Song · U2
“Mothers of the Disappeared” by U2
From the album The Joshua Tree (1987)
“Mothers of the Disappeared” by U2 appears on 7 radio countdowns from 1 station between 1999 and 2005. It was first released in 1987 on the album The Joshua Tree. Its best result is #545 on the CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,813 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (U2 - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Mothers of the Disappeared" closes U2's 1987 album The Joshua Tree, the eleventh and final track, and it's the record's long, dark exhale. Bono came to it after the Conspiracy of Hope tour for Amnesty International, when a trip to Nicaragua and El Salvador in July 1986 put him in touch with COMADRES, and he learned of Argentina's Madres de Plaza de Mayo, women whose children had been made to vanish by military regimes. The song is his tribute to them, with a veiled swipe at the Reagan administration's support for those governments.
He wrote it on a Spanish guitar, borrowing a melody he'd made up in Ethiopia in 1985 to teach children about hygiene. Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums were run through an effects unit until they droned, a sound Adam Clayton linked to death-squad darkness, while Brian Eno's keyboards and Daniel Lanois's omnichord hang in the air like smoke.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 545 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Mothers of the Disappeared" by U2.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.