Time and time again, hindsight proves to be a funny old thing. Today, U2's and are two of the biggest rock songs in the world – the former’s one billion Spotify streams will attest to that – but both songs were due to be left on the cutting room floor, if it weren’t for The Edge’s parts. The revelation has come from a recent interview with author and U2 superfan Aaron J.
Sams, who has penned the book , detailing the backstories of the band’s discography. Speaking to , Sams explained how was saved, in part, by an extremely rare Fender. “At one point, they talked about walking away from that song,” he says (transcribed by ).
“The breakthrough came when the Edge was given a prototype [Fender] Infinite Guitar. “When the band was ready to abandon the song, [Irish songwriter] Gavin Friday convinced Bono to take it away and work on it a little bit further, but in the meantime, Edge was noodling around with this Infinite Guitar. “There were only two or three of those guitars created.
A Canadian [Michael Brook] came up with that invention. And somewhere along the way, Bono brought back what he had been working on, Edge brought back what he had been working on, and they smushed it all together and out came I don't think you could go anywhere in 1987 and not hear that song on the radio.” was condemned to a less-than-infinite fate, but its role in shaping the song represents its biggest contribution to the music world.
The Edge’s shimmering leads helped the song.