After re-recording it at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, they agreed it sounded "tighter and more accurate", but according to guitarist the Edge, "it lacked feel".

Bono would use the song to accentuate characteristics of his onstage alter egos Mirror Ball Man and MacPhisto.

On 15 October 2004, at an appearance on the British television series Top of the Pops promoting the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album, Bono and Edge performed a rough electric version.

[15] It made a full electric debut at the beginning of the fifth leg at the second show in Sydney;[16] this performance was ramshackle and it was refined before appearing at four subsequent concerts.

[18] "Desire"'s B-side "Hallelujah (Here She Comes)" has never been played in full live by U2 but was debatably snippeted once during "Bullet the Blue Sky".

The music video for "Desire" was filmed in Hollywood, California and directed by Richard Lowenstein and Lynn-Maree Milburn.