In last week’s article (which can be read here), I wondered why U2 don’t delve into the genre of reggae more than they do. Well, one U2 song that has the mellow bounce of a good reggae tune, even if it doesn’t meet all the technical requirements of that style of music, is “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World.” “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” started life as an instrumental track that has since become known as “Montgomery’s Visit” (from a bootleg CD of Achtung Baby demos). After listening to “Montgomery’s Visit”, check out the “baby” version of “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” from 2011’s Achtung Baby re-release bonus material. In that track, you can hear the same chords with lyrics and vocals added, demonstrating the song’s progression. The melodic guitar riff from these two tracks would then be transposed to a bass part for the final version that can be heard as track nine on the regular, original pressing of the Achtung Baby album. I particularly enjoy following the development from rough musical idea to final concept for any U2 song, and I’m grateful that the different versions of this song that are more or less readily available afford us the opportunity to do that.

Lyrically, this is one of the more straightforward songs on the Achtung Baby album. In my head, the song always conjures up the image of a young man stumbling home after a night out on the town, most likely his bachelor party. The man in question shares a lot with the protagonist of “The Wanderer”, especially the line “I went out there in search of experience – to taste and to touch and to feel as much as a man can before he repents” from the latter song. In the case of my imagined bachelor party of “Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World”, the wording “before he repents” can be read as “before I get to the chapel” or “before I settle down with just one woman for the rest of my life” Our narrator wants to experience everything that the world has to offer – be it sex, drugs, or rock ‘n’ roll – before the time limit has expired and he has to come back down to Earth for the last time. I always imagine a phone conversation between his bride-to-be and himself, where she’s warning him: “listen buster, you’d better make it to the church on time”. In return, he’s assuring her that he will be there: “I’m gonna run to you, woman, I will – but not until the last possible moment”.

“Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World” was first played live at the opening night of the ZooTV Tour in 1992 and went on to appear at over 85% of that tour’s shows. Unfortunately, the song didn’t make the final cut of that tour’s official DVD, ZooTV Live From Sydney. There were rumors once upon a time that the song was cut because the girl who Bono brought on stage to share a drink with was underage, but I think the reality is simply that the show had to be trimmed for length and the band simply wasn’t that enamored of the song. (For the record, the original footage of the song that was excised for the commercial release can be viewed here.) Further evidence that it’s just not a song that the band loves can be seen in the fact that it hasn’t been played once since the end of the ZooTV Tour. I can honestly see the band surprising us all one night, though, with this under-appreciated classic from one of their best-loved albums.