The Unforgettable Fire (song)

"The Unforgettable Fire" is a song by rock band U2. The fourth song on their 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire, it was released as the album's second single in April 1985. The band cite an art exhibition by victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that was held at The Peace Museum in Chicago as inspiration for the song. It became the band's third Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart and #8 on the Dutch singles chart, but it was yet to break them into the United States.

The song, like many tracks from The Unforgettable Fire, is an atmospheric composition, with ambient use of guitar and a string arrangement by Irish jazz musician Noel Kelehan.

History

Lighting and video effects for the performance of "The Unforgettable Fire" on the U2 360° Tour.

"The Unforgettable Fire" was first played live at the fourth show of the Unforgettable Fire Tour on 2 September 1984 in the New Zealand city of Auckland.^[2] It was subsequently played at almost all Unforgettable Fire Tour shows. It was played at the majority of The Joshua Tree Tour shows and the song appeared regularly during 1989's Lovetown Tour, during which its last performance for nearly 20 years was on 6 January 1990. The song returned to the group's concert repertoire on the opening night of the 2009 U2 360° Tour.

Track listings

A shaped picture disc was issued with the IS220 release. The 12" Canadian release contained a false start at the beginning of "Love Comes Tumbling." "A Sort of Homecoming" and "Love Comes Tumbling" on the 12" Australian release were different versions from any other release.

7": Island / IS220 (UK release)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Unforgettable Fire"	4:56
2.	"A Sort of Homecoming" (Live at Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, 15 November 1984)	4:06

7": Island / K-9561 (Australian and New Zealand releases)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Unforgettable Fire"	4:56
2.	"MLK"	2:32

2x7": Island / ISD220 and CBS / DA 6185 (UK and Ireland releases)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Unforgettable Fire"	4:56
2.	"A Sort of Homecoming" (Live at Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, 15 November 1984)	4:06
3.	"Love Comes Tumbling"	4:45
4.	"The Three Sunrises"	3:52
5.	"Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come"	3:15

12": Island / 12IS220, Island / 664 974, and Island / ISMC-1026 (UK, German CD, and Canadian releases)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Three Sunrises"	3:52
2.	"The Unforgettable Fire"	4:56
3.	"A Sort of Homecoming" (Live at Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, 15 November 1984)	4:06
4.	"Love Comes Tumbling"	4:45
5.	"Bass Trap"	5:17

12": Island / L18002 (Australian release)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Three Sunrises"	3:52
2.	"The Unforgettable Fire"	4:56
3.	"A Sort of Homecoming" (Live at Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England, 15 November 1984)	4:06
4.	"Love Comes Tumbling" (Alternate version)	4:37
5.	"Bass Trap"	5:17

Chart positions

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Dutch MegaCharts^[3]	4
Irish Singles Chart^[4]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart^[3]	3
UK Singles Chart^[5]	6

References

↑ Sams, Aaron; Kantas, Harry. "U2 - "The Unforgettable Fire" Single". u2songs.com. Retrieved 1 Apr 2016.
↑ Parra, Pimm Jal de la U2 Live: A Concert Documentary, p.53, 1996, Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-7322-6036-1
1 2 "U2 – The Unforgettable Fire". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
↑ "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 23 November 2009. Note: U2 must be searched manually.
↑ "EveryHit.com search results: U2". Everyhit.com. Retrieved 22 November 2009. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

The Unforgettable Fire track listing

"A Sort of Homecoming" "Pride (In the Name of Love)" "Wire" "The Unforgettable Fire" "Promenade" "4th of July" "Bad" "Indian Summer Sky" "Elvis Presley and America" "MLK"

War The Joshua Tree

U2 singles discography

1980s	1980 "Another Day" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "A Day Without Me" "I Will Follow" 1981 "Fire" "Gloria" 1982 "A Celebration" "I Will Follow" (live recorded by Veronica's Countdown) 1983 "New Year's Day" "Two Hearts Beat as One" "Sunday Bloody Sunday" 1984 "I Will Follow" (live, from Under a Blood Red Sky) "Pride (In the Name of Love)" 1985 "The Unforgettable Fire" 1987 "With or Without You" "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" "Where the Streets Have No Name" "In God's Country" 1988 "One Tree Hill" "Desire" "Angel of Harlem" 1989 "When Love Comes to Town" (feat. B.B. King) "All I Want Is You"

1990s	1991 "The Fly" "Mysterious Ways" 1992 "One" "Even Better Than the Real Thing" "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" 1993 "Numb" "Lemon" "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" 1995 "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" "Miss Sarajevo" (as Passengers) 1997 "Discothèque" "Staring at the Sun" "Last Night on Earth" "Please" "If God Will Send His Angels" "Mofo" 1998 "Sweetest Thing"

2000s	2000 "Beautiful Day" 2001 "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" "Elevation" "Walk On" 2002 "Electrical Storm" 2004 "Vertigo" 2005 "All Because of You" "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" "City of Blinding Lights" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (live, with Paul McCartney) 2006 "One" (with Mary J. Blige) "The Saints Are Coming" (feat. Green Day) 2007 "Window in the Skies" 2008 "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" (with The Dubliners, Kíla, and A Band of Bowsies) 2009 "Get On Your Boots" "Magnificent" "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"

2010s	2011 "I Will Follow" (live from Glastonbury) 2013 "Ordinary Love" 2014 "Invisible" "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)" "Every Breaking Wave" 2015 "Song for Someone"

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