THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

766-U2-I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

1987-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 2.33. On an episode of the American talk show ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien,’ U2 took part in the ‘Celebrity Secrets’ portion of the show, where they joked that at one time the band were in a grocery store, and could not find the cereal ‘Boo Berry,’ and that was the inspiration for this song.

‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ was the second of five singles released from ‘The Joshua Tree,’ which was the fifth studio Album release by U2, from March 1987. The lyrics to ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ are credited to Bono, with the music being credited to all four band members. The production was by Daniel Lanois, (see also best songs 320 and 190) and Brian Eno, (see also best songs 302-190-118-109 and 57) with them both also producing the parent Album ‘The Joshua Tree,’ and both also provided backing vocals on ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.’

Bono was born Paul David Hewson, on May 10th, 1960, in Dublin, Ireland, he was one of the founding members of U2 (see also best songs 320-190 and 84) in 1976. Away from music Bono is an activist for social justice causes, both through U2, and as an individual. He is particularly active in campaigning to fight extreme poverty, and ‘HIV/AIDS’ in Africa, for which he co-founded ‘DATA EDUN,’ the ‘ONE Campaign,’ and ‘Product Red.’ Bono has been recognised, and honoured for his charitable works, In 2005, he was named one of the ‘Time Persons of the Year.’ He was granted an honorary knighthood by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 2007 for ‘his services to the music industry, and for his humanitarian work,’ and was made a ‘Commandeur of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ (Order of Arts and Letters) in 2013.

Bono who is the lead vocalist, and the main songwriter with U2, on all of their 15 studio Albums that have been released between 1980-2023, has been known by his nickname ‘Bono’ since the age of 14 or 15. As a teenager many of his friends gave each other nicknames, Bono had several names, at first, he was known as ‘Steinhegvanhuysenolegbangbangbang,’ then just ‘Huyseman,’ followed by Houseman,’ ‘Bon Murray,’ ‘Bono Vox of O’Connell Street,’ and finally just ‘Bono.’ ‘Bono Vox’ is an alteration of ‘Bonavox,’ which was the name of a hearing aid shop in Dublin. The name derives from the Latin phrase for ‘good voice,’ The nickname was given to him by his childhood friend Derek Rowan, who would go on to become the famous Irish artist, painter, and sculptor, ‘Guggi.’ Bono initially disliked the name, but after learning of its translation, he accepted it, and in addition to it being his stage name, his close family, friends, and fellow band members, also refer to him as Bono.

‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ gave U2 the second of their two Billboard Number 1 singles in America. One of the songs co-producers Daniel Lanois has said,’I’ve always liked Gospel music, and I encouraged Bono to take it to that place … It was a very non-U2 thing to do at the time, to go up the street of Gospel. I think it opened a door for them, to experiment with that territory. Bono is singing at the top of his range, and there is something very compelling about somebody pushing themselves. It’s like hearing Aretha Franklin almost. It jumps on you, and you can’t help but feel the feeling.’

For the ‘Joshua Tree’ Album, U2 wanted to explore various forms of American music. Bono had been listening to Gospel music from such artists as The Staple Singers, and ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ was to be U2’s ‘Gospel’ song. In an interview with ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine Bono said that the song was ‘An anthem of doubt, more than faith,’ It was ‘The Edge’ (David Evans) who came up with the songs title, he said that it was influenced from a line in the Bob Dylan song ‘Idiot Wind,’ (1975) ‘You’ll find out when you reach the top, you’re on the bottom.’ The lyrics to ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ are open to interpretation, they may be about a search for love, but more than likely they are about a search for spiritual enlightenment. In my own personal opinion Bono wants to believe that there is a God 100%, but he can only get 99% of the way there. He knows that 100% ‘Faith’ without any proof is not logical.

‘I believe in the Kingdom Come, then all the colours will bleed into one, bleed into one, but yes, I’m still running. You broke the bonds, and you loosed the chains, carried the cross of my shame, of my shame, you know I believe it.’