U2/Tear Jerker

U2 is known for being compelling, grandiose... and REALLY moving when they try.


 * "With Or Without You". And depending on your mood, "New Year's Day".
 * Also, their "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
 * The Edge's solo performances of it on the Pop Mart tour. Just... oh God. * sniffle*
 * "Electrical Storm"
 * "Kite" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", both dealing with Bono's father.
 * Especially when they did it at the Slane show the week of the funeral. Oh god, that was heartbreaking.
 * It's possible to almost get through that song without tearing up. And then you hear Bono sing "Don't leave me here alone..."
 * "Mothers of the Disappeared".
 * "Bad" and "All I Want Is You".
 * Especially after you know that "Bad" is about a friend of Bono's who during the early 80s economic recession in Ireland got addicted to illegal drugs, and on his 21st birthday had a lethal dose of heroin injected into his bloodstream.
 * Its performance in the 1985 Live Aid concert is powerful not just because of the sheer emotion in the music. They're commemorating a fallen friend, while trying to help strangers in distant lands, and if some eyewitness accounts are to be believed, saving a young girl from death by suffocation in process. How awesome is that?
 * "Tomorrow" and, strangely enough, "Lemon" - both dealing with Bono's mother.
 * "Brothers in Arms" is inextricably tied up with this.
 * During the encore Bono sings "Amazing Grace" (with a 20K+ member audience) and then they transition to "Where the Streets Have No Name". Glorious.
 * "Window In The Skies" gives Manly Tears, but in a good way.
 * "MLK" was lovely in itself, but then a crazy man named Bob Chilcott did a 6-part a cappella arrangement for The King's Singers which is far superior and downright chilling in its grandeur.
 * "Heartland", especially on the Rattle and Hum video.
 * "Moment Of Surrender". There's a reason it's been the closing song on all but one gig on the U2 360 tour.
 * "One Tree Hill." Especially live.
 * People surely fall to their knees upon hearing the extra verse of "One" sung in live concerts.
 * Also, from the Eno & Pavarotti concert, this rendition of the song -- with Bono's vocals echoing over the haunting strings, can bring one to tears. It's so haunting.
 * "The Hands That Built America" or "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" are a couple more.
 * Although some would say that the final verse of "The Hands That Built America" is a tearjerker -- for others, it's when Bono sings "Off all of the promises, is one we could keep. Of all of the dreams, is this one still out of reach" that can get them going with the waterworks.
 * "Stuck in a Moment" is more uplifting than sad... but "Walk On" can make a few people cry (specially when it's associated with 9/11).
 * There are also "Wake Up Dead Man", "Love Is Blindness", "40", "Gone", "One Step Closer", and "Unknown Caller".
 * "Cedars of Lebanon" and "White As Snow"
 * "Running to Stand Still"
 * "Stay (Far Away, So Close)". Not given enough credit. This might be the ultimate tear-jerker U2 song!
 * "It's Paul, it's Paul, I sing this song for him, I sing this song for him."
 * Bono dedicating Beautiful Day to Gabrielle Giffords and her husband (Commander Mark Kelly appearing from the International Space Station) sending her his love during a concert in Seattle.
 * "Miss Sarajevo" by Passengers - otherwise known as U2 and Brian Eno (with Luciano Pavarotti as a guest, in this case). Although the original version is incredibly heartrending, the band's live versions of the song after the 7/7 bombings in 2005 are something special indeed.