"City of Angels" - Various Artists

Soundtrack Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track Listing:

  • If God Will Send His Angels (Single Version) – U2 (4:32)
  • Uninvited – Alanis Morissette (4:34)
  • Red House – Jimi Hendrix (3:49)
  • Feelin’ Love – Paula Cole (5:37)
  • Mama, You Got A Daughter – John Lee Hooker (3:41)
  • Angel – Sarah McLachlan (4:29)
  • Iris – Goo Goo Dolls (4:50)
  • I Grieve – Peter Gabriel (8:09)
  • I Know – Jude (4:34)
  • Further On Up The Road – Eric Clapton (7:26)
  • Angel Falls – Gabriel Yared (4:54)
  • Unfeeling Kiss – Gabriel Yared (3:42)
  • Spreading Wings – Gabriel Yared (4:25)
  • City Of Angels – Gabriel Yared (7:07)

Background Information

“City of Angels” was a 1998 American film by director Brad Siberling starring Nic Cage and Meg Ryan. The film was a very loose remake of the 1987 film “Wings of Desire” by filmmaker Wim Wenders that had been set in Berlin. The film “Wings of Desire” was followed by a sequel titled “Faraway So Close” and that film had a large impact on the song “Stay”, both the video (directed by Wenders) and the song itself, which was used in the movie. U2 have contributed songs to many of Wenders films including “Faraway So Close”, “Until the End of the World”, “Beyond the Clouds”, and “Don’t Come Knocking” and it was Wenders who directed “The Million Dollar Hotel”. So when it came time to produce an American version of “Wings of Desire” the director chose to approach U2 to contribute to the film’s soundtrack. Instead of creating a new song for the movie, U2 contributed the single mix of “If God Will Send His Angels” which had been released on single outside of the US in December of 1997. In the US, the single release was held back until the spring of 1998 to coincide with the release of the soundtrack album. The soundtrack album was due to be released in April, but a leak of several songs on the internet forced the record company to move up the release of the CD in the US. Release plans continued uninterrupted in Europe.

Like the previous two singles U2 had released, “Please” and “Last Night on Earth,” “If God Will Send His Angels” was re-recorded and released in a “single version” that differed substantially from that found on the Pop album. This single version arranges the choruses in a different order and replaces the scat singing at the end of the original track with actual lyrics. It is that “single version” which is included here on the “City of Angels” soundtrack. The single for “If God Will Send His Angels” was released on April 7, 1998 in the USA to coincide with the release of this soundtrack. Elsewhere throughout the world, the single had been released in December of 1997. It was only in the USA that the single release was delayed.

The video for “If God Will Send His Angels” was directed by Phil Joanou, who had previously collaborated with U2 as director of the Rattle and Hum film and a version of the video for “One.” It was shot in a diner in Detroit—the now defunct Hi-Liter in Highland Park—beginning around 7:30am on November 1, 1997 and ending at 5am the next morning. It depicts Bono sitting at a table singing the song while various people come in and out of the diner, some sitting beside him, throughout the course of a day. Bono was filmed at a low frame-rate per second, and the footage was later sped up. As a result, those characters moving at a regular speed appear much faster in the final video. The initial version of the video was released in late 1997. An alternate version of the clip was released in March 1998 to promote the movie City of Angels, interspersing scenes from the film with Joanou’s original footage.

Liner Notes

If God Will Send His Angels – U2:
Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono and the Edge. Produced by Flood, Howie B. and Steve Osborne. Recorded by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent and Howie B. Assisted by Rob Kirwan and Conal Markey. Mixed by Howie B., Steve Osborne, and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. Assisted by Conal Markey and Ben Hillier.

Related Promotional Videos

Related News

Catalog of Releases