"One Step Closer to Knowing" (2001)
Demo Song
Background Information
Most of you can probably guess that “One Step Closer to Knowing” eventually became “One Step Closer” and it was released on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in 2004. But it also falls under the demo criteria as we heard about the song in advance of that album and it was first mentioned in 2001.
Bono first mentioned this song in the January 2002 issue of SPIN, released on December 3, 2001:
I just started writing two days ago. I went to Bali for six days. I really haven’t had time to grieve for my father, who died a few weeks back, so I went to this place, and I was just really moved by these very religious people who give offerings, like, every hour of the day. Their whole life is a sort of ceremony, and they seem happy to see you because I think they know that they’re teaching you. So I just started writing down five or six songs, mostly lyrics. I worked on a song about my dad that Noel Gallagher and I had started, called “One Step Closer to Knowing,” and I think that’s going to be very special. Another one is called “Electrical Storm,” and another is called “You Can’t Give Your Heart Away,” and there’s this thing called “A Man’s A Man,” for a movie called Gangs of New York, which Martin Scorsese is directing.
“Electrical Storm” would be the first of the three songs to show up, released as a single, and on The Best of 1990 – 2000. “A Man’s A Man” also developed for that release, but under the title “The Hands That Built America”. “One Step Closer would be the last of the three songs he mentioned to be released, appearing on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. “You Can’t Give Your Heart Away” remains unreleased at this point.