The song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band had become more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and religious beliefs in comparison to during the October-War period.
[7] A film of U2 on tour in Northern Europe in October–November 1984 was made to accompany a live version [8] of the song, which was used as a television video to promote The Unforgettable Fire album, showing the band on the road travelling through London, in France and the Low Countries, and in performance at several venues, including the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, West Germany, returning across the North Sea by ferry boat to the British Isles at the song's conclusion.
[9][10][11] Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin wrote for Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time[12] the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart.
[14] It was played live again for the first time in 14 years during the band's homecoming gig at Slane Castle in Ireland on 25 August 2001, however the performance didn't go well with Bono struggling to recall its original lyrical construction.
It made only one more Elevation Tour appearance, when at a concert at the Oakland Arena on 16 November 2001 a fan was invited up on stage by the band to perform on an acoustic guitar, and he began playing the song impromptu.
[15] U2 played along but Bono's recollection of the lyrics was even worse than at the Slane Castle gig three months earlier, with him admitting as much mid-song to the audience, and he re-coursed to improvised word-play instead, during which he cited Van Morrison's work as a source of inspiration for the song originally.