In God's Country - Recording and Composition

Recording and Composition

"The desert was immensely inspirational to us as a mental image for this record. Most people would take the desert on face value and think it's some kind of barren place, which of course is true. But, in the right frame of mind it's also a very positive image., because you can actually do something with a blank canvas, which is effectively what the desert is."

"In God's Country" was a difficult song for the band to record, which they put down to not being trained musicians, and they do not speak overly highly of it. During The Joshua Tree sessions, they knew it was not going be one of their best songs but they needed more up-tempo songs. It was developed out of Bono's frustration at trying to get "...a bit of Rock'n'Roll out of, The Edge". Bono tried to inspire The Edge by teasing and playing on his competitive instincts by claiming to be a better guitarist. Of the song, Bono says " lyric was really good, the tune is pretty good, and the hook is pretty average - thanks to The Edge". Played in the key of D, the verses of the studio version alternates between D and A minor chords. The first chorus repeats a C-G-D-C-G-D chord progression while the second chorus repeats a Em-G-D-Em-G-D progression.

Bono has stated that he originally didn't know whether the song was about Ireland or America, but eventually dedicated it to the Statue of Liberty. The song characterises the United States as a desert rose, a siren whose dress is torn in "ribbons and bows". The lyric speaks of a lack of political ideas in The West which Bono later contrasted to the revolution in Nicaragua where he had travelled during the recording of The Joshua Tree.

Along with "Where The Streets Have No Name", "In God's Country" was one of two songs on the The Joshua Tree to be similar in sound to U2's previous trademark sound. Both songs' "cinematic" lyrics and sound reference the desert in accordance with the band's wish for The Joshua Tree to have a sense of location.