Until the End of the World (song)

The song began as a guitar riff composed by lead vocalist Bono from a demo, which the band revisited with success after talking with German filmmaker Wim Wenders about providing music for the soundtrack of his 1991 film Until the End of the World.

"Until the End of the World" originated from a guitar riff by vocalist Bono from a demo called "Fat Boy" that the band recorded at STS Studios in 1990, prior to the Achtung Baby sessions proper.

[1] After the band met with German filmmaker Wim Wenders, who was looking for music to use in his film Until the End of the World, the Edge was inspired to revisit the "Fat Boy" demo.

In Dublin, he used the riff to assemble a backing track with bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr.[1] The composition excited the band so much, they decided to include it on the album.

[2] Bono wrote the lyrics relatively quickly at his father-in-law Terry Stewart's house in Wexford, having woken up with the idea of a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.

[1] Reading poetry by John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron inspired Bono to touch on the theme of temptation in his lyrics.

[3] Eno, who would occasionally visit the studio and review material for a short amount of time before leaving, believed his distance from the album allowed him to provide a fresh perspective.

[3] According to Hal Leonard Corporation's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Until the End of the World" is played at a tempo of 101 beats per minute in a 4/4 time signature.

[4] David Werther, a faculty associate in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, compared "Until the End of the World" with U2's 1987 song "Exit" in an examination of the role music can play in catharsis.

Morse interpreted some of the lyrics differently from the song's original intent, noting that the lines "We ate the food / We drank the wine / Everybody having a good time / Except you / You were talking about the end of the world" were as if Bono was giving a "terse kiss-off to a former lover at a party".

There was also a live video composed of footage from two performances on the "Outside Broadcast" leg of the Zoo TV Tour, from Yankee Stadium and Houston, which appeared on The Best of 1990-2000 DVD.