Song · U2
“Acrobat” by U2
From the album Achtung Baby (1991)
“Acrobat” by U2 appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 2003. It was first released in 1991 on the album Achtung Baby. Its best result is #1021 on the Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,315 alternative song of all time.
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"Acrobat" turns up eleventh on U2's Achtung Baby in 1991, and it started as a riff the Edge worked up at a soundcheck in Auckland, New Zealand, back on the Lovetown Tour in 1989. Bono wrote the words with the writer Delmore Schwartz on his mind: the song is dedicated to him, and the title of Schwartz's first book, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, surfaces in the last verse. What comes out is a brooding song about hypocrisy, alienation and a moral compass spinning loose, rolling along in 12/8.
Daniel Lanois produced, Flood engineered, and the two of them mixed it. For all its menace it stayed off the stage for decades: the band rehearsed it before the third leg of the Zoo TV Tour, then shelved it until the Experience + Innocence Tour finally gave it a live debut on May 2, 2018.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1021 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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