Heartland

It's amazing how an Irish band can capture America better than any American band. Or more accurately, they capture the myth of America, the open spaces ("Deserts dry, of cool green valleys/Gold and silver mines, and the shining cities") and beautiful frontiers ("66 the highway speaks"); the romantic version of the South ("The Delta sun burns bright and violent/Mississippi and the cotton wool heat"). The thrill of the open highway ("Freeway like a river cuts through this land/Into the side of love"); and the optimism for the future ("In the towers of steel, belief goes on and on"). And the music ... a fantastic beat, a mystical opening hook, and a penatrating baseline. This song is pretty close to flawless.

"Heartland" is by far my favorite U2 song. This one is absolutely beautiful. There is so much more to it than just the lyrics. In fact, this is a classic example of truly fantastic songwriting ability. Most of the beauty and meaning behind the song isn't conveyed in the lyrics but more so in the mood and tone behind the words. In it, you can tell that the lyricist (Bono) is fascinated with the land and you can almost imagine him jotting down haphazard notes from the window of the tour bus while cruising down Route 66. Mostly what I feel when I hear this song is that Bono was deeply homesick when he wrote it. He's experiencing a foreign land completely behind the glitz and glamour of what America is made out to be in the media. In the way he describes every curve and feature and the way "belief goes on and on", you can't help but wonder if he isn't really yearning for his own home after having been away for nearly two years.

This song is extremely powerful because you can feel his emotions. You can feel that he's awestruck, he's tired, he's homesick, and he's lonely. Notice that the lyrics are very different from other U2 lyrics. This song stays on one track and doesn't waver. It isn't about anything in particular. He's using the land laid out before him as a palette to paint a picture of how he feels in that moment. It's almost as if he's reaching out toward something in this song. I love it because it conveys raw emotion. It's not about anything; it just is.

Flawless indeed! "Heartland" moves me to tears. Rattle & Hum has been a favorite "road trip" CD of mine for quite some time, and this haunting lullaby has become my favorite song from that album. Calm, yet searching, the music totally and utterly backs up the lyrics. The opening stanza is incredibly moving, specifically the lines "See the sun rise over her skin/Dawn changes everything, everything." In some ways, this has deeper meaning to the way we are constantly changing and each new day brings new revelations. Bono apparently can't help but be amazing.

i dont even own this song on CD but i do own 7 U2 albums, and this is my favourite U2 song. every time i hear it, every single time it very nearly makes me cry. but not quite. i actually didnt know it was about the USA and i just didnt listen to the lyrics properly until recently. U2 are odd like this, they love america and hate it at the same time, its the same with the UK. and this is also how i feel even though im british. man, they did one london date on the elevation tour and tickets were gone in half an hour! 30 fucking minutes! i love U2, probably more than i should. and i especially love this song. its so emotional.

It has the same energy as a sort of homecoming.

Watch the video version on the Rattle and Hum DVD, it adds more to the aura of an already great song.

Awesome song. To think, this was the first song U2 attempted to record for The Joshua Tree, but it didn't end up on there. Thematically and sonically, it would have fit so well.

This song is so poetic and dreamy, gotta love these lyrics, among Bono's best. A really heartfelt (though idealized) celebration of America.

This song and the whole Rattle & Hum album and Film inspired me to one day to travel extensively round the US, visiting some of the places in the film alongthe way. I used to play in a U2 tribute band when I was a teenager and we all dreamed of playing places like Sund Devil Stadium in Arizona.

The band didn't make it but guess what, I've sold my house and am quitting work and going travelling next April 2009, starting off with a monster road trip in the US!

This song played in my helmet headset as I was returning from a nightlong military mission over the North Pacific. It was one of those sorties where just about anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. As the plane limped eastward, this song played just as the rising sun was lighting up the California coastline. There it was. USA. Home. Safe. Secure. Free. Made it. Bono nailed it with Heartland.