"Bad" Lyrics U2

"Bad" Lyrics U2 from The Unforgettable Fire

A song about heroin addiction, it would become a staple of their live set, particularly after a remarkable extended performance at U2's charity performance for Live Aid. 


The vague lyrics of Bad have meant that interpretations of the song's meaning can be open, but Bono frequently told the story behind the song in concert that it was about a friend who was given the drug as a birthday present. U2 also wrote Running to a Standstill about heroin addiction.

Bad also featured on the U2 EP, Wide Awake in America.

Bad Lyrics:

If you twist and turn away

If you tear yourself in two again
If I could, yes I would
If I could, I would let it go
Surrender, dislocate

If I could throw this lifeless
Lifeline to the wind
Leave this heart of clay
See you walk, walk away
Into the night
And through the rain
Into the half-light
And through the flame

If I could through myself
Set your spirit free
I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light
And to the day

To let it go
And so to fade away
To let it go
And so fade away

I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm not sleeping
Oh, no, no

If you should ask then maybe
They'd tell you what I would say
True colours fly in blue and black
Bruised silken skies and burning flack
Colours crash, collide in blood shot eyes

If I could, you know I would
If I could, I would let it go

This desparation
Dislocation
Separation
Condemnation
Revelation
In temptation
Isolation
Desolation

Let it go
And so to fade away
To let it go
And so fade away

Oh, no
I'm wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm not sleeping
Oh, no no

Check out more Unforgettable Fire Lyrics including "Promenade" and "4th of July"