"Shadows and Tall Trees" (1978)

Demo Song

Background Information

“Shadows and Tall Trees” is one of U2’s earliest recordings. In November 1978, U2 went into the studio at Keystone with producer Barry Devlin for their second recording session. During that session they recorded three tracks, “Street Mission,” “Shadows and Tall Trees,” and “The Fool.” All three songs were completed and they were the first songs used to try to gain U2 a recording contract.

In 2004, as part of The Complete U2, all three tracks were finally released. A demo tape from that era lists the song as “Shadows In Tall Trees” but lyrics for the song dating from that era list it as “Shadows and Tall Trees” even at that time.

We have taken an in depth look at U2’s pre-Island Records demo sessions in two parts. Part One dealt with 1978 – February 1979. Part Two dealt with the latter part of 1979 until early 1980. “Shadows and Tall Trees” is discussed in Part One.

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