Until the End of the World (song)
Encyclopedia
"Until the End of the World" is a song by rock
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...

 and the fourth track from 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 began as a guitar riff composed by lead vocalist 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...

 from a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

, which the band revisited with success after talking with German filmmaker Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...

 about providing music for his film Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...

. The song's lyrics describe a fictional conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...

. The first verse discusses The Last Supper; the second is about Judas identifying Jesus with a kiss on the cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane; and the final is about Judas' suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 after being overwhelmed with guilt and sadness.

Writing, recording, and production

"Until the End of the World" originated from a guitar riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

 that vocalist 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...

 composed in a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 called "Fat Boy" that the band recorded at STS Studios in 1990, prior to the proper Achtung Baby sessions. Although 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...

 loved the riff, the band was not having much success with the demo during the Achtung Baby sessions. After the band met with German filmmaker Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...

, who was looking for music to use in his film Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...

, The Edge was inspired to revisit the "Fat Boy" demo. In Dublin, The Edge used the riff to assemble a backing track
Backing track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...

 with 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...

 and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., while vocalist 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...

 contributed other ideas. The composition excited the band so much, they decided to include it on the album. They told Wenders, "You can have it but we want it, too", while also informing him that they were using the film title for the song.

Bono wrote the lyrics relatively quickly at his father-in-law's house in Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...

, having woken up with the idea of a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...

. Bono did not feel comfortable trying to find a particular key to sing in, as he remarked that he sings most songs "a little bit too high or a little bit too low". Consequently, the only melody he felt comfortable singing was conversational. Reading poetry by John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...

, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...

, and George Gordon Byron inspired Bono to introduce the theme of temptation into his lyrics.

U2 and the production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 team had to expend a great effort to finalise the song. The band added various overdubs during the recording sessions, including percussion loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...

s by Mullen, as well as a sweeping guitar sound created by engineer
Audio engineering
An 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 that sounded like it went "between the speakers". Producer Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel 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...

 provided additional percussion for the song, playing conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...

s heard during the song's introduction. At one point, assisting producer Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian 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,...

 believed the additions had negatively impacted the track. Eno, who would occasionally visit the studio and review material for a short amount of time before leaving, believed his distance from the album allowed him to provide a fresh perspective. He explained his assistance: "I'd go in and say, 'The song has gone, whatever it is you liked about this song is not there anymore. Sometimes, for example, the song would have disappeared under layers of overdubs." Eno aided the group in removing some of these overdubs.

Composition and theme

According to Hal Leonard Corporation's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Until the End of the World" is played 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 101 beats per minute in a 4/4 time signature
Time 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....

. The basic key is E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....

.

David Werther, a faculty associate in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

, compared "Until the End of the World" with U2's 1987 song "Exit" in an examination of the role music can play in catharsis
Catharsis
Catharsis or katharsis is a Greek word meaning "cleansing" or "purging". It is derived from the verb καθαίρειν, kathairein, "to purify, purge," and it is related to the adjective καθαρός, katharos, "pure or clean."-Dramatic uses:...

. He noted that both were powerful songs, but that while "Until the End of the World" allowed the possibility of purification, which he described as the cleansing of the soul "through pity and fear", by placing the listener in the position of Judas Iscariot, "Exit" was an example of purgation, a freeing from excess pity and fear. Werther noted "'Exit' evokes feelings of fear, fear of losing control, giving into one's dark side, perhaps even taking one's life", contrasting it to the "waves of regret" experienced by Judas.

Reception

Upon the release of Achtung Baby, many critics praised "Until the End of the World". Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

thought it was the best song on the album, calling it a "raging rocker" with "fiery bass runs" by Clayton. Morse interpreted some of the lyrics differently than the song's original intent, noting that the lines "We ate the food / We drank the wine / Everybody having a good time / Except you / You were talking about the end of the world" were as if Bono was giving a "terse kiss-off to a former lover at a party". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

praised The Edge's guitar playing on the song, noting that "he has always made inspired use of devices like echo and reverb" and "his shimmering washes of color" in the song are instantly recognizable. The Austin Chronicle singled out "Larry Mullen Jr.'s seismic turn" on the song as one of three moments on the record where the band has never sounded better.

Live performances

The song is U2's 14th most frequently played song in concerts, and has been played on every U2 tour since it debuted on 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...

. The song frequently segues into "New Year's Day
New Year's Day (song)
"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing...

". Only until the third leg of the 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...

 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 a regular 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
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

 in 2001, along with "Beautiful Day
Beautiful Day
"Beautiful Day" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was released as the album's lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date...

", "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...

", and "Mysterious Ways
Mysterious Ways (song)
"Mysterious Ways" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the eighth track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby and was released as the album's second single on 25 November 1991. The song reached the top ten of the singles charts in several countries, including Ireland, where it went to number one...

". It was also performed when the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 in 2005.

It has appeared on the concert DVD releases 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...

, PopMart: Live from Mexico City
PopMart: Live from Mexico City
Selections from the Mexico City concert were released on the live album Hasta la Vista Baby! U2 Live from Mexico City. The album was and released exclusively to members of U2's fan club magazine, Propaganda, in 2000. It features 14 songs from the band's 25-song performance.-Track listing:...

, Elevation 2001: Live from Boston, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle
U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle
U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland is a concert video release by rock band U2 from the European leg of their Elevation Tour. Recorded on 1 September 2001 at Slane Castle on the band's featured stop in County Meath, Ireland, it was released on DVD in November 2003. Although Slane Concerts...

and U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
U2 360° at the Rose Bowl
U2 360° at the Rose Bowl is a 2010 concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was shot on 25 October 2009 on the band's U2 360° Tour date at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Rose Bowl concert featured an audience of over 97,000 people, and was broadcast live over the Internet via YouTube...

. It also appeared on the CD and DVD versions of The Best of 1990-2000
The Best of 1990-2000
The Best of 1990–2000 is the second greatest hits compilation album by Irish rock band U2. The album was released on 5 November 2002 by Island Records, except in the United States where the album was released on the Interscope label as a single-disc CD compilation...

compilation album. It was featured (in a different version) on the soundtrack to the movie Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World
Until the End of the World is a 1991 film by the German film director Wim Wenders; the screenplay was written by Wenders and Peter Carey, from a story by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin. An initial draft of the screenplay was written by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda...

and also (once again in a different version) in the movie Entropy
Entropy (film)
Entropy is a movie directed by Phil Joanou, starring Stephen Dorff and featuring the Irish rock band U2. The film is largely autobiographical, covering his early film career, his relationships and his pet cat....

. A live performance, dedicated to Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...

, was shown at Wembley via satellite for The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the...

.

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
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, which appeared on The Best of 1990-2000 DVD.

Edge has always used a Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...

 to play this song. On the Zoo TV Tour, he used the Les Paul Custom. On the PopMart
Popmart Tour
The PopMart Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 1997 album, Pop, the tour's concerts were performed in stadiums and parks from 1997 through 1998...

, Elevation
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...

 and Vertigo Tours, he has used the Les Paul Standard Goldtop.

Track listing

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top 100
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

69

Personnel

  • Production – Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno
  • Engineering
    Audio engineering
    An 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
  • Additional engineering – Robbie Adams
  • Assistant engineering – Shannon Strong
  • Mixing
    Audio 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...

    – Flood and Daniel Lanois
  • Mixing assistance – Shannon Strong
  • Additional percussion – Daniel Lanois
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