A Look at Lyric Book 2

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2025-07-14)

In 2023 and 2024, U2.Com offered two books of lyrics as the annual subscription gifts for the site. The first book covered 1979 – 1988, while the second covered the period from 1991 – 2024. The books are called “The Complete Lyrics” in the title, and each is a hardcover book, with full colour pages and special elements such as gold and silver print. The focus is on songs that U2 worked on and released themselves over the years. They do not include cover songs, nor does it include songs that they have done over the years with others such as “Sweet Fire of Love”, recorded with and released by Robbie Robertson in 1987.

The 2024 gift (the second lyric book) was suffered production delays, and has only recently started shipping to fans. The first copies began arriving at the end of May 2025. If you haven’t received yours yet, don’t worry just yet. The books are still shipping, my own copy arrived just last week. It usually takes a few months for all of the fans to get their gifts once mailing starts.

When first announced in 2023, the two books were originally announced to cover the years 1978 – 1995 and 1996 – 2023. Eventually plans changed and the first book was reduced in size to cover 1980 – 1988, and this newer book was first changed to cover 1991 – 2023, but later expanded to cover 2024 as well including the release of How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb.

The first edition covering the 1980s contained 96 pages, the new version covering from Achtung Baby onwards is 75% bigger, coming in at 168 pages. The pages are on a thick paper stock, and the print quality is beautiful. These are a nice collection to have.

The front cover of the first book contained four photos, one each of Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam, taken from early photo sessions for Boy. The new version likewise contains an image of each band member, the same images that were used on the Songs of Surrender album cover. While that may have worked for the album, which covered all eras of the bands work, I question the inclusion of a photo of Bono from 1986 here on a book of lyrics which covers 1991 – 2023.

With the first book accompanying the lyrics are a series of write-ups remembering the songs including pieces by The Edge, Adam Clayton, Steve Lillywhite, Daniel Lanois, Jimmy Iovine, and images drawn by Bono. This new book also contains a wealth of bonus features including:

  • Foreword – Bono
  • Achtung Baby – Adam Clayton
    • “One” – The Edge
    • “Mysterious Ways” – Adam Clayton
    • “The Fly” – The Edge
  • Zooropa – The Edge
    • “Numb” – The Edge
    • “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” – The Edge
  • Original Soundtracks 1 – Brian Eno
    • “Miss Sarajevo” – The Edge
  • Pop – Howie B.
    • “Discotheque” – The Edge
    • “Staring at the Sun” – The Edge
  • All That You Can’t Leave Behind – Daniel Lanois
    • “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” – The Edge
    • “Elevation” – The Edge
  • How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – Bono
    • “Vertigo” – Steve Lillywhite
    • “Luckiest Man in the World” – Bono
    • “Mercy” – Jacknife Lee
  • No Line on the Horizon – Daniel Lanois
    • “Unknown Caller” – The Edge
    • “Moment of Surrender” – Brian Eno
  • Songs of Innocence – Bono
  • Songs of Experience – Bono
    • “The Little Things that Give You Away” – The Edge
    • “American Soul” – The Edge
  • Songs of Surrender – The Edge
    • “Walk On (Ukraine)” – The Edge
    • “I Will Follow” – Rocky O’Riordan
    • “Two Hearts Beat as One” – Rocky O’Riordan
    • “Dirty Day” – Rocky O’Riordan
    • “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” – Rocky O’Riordan
  • “Atomic City” – Jacknife Lee

Not all of the pieces above are originals, and sharp eyed fans may recognize a few from other sources, which are credited at the back of the book. The pieces by Bono on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and “Luckiest Man in the World” are taken from Record Collector magazine, a piece that Bono did for them in the Fall of 2024. Likewise Bono’s pieces for Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience come from the liner notes of those albums. The Edge’s notes for Songs of Surrender is likewise taken from the album notes for the album. The rest of the material is newly produced for this second book.

With any attempt at something this big there is bound to be some omissions that get missed in the compilation.

Missing from the 1980s book?

  • “Like a Song”
  • “Love Comes Tumbling”
  • “The Three Sunrises”
  • “Boomerang I”

The final song on War was missed and the B-Sides for The Unforgettable Fire are missing.

The first book also did not include any material released on deluxe sets, which in a way makes sense, as this material was not originally released in the 1979 – 1988 period. But these are also not covered in the second edition either, meaning these songs are missing from both books. Also missed is the “Early Demos” EP, released as part of The Complete U2 digital box set. “Shadows and Tall Trees” from that EP can be found among the Boy lyrics, but also two other songs that are not covered anywhere, “Street Missions” and “The Fool”.

These early songs not appearing in either book include:

  • “Speed of Life”
  • “Saturday Night”
  • “Cartoon World”
  • “Angels too Tied to the Ground”
  • “Disappearing Act”
  • “Wave of Sorrow (Birdland)”
  • “Desert of Our Love”
  • “Rise Up”
  • “Street Missions”
  • “The Fool”

A few other songs are missing from mention in the book but these are instrumental or use other people’s lyrics, so wouldn’t have been included even if mentioned. This includes “Yoshino Blossom” (instrumental), and “Drunk Chicken / America” and “Beautiful Ghost / Introduction to Songs of Experience”.

The book covering 1991 onwards is more complete than the first, and includes these songs from deluxe releases alongside the album and b-sides for the album. It also hasn’t missed any album tracks, and only a couple of more obscure tracks are not present here. The one-off tracks from best of collections and soundtracks and other projects are collected with the albums in some cases. “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” and “Fast Cars” are collected with the albums they appeared on as bonus tracks. “Stateless”, “The Hands that Built America” and “Electrical Storm” all appear with All That You Can’t Leave Behind. “Winter” and “Soon” appear with No Line on the Horizon. “The Crystal Ballroom”, “Invisible” and “Lucifer’s Hands” all appear with Songs of Innocence and “Ordinary Love” and “Book of Your Heart” appear with Songs of Experience.

Other one-offs are collected at the end of the book, which is where you will find “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”, “Window in the Skies”, “Ahimsa”, “Your Song Saved My Life” and “Atomic City”. Two singles that were released in this period not covered in the book are “Sweetest Thing” and “The Saints are Coming”. “Sweetest Thing”, although first released as a single in 1998, was originally a B-Side in 1987, and the lyrics can be found in the first volume. “The Saints Are Coming” is a cover of a track by The Skids, so therefore isn’t included here.

Not included in the second book are two tracks from The Complete U2. Both “Native Son” and “Xanax and Wine” are missing. “Xanax and Wine” is represented through “Picture of You” and “Fast Cars” elsewhere in the book, as it became those songs. “Native Son” went on to become “Vertigo” but with far different lyrics. It’s one of the few oversights in this second collection. There is a surprise extra included among the lyrics. Under No Line on the Horizon are the lyrics to a song that never got released, “Glastonbury”. The song was debuted during the 2010 tour, and played at a number of shows, however, U2 never released a final version. It later morphed into “Volcano” and finally into “American Soul”, so the inclusion here ties into a later write up about the latter song. Any chance we can get a studio recording of “Glastonbury” anyone?

One other surprise inclusion in this second volume? The lyrics for “Fortunate Son” are included among the Achtung Baby tracks. The song was used as a B-side for “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”, but it is not a U2 song. The song was written by John Fogerty and was released as a single by Creedence Clearwater Revival in September 1969. This is one of the bigger errors in the book.

A few other errors sneak in throughout the book. Christy Moore is not credited for his co-writing of the “North and South of the River” lyrics. “Stay (Faraway So Close!)” is titled ‘Far Away’ at one point, and there are a handful of other small errors throughout the text.

A nice nod to the original, “Ito Okashi” is printed here in Japanese. Likewise, the Italian lines for “Miss Sarajevo” are not translated. And for those who are wondering, “Holy Joe” has the lyrics for the shorter garage mix of the song. Throughout the book, alternate lyrics in songs are not covered, thus the alternate lyrics for the lounge fly mix of “The Fly” and the extended lyrics for “The Wanderer” from the soundtrack album Faraway So Close do not make an appearance. An added bonus, is the lyrics for “I’m Not Your Baby” are included, from the soundtrack End of Violence. U2 themselves had only released an instrumental version of the song as a B-Side, the vocal version with Sinead O’Connor arrived via a soundtrack.

Songs of Surrender is represented in the book, but it isn’t quite clear what they were going for here. Ten songs are included, although the album had 16, 20 or 40 songs depending on the configuration you bought. Only five of the songs included here are on the basic 16-track version of the album. Seven of the songs are on the 20-track version of the album. So it wasn’t a choice of what songs were readily available. Elsewhere in the book there are essays by Rocky O’Riordan talking about the songs from Songs of Surrender including an essay about “Two Hearts Beat as One”, “Dirty Day”, and “The Miracle of Joey Ramone”, but those three recreated songs aren’t included here in the lyrics booklet. The songs included from Songs of Surrender are “Bad”, “Out of Control”, “Beautiful Day”, “Get Out Of Your Own Way”, “I Will Follow”, “Pride (In the Name of Love)”, “Red Hill Mining Town”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “Walk On (Ukraine)” and “With or Without You”.

The book throughout is illustrated with photos from the band’s career, by Anton Corbijn, Anja Grabert, Andrew MacPherson, Kevin Westenberg, Paulo Pellegrin, Sam Jones, Valerie Phillips, and Shaughn McGrath. Also included are images of U2’s releases through the years, both albums and singles. There’s a number of photos that are new to us as well, including one taken during the “Atomic City” recording sessions in 2023 that has recently been making the rounds on social media.

Overall the second volume is an impressive look at U2’s career from the 1990s onwards. It is a bit more complete than the 80s volume, and includes a wealth of new items to read through from the band and collaborators. The gift for 2025 is a hoodie, which is the first time a gift is a clothing item by itself. Disappointing for those of us who like to get new music to have a third non-music item in a row, but we are seeing a lot of positive feedback in general on the new item. We are told the hope is to have these gifts for 2025 to ship soon, to get caught up after the delays of the past two years.

Additional Links:

If you do have issues with a subscription related problem, there is information published at U2.com/help, which may answer your questions. The form to fill out for additional help is located at the same spot. You should be able to find a status on your gift by viewing your profile page at U2.com/profile, but you must be logged in to see that page.

If you haven’t yet subscribed and are interested, the subscription page is available here. One of the current subscription offers is an opportunity to get one of the books, or in the deluxe package, both of the books.

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