'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' by U2: "Like 'Eye of the Tiger' Played by a Reggae Band'"

‘200 Greatest 80s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt

Frank Mastropolo

Island

Irish rock band U2 included “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. The song, written by the band, was a №1 hit. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” grew out of a jam session centered around a beat by drummer Larry Mullen Jr.

“It was a very original beat from Larry,” co-producer Daniel Lanois told Hot Press. “We always look for those beats that would qualify as a signature for the song. And that certainly was one of those. It had this tom-tom thing that he does and nobody ever understands. And we just didn’t want to let go of that beat, it was so unique.”

The jam session yielded a demo variously titled “The Weather Girls” and “Under the Weather.” “It sounded to me, a little like ‘Eye of the Tiger’ played by a reggae band,” The Edge said in Rolling Stone.

Lanois recalled urging U2 to pursue a gospel sound in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. “I’ve always liked gospel music and I encouraged Bono to take it to that place,” Lanois explained in the TV documentary Classic Albums: U2 The Joshua Tree.

“It was a very non-U2 thing to do at the time, to go up the street of gospel. I think it opened a door for them, to experiment with that territory. He’s singing at the top of his range and there is something very compelling about somebody pushing themselves. It’s like hearing Aretha Franklin almost. It jumps on you and you can’t help but feel the feeling.”

“The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God,” Bono told Rolling Stone. The singer said “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is “an anthem of doubt more than faith.”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 80s Rock Songs. Check out our latest mini-book, New York Rock & Roll History: The 1950s. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.