When I think of U2, my favorite album by them is Rattle and Hum. I like that period of the band when they were mixing rock with blues and American roots music. But I also like some of their earlier work, including Sunday Bloody Sunday and this song, I Will Follow. Watching the video now, they look like kids! Of course, they were kids. U2 released this song in 1980 on their debut album, Boy. Bono was only 20, and the band was just getting started. They had no idea how big they would eventually become.
This song was written by Bono and The Edge, and it was released as a single in 1980. The song was inspired in part by Bono’s mother, Iris, who died when he was 14. He has described it as a song about unconditional love and the loss of his mother. You can hear the urgency in the music. The Edge’s guitar has that sharp, ringing echo sound that became one of U2’s trademarks. Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton are a good rhythm section. It’s raw and energetic, and it sounds like a young band that has something to prove.
What I like about this song is that it doesn’t sound like the enormous stadium band U2 would become later. It’s direct, loud, and full of energy. Bono is still developing the voice and stage presence that would make him famous, but you can hear the beginnings of it here. The band would change quite a bit over the years, and I still prefer the Rattle and Hum era, but songs like this remind me why they caught people’s attention in the first place. They were young, hungry, and already making a sound that belonged to them.
What made me listen to the song again was The Replacements cynical parody called Kids Don’t Follow.
The song charted at #20 on the Billboard Top Tracks, #34 in New Zealand and failed to chart in Canada, from the sources I found.
I Will Follow
I was on the outside
When you said, you said you needed me
And I was looking at myself
I was blind, I could not see
A boy tries hard to be a man
His mother takes him by his hand
If he stops to think, he starts to cry
Oh, why?
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
I will follow
I was on the inside
When they pulled the four walls down
I was looking through the window
I was lost, I am found
Walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
I will follow
Your eyes make a circle
I see you when I go in there
Your eyes
Your, your, your eyes
Your eyes, just give me
Your, your, your eyes
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
If you walk away, walk away
I walk away, walk away
I will follow
I will follow
I will follow
I will follow
I will follow
Follow