failing marriage: "I was disappearing into the music for a different reason. It was a refuge in a way. That approach didn't completely work. You know, I wasn't really... in a good positive headspace. I was running away, I suppose." While recording the solo that appears at the end of the song, The Edge "put everything into it, all the feeling, all the hurt, all the angst, everything went into that solo." Bono said, "his whole life came out of him when he played... when we went for the take, one string broke and he just kept playing harder and harder. Another string broke. And he has such a light touch, ordinarily, he's so gentle. All that left him for a kind of rage. And yet there's not one bum note in there." Audio engineer Flood said the "bold, unadulterated, naked [guitar solo] sound was a combination of the part, the moment, a good guitar, a small amp, a simple mike. Edge just got an idea, tried it, and it worked straightaway."
Composition and theme
"Love Is Blindness" runs for 4:23 (4 minutes, 23 seconds). According to Hal Leonard Corporation's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, it is played in common timeTime signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
at a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 48 beats per minute in a key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of B minor
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to A. Its key signature has two sharps .Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major....
.
The production team gave bassist Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
's bass a "low end bass throbbing effect", which The Edge described as "a real stroke of genius from the production team." Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drum pattern was taken from U2's 1987 single "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's second single in May 1987...
" and slowed down. The lyrics "[mix] up the personal and the political." Bono noted that "There was some reference to the little death, which can be taken to mean a faint during orgasm but also works as an image of terrorism." Quoting the lyric "A little death without mourning / No call and no warning / Baby, a dangerous idea / That almost makes sense", he said, "There's nothing more deadly than an idea – or a person – that's almost right. You know, it took the 20th century a hundred years to get over communism. There's another dangerous idea that almost made sense."
U2 biographer Bill Flanagan
Bill Flanagan
Bill Flanagan is an American author and television executive. He was born in Rhode Island in 1955 and graduated from Brown University in 1977. His books include Written in My Soul , Last of the Moe Haircuts , U2 at the End of the World , and the novels A&R , New Bedlam and Evening's Empire .As...
credits Bono's habit of keeping his lyrics "in flux until the last minute" with providing a narrative coherence to the album. Flanagan interpreted Achtung Baby as using the moon as a metaphor for a dark woman seducing the singer away from his virtuous love, the sun; he is tempted away from domestic life by an exciting nightlife and tests how far he can go before returning home. For Flanagan, the final three songs on Achtung Baby—"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
"Ultraviolet " is a song by the rock band U2 and the tenth track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby. Ostensibly about love and dependency, the song also lends itself to religious interpretations, with listeners finding allusions to the Book of Job and writers finding spiritual meaning in its...
", "Acrobat
Acrobat (song)
"Acrobat" is a song by rock band U2. It is the eleventh track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby. The critical failure of Rattle and Hum led the band to seek a harder sound in their music. The song developed from a riff created by guitarist The Edge, and is played in a time signature. Thematically...
", and "Love Is Blindness"—are about how the couple deal with the suffering they have forced on each other. Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
contributor Gavin Martin believed the song contained "images of love, debased or abandoned." He wrote, "With its stark, churchlike organ intro, pulsating bass synth and guitar reverb stretched into a hallucinatory squall, it brilliantly describes the discord and dread that provide a constant undertow to Achtung Baby. And yet, through its alluring sonic palette and wounded but sensual vocal, 'Love Is Blindness' also maps out a search for harmony and salvation".
Author Atara Stein wrote that the song "suggests that love can operate only through a willful self-deception, a voluntary surrender to what one knows is an illusion. The singer begs his lover to 'wrap the night' around him because, as he proclaims, 'I don't want to see.' The singer knows that the image he creates of his loved one is false, but it is the only image that can satisfy him. He must perceive his beloved in idealized terms, so she can reflect back to him the image of himself that he desires to see." Journalist Bill Graham believed the song was a bleak account of a failing romance. Hot Press
Hot Press
Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...
editor Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes
Niall Stokes is the award-winning editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s...
wrote that the song "takes us back – again – to the shadowy world of deceit, infidelity, and betrayal. It depicts love at the end, the very end, of its tether. It is as bleak and as despairing a view of the world as you're likely to get, reflecting the emotional climate in which the entire album had been made." He noted, "In terms of its mood, 'Love Is Blindness' had the dark, sensual and decadent feel of pre-war Berlin", adding that the lyric "Love is blindness / I don't want to see" was "a desolate acknowledgement of the terrible reality that it is sometimes better not to know."
Reception
"Love Is Blindness" was favourably received by critics. Uncut contributor Gavin Martin rated the song five stars, calling it "rapturous and unsettling." Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said, "its sentiments made it the perfect conclusion to Achtung Baby, describing The Edge's playing as "a mournful, ejaculatory guitar solo, stabbing out thick emotional blues notes that linger and then fall away like tears." Third WayThird Way Magazine
Third Way Magazine is a UK current-affairs magazine written from a Christian perspective. It is distinctively biblical, fairly highbrow and culturally aware...
reviewer Roland Howard described it as "haunting and melodic", believing it to be about the loss of virginity. Music journalist Bill Wyman said The Edge's guitar playing on the song sounded like a "dentist's drill". Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of the New York Times described it as "a kind of summation", calling it "an elegy that compares love to 'drowning in a deep well' and wishes for it anyway." Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote that it has "a gospel quality, as swooning synth parts are set against block piano chords, and Bono acknowledges that mismatched lovers will suffer their inevitable fate."
Greg Potter of The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
believed it to be a "dour closer" that was "riddled with images of self-doubt and uncertainty". A critic for the Waterloo Region Record said it was "hardly great U2, but U2 closers have always been anti- climactic." Writing for the Boston Herald, Romandetta called it a "broken-hearted [lament]" that was "gentle" and "subdued". George Varga of The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
said it was one of the most interesting tracks on the albums, calling it a "spare, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
-like [ode] to tormented love". Michael Ross of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
and James Healy of The San Diego Union-Tribune lamented that U2 did not include it on the compilation album The Best of 1990–2000. The Edge called it "a great end to the album and probably one of Bono's finest lyrics." Bono said, "The bass sounds like liquid at the centre of the earth, a kind of molten lava bass sound." Describing The Edge's guitar playing, he said, "It's incredible."
Live performances
"Love Is Blindness" debuted on 29 February 1992 in Lakeland, Florida, on the opening night of the Zoo TV TourZoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
, where it closed the concert. It remained in this position throughout the first and second leg of the tour, with only two concerts concluding with an alternate song – "With or Without You
With or Without You
"With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's first single on 21 March 1987...
". "Love Is Blindness" was not performed on either of those two occasions. Beginning on the third leg of the tour it was followed by a cover of the Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
song "Can't Help Falling in Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...
" and, on one occasion, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Are You Lonesome Tonight? (song)
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is a popular song with music by Lou Handman and lyrics by Roy Turk. It was written in 1926, first published in 1927 and most notably revived by Elvis Presley in 1960 ....
". The song was performed at 154 of 157 concerts on the tour, closing 67 of them. On multiple occasions Bono brought a girl from the audience on to the stage to dance with during the song. Following the conclusion of the Zoo TV Tour, "Love Is Blindness" has appeared in concert only twice. The first occasion was on the Elevation Tour
Elevation Tour
The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, the tour visited arenas in 2001. After the band's previous two extravagant stadium tours, Zoo TV and PopMart, the Elevation Tour returned the...
; while performing in Calgary, Alberta, on 10 April 2001, Bono sang a few lines from the song at the conclusion of "One
One (U2 song)
"One" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, and it was released as the record's third single in March 1992. It was recorded at three recording studios, Hansa Ton Studios, Elsinore, and Windmill Lane Studios...
". The final appearance was during a Vertigo Tour
Vertigo Tour
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 2005 through 2006. The Vertigo Tour consisted of five legs that alternated between indoor arena shows in...
concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 1 March 2006, when U2 performed the song spontaneously to conclude the concert.
U2 concert historian Pimm Jal de la Parra called the live rendition "sultry, as the screens show a constellation map, giving the crowd a feeling of floating across the universe by the way it moves, transmitting a mood of distance and loneliness that corresponds with the nature of the song." Mark Lepage of The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
described the dance at the conclusion as "an appropriate moment of human contact after almost two hours of uproar." Julie Romandetta of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
believed it to be an anticlimatic finish to the concert, calling the song "low-key" and saying "U2 soared for more than 90 minutes, but left with a whimper, instead of a bang." Gary Graff of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
believed it to be a "moody show-closer". Writing for The Arizona Daily Star, Gene Armstrong called it an "achingly romantic closing tune", describing The Edge's solo as "especially tender".
A live performance of the song appears on Zoo TV: Live from Sydney
Zoo TV: Live From Sydney
Zoo TV: Live from Sydney is a concert video release by rock band U2 from the "Zoomerang" leg of their Zoo TV Tour. Recorded on Saturday, November 27, 1993 at Sydney Football Stadium on the band's featured stop in Sydney, Australia, it was released in May 1994 on VHS and Laserdisc, and re-released...
(1994), and Zoo TV Live
Zoo TV Live
Zoo TV Live is a live album by the Irish rock band U2. It was released exclusively to subscribing members of , replacing U2.COMmunication on 20 November 2006...
(2006). The Zoo TV Live performance is an audio rip of the performance from Zoo TV: Live from Sydney. One performance, recorded on 30 August 1992 in New York City, was included as a B-side on some versions of U2's 1994 single "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
"Stay " is a song by the rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their 1993 album, Zooropa and was released as the album's third single on 22 November 1993. The song was a top ten hit in the Ireland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. The music video was shot in Berlin,...
". A video for the song, directed by Matt Mahurin, was included on the 1994 VHS single "Numb
Numb (U2 song)
"Numb" is a song by rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1993 album Zooropa and was released in June 1993 as the album's first single. The song features a monotonous mantra of "don't" commands spoken by guitarist The Edge amidst a backdrop of various sound effects and samples...
". It featured the studio recording set to footage of the Zoo TV Tour. An acoustic performance by The Edge appears in the 2011 documentary From the Sky Down
From the Sky Down
From the Sky Down is a 2011 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about rock band U2 and the production of their 1991 album Achtung Baby. The film documents the album's difficult recording period, the band members' relationships, and the group's creative process...
.
Cover versions
"Love Is Blindness" has been covered several times. Cassandra WilsonCassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
included it on her 1995 album New Moon Daughter
New Moon Daughter
New Moon Daughter is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, released in 1995 on Blue Note. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart in 1996.-Reception:...
. Dutch band Kane
Kane (Dutch band)
Kane is a Dutch rock band. The group consists of the two original members, Dinand Woesthoff and Dennis van Leeuwen . Their music can be described as "guitar rock"...
recorded a version for their 2000 album With or Without You
With or Without You (Kane album)
With or Without You is a live CD/DVD U2 tribute album recorded by the Dutch band Kane. The DVD was filmed on September 20, 2000 at Plan C in Rotterdam. The CD was recorded a day later at Paridiso, Amsterdam...
. Trespassers William
Trespassers William
Trespassers William are an indie rock/dream pop band known for their ethereal music. Hailing from Southern California, they work and live in the Sodo/Capitol Hill area of Seattle, Washington. Their latest release is the 2009 EP, The Natural Order of Things. They are currently working on their...
covered it on the 2001 tribute album Even Better Than the Real Thing, and on their 2002 self-released album Different Stars
Different Stars
Different Stars is the second album by American rock band Trespassers William. It was originally self-released in 2002, released in the UK on Bella Union on 28 September 2002, and finally re-released with minor track changes on Nettwerk Records on 19 October 2004.- self-released :# "Intro"# "Lie...
. Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer is an American rock/pop band that formed in New Braunfels, Texas, eventually settling in Nashville, Tennessee. They are best known for their songs "Kiss Me" and "Breathe Your Name" and their covers of "Don't Dream It's Over" and "There She Goes". The name of the band is...
recorded a cover for the 2004 benefit album In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa
In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa
In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa is a benefit album, recorded by Christian bands, with a portion of the proceeds going to help cure the AIDS pandemic in Africa...
. The Devlins
The Devlins
The Devlins are an alternative rock band originating from Dublin, Ireland. Their most recognized songs are Waiting, featured in remix form on the 2002 Six Feet Under soundtrack, but originally from their 1997 release Waiting; and World Outside, which was included in the 2004 drama Closer and also...
featuring Sharon Corr
Sharon Corr
Sharon Helga Corr is a musician and member of the Irish pop-rock band The Corrs along with elder brother Jim and younger sisters Caroline and Andrea. She plays the violin, piano, and guitar, and sings backing vocals. She began learning the violin when she was six years old...
included a version on the 2005 tsunami relief album Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 3
Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 3
Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 3 is an Irish charity two-disc album featuring a variety of artists performing acoustic covers. Despite the title of the series being taken from a U2 song, the previous albums did not contain any U2 covers...
. Angolan musician Waldemar Bastos
Waldemar Bastos
Waldemar dos Santos Alonso de Almeida Bastos is an Angolan musician who combines Afropop, Portuguese , and Brazilian influences.- History :...
recorded a cover for the 2008 album In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. A rendition by Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
appears on the 2011 tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered.
Personnel
U2- BonoBonoPaul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
– vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the... - The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Adam ClaytonAdam ClaytonAdam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Larry Mullen, Jr. – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Additional performers
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Technical
- ProductionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
– Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie... - EngineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
– Flood - Engineering assistance – Robbie Adams and Shannon Strong
- MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
– Lanois and Flood - Mixing assistance – Strong
External link
- Lyrics at U2.com