“In God's Country” by U2

"In God's Country" is the seventh track on U2's fifth album, The Joshua Tree, and in November 1987 it became the album's fourth single, released only in North America. It's one of the sharpest songs on the record, a fast, galloping rocker that feels like a sprint across open ground.

Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois produced it, Flood recorded it and Mark Wallis mixed it. The Edge's guitar rings and chimes in wide, bright chords over Adam Clayton's driving bass and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drums and percussion, while Bono sings lead, adds a streak of harmonica and wrote the words. The producers get their hands dirty too: Eno plays keyboard, Lanois adds tambourine, omnichord and extra guitar, and both of them join the Edge on backing vocals.

The music is credited to Bono, Clayton, the Edge and Mullen. It's not one of the album's headline hits, but it has the same hunger that runs through the whole record: big sky, restless heart, and a band sounding like it can see for miles.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.