Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
{{Infobox song|
|name = Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
|cover =
|alt =
|type = song
|artist = U2
|album = Achtung Baby
|released = 18 November 1991
|format =
|recorded =
|studio =
|genre = Rock
|length = 3:53
|label = Island
|composer= U2
|lyricist = Bono
|producer = Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno
}}
"Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and the ninth track on their 1991 album, Achtung Baby. It is a tongue-in-cheek song about stumbling home drunk after a night out on the town. It is dedicated to the Flaming Colossus nightclub in Los Angeles.{{cite book|last=Graham|first=Bill|author-link=|author2=van Oosten de Boer|title =U2: The Complete Guide to their Music|publisher =Omnibus Press|year=2004|location=London|isbn=0-7119-9886-8|page=50}} The album version includes keyboard playing by producer Brian Eno. The line "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" is a quotation from Irina Dunn.[http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/414150.html The Phrase finder UK]
Live performances
During live performances on Zoo TV Tour from 1992 to 1993, lead singer Bono would spray a bottle of champagne towards the audience. It was played 136 times on the tour. The song was edited out of the live video release Zoo TV: Live from Sydney; it was later revealed that the concert ran long and the song needed to be edited in order to fit the concert into a two-hour timeslot.McGee, Matt: U2FAQS.com Videography FAQ, Question #8 [http://www.u2faqs.com/videography/ (Accessed May 3, 2007) U2: U@faqs - Videography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517085739/http://u2faqs.com/videography/#8 |date=May 17, 2007 }}
File:U2 performing at Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept 29 2023 by Lisette (11).jpg featured Bono "holding" a digital balloon.]]
Aside from being snippeted at three concerts during the final leg of the U2 360° Tour in July 2011,{{Cite web |url=http://www.u2gigs.com/Tryin_To_Throw_Your_Arms_Around_The_World-s143.html |title=U2 Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World - U2 on tour |publisher=U2gigs.com}} the song was not performed again until the band's 2023–2024 U2:UV Achtung Baby residency at the Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. During performances, a digital chalk drawing of a balloon, designed by the Edge's wife Morleigh Steinberg, was displayed high on the venue's LED screen. It was attached to an actual tether of knotted-up bedsheets that Bono held. Initial performances featured him picking a fan from the crowd to join him on stage to hold the tether and swing in it;{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/u2-sphere-residency-debut-180820934.html|title=U2 debuts eye-popping, jaw-dropping, brain-breaking Vegas Sphere residency in the atomic city of blinding lights|website=Yahoo! Entertainment|first=Lyndsey|last=Parker|date=30 September 2023|access-date=18 October 2023}} later performances added a prop door, with the story being that Bono had returned home with the balloon only to realise he was locked out and unable to find his keys as he peered through the peephole.{{cite podcast|url=https://lighttalk.libsyn.com/light-talk-episode-351-finding-the-creative-synergy-a-conversation-with-willie-williams|title=Episode 351 – 'Finding the Creative Synergy - A Conversation with Willie Williams'|work=Light Talk|first1=Ellen|last1=Lampert-Greaux|first2=Zak|last2=Borovay|first3=David|last3=Jacques|date=23 December 2023|access-date=15 January 2024}}
Covers
The song was reworked for the 2011 tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered by The Fray. The Denver quartet had supported U2 on the seventh leg of the 360° Tour, during which The Fray's Isaac Slade celebrated his 30th birthday. "They gave me a ping-pong table," he recalled, "and a ping-pong paddle with sunglasses drawn on it."{{cite journal|title=What's On Your Free CD?|journal=Q|date=December 2011|pages=6–7}}
Personnel
- Bono – lead vocals
- The Edge – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Adam Clayton – bass guitar
- Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion
- Brian Eno – additional keyboards
- Daniel Lanois – additional guitar
==See also==
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://u2.com/discography/lyrics/lyric/song/152 Lyrics and list of performances] at U2.com
{{Achtung Baby}}
{{U2 songs}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Eno
Category:Songs written by Bono
Category:Songs written by the Edge
Category:Songs written by Adam Clayton
Category:Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr.
Category:Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois
{{1990s-rock-song-stub}}