VII. The Joshua Tree


1. Where the Streets Have No Name

I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The city's a flood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do



2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I have climbed the highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well, yes, I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
And all my shame
All my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for



3. With or Without You

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Slight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait....without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live with or without you

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body's bruised
She's got me with nothing left to win
And nothing left to lose

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live with or without you




4. Bullet the Blue Sky

In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails into the souls on the tree of pain
From the firefly, a red orange glow
See the face of fear running scared in the valley below

Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue

In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher

Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue

This guy comes up to me
His face red like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colors of a royal flush
And he's peeling off those dollar bills
Slapping them down
One hundred, two hundred
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the mud huts where the children sleep
Through the alleys of a quiet city street
You take the staircase to the first floor
Turn the key and slowly unlock the door
A man breathes into a saxophone
And through the walls you hear the city groan
Outside is America
Outside is America

Across the field you see the sky ripped open
See the rain through a gaping wound
Pelting the women and children
Who run into the arms of America




5. Running to Stand Still

So she woke up, woke up from where she was - lying still
said I, I gotta do something about where we're going
Step on the steam train, step out of the driving rain
maybe run from the darkness in the night
Singing ah, ah la la la dee day
ah la la la dee day

Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out
You gotta cry without weeping
talk without speaking
scream without raising your voice
you know I took the poison from the poison stream
then I floated outta here
Singing ah, ah la la la dee day
ah la la la dee day

She runs through the streets with her eyes painted red
under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
white golden pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging, she is raging
and the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still



6. Red Hill Mining Town

From father to son the blood runs thin
See faces frozen still against the wind
The seam is split, the coal face cracked
The lines are long, there's no going back
Through hands of steel and heart of stone
Our labor day has come and gone

And you leave me holding on
In Red Hill Town
See lights go down on ...

Hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to
I'm still waiting
I'm hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to

The glass is cut, the bottle run dry
Our love runs cold in the caverns of the night
We're wounded by fear, injured in doubt
I can lose myself, you I can't live without

Yeah you keep me holding on
In a Red Hill Town
See the lights go down on ...

I'm hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to
I'm still waiting
Hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to
Hold on to

We'll scorch the earth
Set fire to the sky
And we stoop so low to reach so high
A link is lost, the chain undone
We wait all day for night to come
And it comes like a hunter child

I'm hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to
I'm still waiting
I'm hanging on
You're all that's left to hold on to

Love, slowly stripped away
Love, has seen its better day

Hanging on
Lights go out on Red Hill
Let's go down on Red Hill
Let's go down on Red Hill Town
Let's go down on Red Hill



7. In God's Country

Yeah

Desert sky
Dream beneath a desert sky
The rivers run but soon run dry
We need new dreams tonight

Desert rose
Dreamed I saw a desert rose
Dress torn in ribbons and in bows
Like a siren she calls to me

Sleep comes like a drug
In God's Country
Sad eyes, crooked crosses
In God's Country

Set me alight
We'll punch a hole right through the night
Everyday the dreamers die
To see what's on the other side

She is liberty
And she comes to rescue me
Hope, faith, her vanity
The greatest gift is gold

Sleep comes like a drug
In God's Country
Sad eyes crooked crosses
In God's Country

Naked flame
She stands with a naked flame
I stand with the sons of Cain
Burned by the fire of love
Burned by the fire of love



8. Trip Through Your Wires

In the distance
She saw me coming 'round
I was calling out
I was calling out

Still shaking
Still in pain
You put me back together again
I was cold and you clothed me honey
I was down and you lifted me honey

Angel
Angel or devil
I was thirsty
And you wet my lips

You, I'm waiting for you
You, you set my desire
I trip through your wires

I was broken, bent out of shape
I was naked in the clothes you made
Lips were dry, throat like rust
You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust
No more water in the well
No more water, water

Angel
Angel or devil
I was thirsty
And you wet my lips

You, I'm waiting for you
You, You set my desire
I trip through your wires

(All I need, All I need)

Thunder, thunder on the mountain
There's a rain cloud in the desert sky
In the distance she saw me coming 'round
I was calling out
I was calling out



9. One Tree Hill

We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy, love
The sun so bright it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone
On the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

You run like river, on like a sea
You run like a river runs to the sea

And in the world a heart of darkness
A firezone
Where poets speak their heart
Then bleed for it
Jara sang, his song a weapon
In the hands of love
You know his blood still cries
From the ground

It runs like a river runs to the sea
It runs like a river to the sea

I don't believe in painted roses
Or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful
I'll see you again
When the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red
Over One Tree Hill

We run like a river
Run to the sea
We run like a river to the sea
And when it's raining
Raining hard
That's when the rain will
Break my heart

Raining, raining in the heart
Raining in your heart
Raining, raining to your heart
Raining, raining, raining
Raining to your heart
Raining, raining in your heart
Raining in your heart
To the sea

Oh, great ocean
Oh, great sea
Run to the ocean
Run to the sea



10. Exit

You know he got the cure
You know he went astray
He used to stay awake
To drive the dreams he had away
He wanted to believe
In the hands of love

His head it felt heavy
As he cut across the land
A dog started crying
Like a broken hearted man
At the howling wind
At the howling wind

He went deeper into black
Deeper into white
He could see the stars shining
Like nails in the night
He felt the healing
Healing, healing
Healing hands of love
Like the stars shining from above

His hand in his pocket
His finger on the steel
The pistol weighed heavy
In his heart he could feel
It was beating, beating
Beating, beating oh my love
Oh my love, oh my love
Oh my love
My love

See the hands that build
Can also pull down
The hands of love



11. Mothers of the Disappeared

Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall



12. Trip Through Your Wires

Original lyrics as performed January 30, 1986 on the Dublin-based "TV Gaga" program ... though it's safe to say the song wasn't fully developed yet.

(Sung with same melody as album-version.)



In this town, the tide is turning
In this town, In this town

I walked through your city streetlights
Looked on down in your city streetlights

In this town, In this town it's raining
In this town, In this town

CHORUS:

You, I'm waiting for you
You, you set my desire
I trip through your wires

In this town, the tide is turning
In this town, In this town

In this town, begin the rebuilding
In this town, In this town

In this town, I see her waiting
In this town, In this town

In this town, I see her walking down
In this town, ?????

In this town, I see you waiting
You're waiting for, what are you waiting for?

In this town, sisters and brothers
In this town, In this town

In this town, the tide is turning
In this town, In this town