Top 10 U2 Songs...Ever

In a move to get the attention of a least one of my potential readers, I decided to take the opportunity of U2's latest album, No Line on the Horizon, to assemble my take on the 10 Best Songs that U2 ever released. First, it should be noted that the first two albums, Boy and October, are completely unrepresented here; I will admit that I am not as big a fan of the early stuff as of the albums they released from the late 1980s on. You should also note that All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb are also not represented on this list...and I did love those albums: I simply thought they did not contribute anything that would supplant the 10 that I did choose. Not all the songs I chose were/are big hits, but that's not the point: these are my picks for 10 "best" not 10 "biggest" or even 10 "most important." So...

10. "Two Hearts Beat as One": a track from War that is not nearly as overplayed as New Year's Day" or "Sunday Bloody Sunday." It features the same martial drumming and solid rhythm section as those other song (and most early U2) but because it hasn't been overplayed it sounds fresher to these ears.
9. "The Fly": I hated this song when it came out. I hated Achtung Baby when it came out. I was a fan of Rattle & Hum and Joshua Tree and thought they had ruined their sound with this crap. Later the song grew on me and now I think it's the best song on the album... and that the album's one of their best. The sounds are new, but not; the drumming is solid, the bass is in your face, the guitar is just strange, Bono's falsetto is off-putting and moving. The lyrics are perfect, though, dense and confusing, revealing and transparent, depending on what mood you're in.
8. "Running To Stand Still": that resonator guitar that begins the song is beautiful. The song captures the beauty and darkness in some of the best moments of The Joshua Tree, still their best album overall. The lyrics allegedly deal with drug addiction, but as with any great song, they can be about what you want them to be about. Another great song that is on this list because it didn't get overplayed on radio.
7. "Moment of Surrender": so I didn't include anything from the last two albums after having years to grow to love the songs, but I included this one from the new album after having the CD only a few weeks. This song is haunting and beautiful, though, with dense sonic layering (as is the whole album--you have to listen to No Line on headphones at least once) and experimental rhythm sounds. The lyrics are theological and experiential. I find this one running through my head all the time when I'm not listening to the album--kind of like "It's a Small World" but in a good way!
6. "Pride (In The Name of Love)": I couldn't exclude all the "big hits" from a list like this. Even though it was (and is) overplayed, this song doesn't seem to get old. I don't agree with U2's politics most of the time, but this tribute to MLK is well-done and MLK mostly deserves the praise he gets. Edge's ringing guitar may have hit its pinnacle on this one, too.
5. "Stay (Faraway, So Close)": Speaking of haunting songs, the beautiful simplicity of this song and its message sticks with you for a long time.
4. "Numb": The second song on the list from the neglected and under-rated Zooropa album, and the first of two songs on the list where Bono doesn't perform the main vocal. Edge had done lead vocals for a song on Rattle and Hum but here he epitomizes the song title while Bono and drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr., sing around him on the chorus. Bono restricts himself to his falsetto on this one and it's somewhat disturbing--which makes the song that much more effective.
3. "Bad": Another song whose lyrics deal with drug addiction (allegedly). Makes you think that a lot of the band's friends from back home in Ireland had some big problems. In my opinion, the best song from The Unforgettable Fire; it turned out to be one of their most popular concert songs. The song builds slowly, layer upon layer, gaining in intensity and purpose.
2. "Where The Streets Have No Name": Okay, yes, it's overplayed, but this song never gets old. Featuring possibly the best ever intro for a song and a description of a place that could be the Mojave Desert or Heaven, with a video shot on a rooftop in L.A. (not that original as the Beatles had done it a couple decades earlier, but hey...I liked it!). "I want to run, I want to hide..." I want to jump up and dance every time this song comes on! Bono once said that when they played this song in concert, every night it would be like "God walking through the room."
1. "The Wanderer": Bono said that compared with Johnny Cash, the rest of us look like sissies. So it's fitting that the best U2 song features lead vocals by the Man in Black in a song about redemption. The band backs up Cash vocally and the music is the experimental type that encompassed Zooropa. It's surprising that an album I initially dismissed as garbage provides three of my favorite U2 songs, more than any other album. It points to the genius behind an album that is fairly inaccessible upon first listen, but rewards the listener with layer upon layer of complexity for years to come. I get that sense with much of the new album, too, although it has a few pop moments mixed in to make it more immediately accessible.