Editing U2 (section)

=== Lyrics and themes ===
[[File:Desaparecidosu2.jpg|thumb|alt=A light-skinned man with brown hair singing into a microphone on a stand, which has a flag draped over it. His shirt and trousers are both grey and feature a design of many overlapping circles. He faces to the right. A line of women stand behind him, each one holding up a sign that says "Donde Estan" or "Justcia". Every sign has an image of a different person below the text.|U2 performing "[[Mothers of the Disappeared]]" in Chile in 1998 with the families of ''[[Detenido desaparecido|Detenidos Desaparecidos]]''. The song was written as a tribute to the women whose children were killed or [[Forced disappearance|forcibly disappeared]] at the hands of the Pinochet dictatorship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.desaparecidos.org/chile/eng.html|title = Project Disappeared: Chile}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augusto-Pinochet|title = Augusto Pinochet &#124; Biography, General, Dictatorship, & Facts| newspaper=Encyclopedia Britannica }}</ref>]]
U2's lyrics are known for their social and political themes, and often contain Christian and spiritual imagery.<ref name="lyrics">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/arts/music/u2-the-catharsis-in-the-cathedral.html|title=The Catharsis in the Cathedral|first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles|date=14 November 2004|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|at=sec. 2, p. 29|edition=National|access-date=17 August 2007}}</ref> Songs such as "[[Sunday Bloody Sunday]]", "Silver and Gold", and "[[Mothers of the Disappeared]]" were motivated by current events. The first was written about [[the Troubles]] in Northern Ireland,<ref>McCormick (2006), pp. 135, 139</ref> while the last was a tribute to [[COMADRES]], the women whose children were killed or [[Forced disappearance|forcibly disappeared]] at the hands of the Salvadoran government during the [[Salvadoran Civil War|country's civil war]].<ref>McGee (2008), p. 98</ref> The song "[[Running to Stand Still]]" from ''The Joshua Tree'' was inspired by the heroin addiction that was sweeping through Dublin—the lyric "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" references the [[Ballymun Flats|Ballymun Towers]] of Dublin's Northside and the imagery throughout the song personifies the struggles of addiction.<ref>Stokes (1995), pp. 62–77</ref>

Bono's personal conflicts and turmoil inspired songs like "[[Mofo (song)|Mofo]]", "[[Tomorrow (U2 song)|Tomorrow]]" and "[[Kite (U2 song)|Kite]]". An emotional yearning or pleading frequently appears as a lyrical theme,<ref name="ABOUT_TOP10">{{cite web|url=http://80music.about.com/od/artistsqu/tp/topu2songs.htm|first=Steve|last=Peake|title=Top 10 U2 Songs of the '80s|website=[[About.com]]|access-date=17 August 2010|archive-date=25 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525055736/http://80music.about.com/od/artistsqu/tp/topu2songs.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> in tracks such as "[[Yahweh (song)|Yahweh]]",<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/u2-how-to-dismantle-an-atomic-bomb|title=U2&nbsp;– How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Review|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|date=December 2004|page=136|issue=91|access-date=23 March 2016|archive-date=12 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412001955/http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/u2-how-to-dismantle-an-atomic-bomb|url-status=dead}}</ref> "[[Peace on Earth (U2 song)|Peace on Earth]]", and "[[Please (U2 song)|Please]]". Much of U2's songwriting and music is motivated by contemplations of loss and anguish, along with hopefulness and resilience, themes that are central to ''The Joshua Tree''.<ref name="RS_JT"/> Some of these lyrical ideas have been amplified by Bono and the band's personal experiences during their youth in Ireland, as well as Bono's campaigning and activism later in his life. U2 have used tours such as [[Zoo TV Tour|Zoo TV]] and [[PopMart Tour|PopMart]] to caricature social trends, such as media overload and consumerism, respectively.<ref name="NYT_POP"/>

While the band and its fans often affirm the political nature of their songs, U2's lyrics and music were criticised as apolitical by ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' in 2002 for their perceived vagueness and "fuzzy imagery", and a lack of any specific references to people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2002/01/u2.html|title=The soaring nothingness of U2|first=David|last=Plotz|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=25 January 2002|access-date=27 February 2013}}</ref>