Video hit U2

U2 - The Wanderer

A rare U2 song with no Bono (at least on vocals, he wrote the lyrics), Johnny Cash sang lead on this one. U2 started writing it for Cash when they found out he was coming to Dublin for a show. They decided to keep it for themselves with Cash as guest performer.

A song that describes a man's travels and search for redemption, Bono said it was "one of the best things we've ever done, and I'm not even on it."

The working title was "Johnny Cash On The Moon."

U2 recorded this as if they were a bad lounge act. It was the last song on Zooropa, since they wanted to end the album with something that would not be taken too seriously. About a minute after this ends on the CD version of Zooropa, an alarm goes off.

The only time U2 played this live was at the 2005 tribute concert for Johnny Cash - Bono did the vocals. The concert was called I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash.

The lyrics:

Went out walking

Through streets paved with gold

Lifted some stones

Saw the skin and bones

Of a city without a soul

I went out walking

Under an atomic sky

Where the ground won't turn

And the rain it burns

Like the tears when I said goodbye

Yeah I went with nothing

Nothing but the thought of you

I went wandering

I went drifting

Through the capitals of tin

Where men can't walk

Or freely talk

And sons turn their fathers in

I stopped outside a church house

Where the citizens like to sit

They say they want the kingdom

But they don't want God in it

I went out riding

Down that old eight lane

I passed by a thousand signs

Looking for my own name

I went with nothing

But the thought you'd be there too

Looking for you

I went out there

In search of experience

To taste and to touch

And to feel as much

As a man can

Before he repents

I went out searching

Looking for one good man

A spirit who would not bend or break

Who would sit at his father's right hand

I went out walking

With a bible and a gun

The word of God lay heavy on my heart

I was sure I was the one

Now Jesus, don't you wait up

Jesus, I'll be home soon

Yeah I went out for the papers

Told her I'd be back by noon

Yeah I left with nothing

But the thought you'd be there too

Looking for you

Yeah I left with nothing

Nothing but the thought of you

I went wandering