Love Is Blindness - Writing, Recording, and Inspiration

Writing, Recording, and Inspiration

"I was pushing him and pushing him and pushing him, and he played until the strings fell off. Actually, you'll hear strings snapping during the solo towards the end. He was, I think, in tears on the inside, and the outside was just raging."

"Love Is Blindness" was developed by lead singer Bono during the recording sessions for U2's 1988 album Rattle and Hum. He wrote the song on a piano, which guitarist The Edge noted is "not an instrument he is noted for playing." The torch songs of Jacques Brel provided an influence for him. His initial plan was to send it to Nina Simone, one of his favourite singers. After playing the song together, the band decided to keep it for their own efforts. It was not included on Rattle and Hum because the band did not believe it was "U2 enough".

During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, The Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. Reflecting on the impact it had on U2, Bono said, "We're a really tight community. This is not like somebody's, you know, girlfriend's left. We've grown up with these people, this our family, our community. This was really hard for us... It was like the first cracks on the beautiful porcelain jug with those beautiful flowers in it that was our music and our community, starting to go 'crack'." The Edge explained that travelling to Berlin to write and record provided him with an escape from his failing marriage: "I was disappearing into the music for a different reason. It was a refuge in a way. That approach didn't completely work. You know, I wasn't really... in a good positive headspace. I was running away, I suppose." While recording the solo that appears at the end of the song, The Edge "put everything into it, all the feeling, all the hurt, all the angst, everything went into that solo." Bono said, "his whole life came out of him when he played... when we went for the take, one string broke and he just kept playing harder and harder. Another string broke. And he has such a light touch, ordinarily, he's so gentle. All that left him for a kind of rage. And yet there's not one bum note in there." Audio engineer Flood said the "bold, unadulterated, naked sound was a combination of the part, the moment, a good guitar, a small amp, a simple mike. Edge just got an idea, tried it, and it worked straightaway."