Song · Passengers
“Miss Sarajevo” by Passengers
From the album Original Soundtracks 1 (1995)
“Miss Sarajevo” by Passengers appears on 8 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1995 and 2005. It was first released in 1995 on the album Original Soundtracks 1. Its best result is #23 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #145 alternative song of 1995 and #2,535 alternative song of all time.
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U2 and Brian Eno hid behind the name Passengers for Original Soundtracks 1, a 1995 side project, and "Miss Sarajevo" was the only single it yielded, released that November. Its subject is a beauty pageant held by a group of women during the Siege of Sarajevo, a gesture of defiance staged in a city under fire, and Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. and Eno share the writing.
It starts as a hushed, prayerful drift and then does something no rock band had any business trying: it hands the floor to Luciano Pavarotti, whose operatic solo soars in over the top. The gamble paid off with a number six hit in the UK and top-ten placings across Europe, and Bono has named it his favourite U2 song. George Michael later covered it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 23 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1995 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1102 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1104 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1110 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1109 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1094 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1094 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1094 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
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