America is commonly referred to as the land of the free and the home of the brave by some of its most fervent patriots. It’s one of the first places in which democracy was the chief political system, and the idea of the “American Dream” makes it a place of hope and wonder for many. Conversely, America is also a nation that has deposed foreign governments while training and arming oppressive military regimes, leading to the death and poverty of countless innocents.

Specifically, the 1980’s were a period in which this dichotomy was poignantly present. On one hand you had President Reagan applauding the democratization of Latin American countries, while on the other, the School of the Americas trained Salvadoran officers that went on to kill numerous innocents, among them a group of Jesuit missionaries.

It seemed that there were almost two America’s, and a group of childhood friends from Ireland dared to write about it. The result was U2’s The Joshua Tree, a brilliant combination of illustrative lyricism, breathtaking instrumentals and not so subtle reference.

It may seem odd that four guys from Dublin wrote an album about American issues. However, they don’t believe it’s odd at all, stating:

America is a sort of promised land for Irish people and then a sort of potentially broken promised land. If the Declaration of Independence is like the liner notes of America, we're like annoying fans that follow politicians into the bathroom and say, but it says here well we pledge our sacred honor. What's that about? (U2 on 'The Joshua Tree,')

Some people don’t realize what America represents to people around the world, and how it can transcend being a nation to become an idea. For U2, America is less a federal state and more a state of living. And the state of living they saw while writing the Joshua Tree was mixed at best.

The album opens with “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and The Edge’s dreamy, ethereal guitar introduces the listener to U2’s unique and identifiable sound. Lyrically, the song establishes what U2 believes the better side of America is, identifying it as the place where streets have no name. This is, “a place/high on a desert plane” that can give, “shelter from poison rain,” and allows one to, “feel sunlight on [their] face.” However, this ideal version of America is a place that the narrator hasn’t reached yet, because, “[they’re] burning down love,” suggesting what holds us back from American ideals is ourselves. It is us who turn a blind eye to the issues the album will later discuss, like war and poverty. In this ignorance, we deny the joy of traditional American ideals like liberty, justice, and opportunity to people who need them.

The next song is titled, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and has been described by the band many times as a gospel song. The lyrics powerfully convey a sense of longing and deep, unsatiated desire. This desire is for the values of U2’s ideal America to be experienced around the world. The use of spiritual language throughout the song gives the sense that finding the dream of America is like finding God to these guys. It’s a spiritual journey, and you get the sense that bringing about the ideals and values they hope to see in the world is of supreme importance to them.

Following is, “With or Without You,” a song that depicts duality, but in a less obviously political manner. The song is about the torments that Bono experiences as both a musician and a family man, and how neither of these roles define him. Instead, he believes the tension between the two is what makes him who he is.

You could argue that the song is not that simple. Given the context of the album, perhaps there is a connection to the idea of America here. It’s been established so far that U2 sees two sides of America. Namely, the ideal state of justice, joy and liberty, and the messy one of violence, greed, and corruption. Perhaps the band sees Bono and America as similar, in that their individual capacities don’t elucidate them, but their mixture does.

In contrast, perhaps the most clearly politically driven song on the record is “Bullet the Blue Sky.” It opens with a deep, militaristic drumbeat and continues with a rather morose instrumentality throughout. The lyrics detail Bono’s insights on the conflict in El Salvador after his visit there (U2 on 'The Joshua Tree,'). With haunting imagery, it details some of the atrocities he witnessed while there, most notably a fire bombing.

It’s common knowledge that the Reagan administration signed off on attacks like this, and that they led to the deaths of innocents. This doesn’t sit well with Bono, and we are introduced to the band’s frustration with politicians for letting things like this happen. To do this, they conjure the image of a man, meant to be Reagan himself, counting money as women and children try and flee the terror they experience. Ironically, they run to America, which has been a contributing factor to their suffering.

Here, we see U2 get visibly political, calling for change in the higher levels of government. They aren’t fans of politicians selling the American Dream only to turn around and fire bomb villages. While the reality is perhaps less black and white than this, the point that America has two faces has been made evident, and is hard to argue with.

“Running to Stand Still” is another song that has a socially driven message. It begins with a heartfelt acoustic opening and slowly builds, adding piano, electric guitar, and lyrics. It tells the story of drug addiction from the point of view of the addict. The title encapsulates the band’s feelings on this issue, expressing the feeling that many addicts fight against their troubles to get nowhere. With the brokenness of many drug addicts, one could make the argument that they need all of the love and aid from society they can get. I believe this is the point U2 is trying to get across here, promoting justice and compassion for the lowly.

Continuing the trend of songs on justice is “Red Hill Mining Town,” tackling the specific issue of the 1984 strike of miners in London (Greene). It details the strife of the workers on strike with lines like, “The seam is split/ The coal face cracked/ The lines are long/ There's no going back.” Like the lyric states, there is no going back, and the workers are “hanging on” through their difficult strike to hold onto the dream of justice and fairness.

“Red Hill Mining Town” artfully displays how fervently some people believe in the idea of the American Dream, and how much they are willing to endure in pursuit of it. Because of this, U2 seems to believe that as people who can make change, we have a responsibility to do so. This idea can be controversial, and many might get angry at some band for tackling complex economic issues. To them, however, the issue is simple. There needs to be more opportunity and compassion in the world

Specifically tackling the idea of America is, “In God’s Country,” opening with a more urgent instrumental, as the tempo picks up in comparison to other songs on the record. The lyrics refer to “God’s Country” as a desert with rivers run dry, and a siren whose dress is torn and tattered. This suggests that what was once nourishing and beautiful is now barren and shameful. However, one could also positively see the barrenness of the desert landscape as a blank canvas with which to foster a better and more just society. Still, “In God’s Country” calls for aid to those on the margins of society, and suggests we aren’t doing a good enough job presently.

A song that takes on a more positive tone is “Trip Through Your Wires.” The narrator of the song describes a time when he was “shaking,” “in pain,” and “broken/ bent out of shape.” He is then brought back to health by someone, who he can’t decide whether he thinks is an angel or devil. This is because the narrator receives nourishment from this person, but has to “trip through [their] wires,” in order to do so. This can be likened, again, to ideas like justice and opportunity in America. People have to jump through lots of hoops today, such as immigration and the opportunity gap, to partake in the American Dream.

Identifying again with the troubles of Latin American peoples, “One Tree Hill” references popular Chilean folk-singer Victor Jara, "Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love / You know his blood still cries from the ground." Jara was a symbol for the Chilean resistance against dictator Pinochet after Jara was tortured and killed. This mention of Jara and the idea that his blood still cries from the ground insinuates that U2 believes the issues Jara advocated haven’t been solved. The souls of Jara and other victims of social injustice are crying out for the values of the American Dream, namely opportunity and equality, to be fulfilled throughout the world. This international feel of the song is further enforced by multiple settings, ranging from cold tundras to rivers to the One Tree Hill in New Zealand. “One Tree Hill” further establishes the code of The Joshua Tree, calling for unity, justice, and liberty for all, specifically the people who have these the least.

“Exit” tackles another difficult social issue; how should we treat the evil in society? It does this by taking us into the mind of a killer (Greene). U2 attempts to bring complexity to the character of a murderer by establishing him or her as brokenhearted yet hopeful for joy. He used his “hands of love” to create and live, but used those same hands to gun someone down. We don’t know why the killer did what he did, but the final lyric reads, “hands that build/ Can also pull down/ The hands of love.” This suggests that a killer isn’t just that, and is a human being with at least some value, worth, and love.

The 11th and final track of the album is titled “Mothers of the Disappeared,” and continues the violent tone of “Exit.” “Mothers” goes into the mass killings carried out by the Chilean Government in the 80’s (Greene), and is written from the point of view of those who have survived, saying while the dead are gone, they can still “...hear their heartbeat… [and] their laughter.” The song has no happy ending, wrapping itself up with children hiding, naked and crying in fear. This disturbing imagery is meant to rattle the listener, and make real the suffering of so many throughout the world. In writing this song, U2 is bringing poverty, terror and death to our front door and asking what we plan to do about it. It’s a perfect end to the album, and leaves the listener unsettled and uncomfortable, hopefully awakening a desire to do good in the world.

The Joshua Tree is an album that tackles big ideas like social justice, the American Dream, and political corruption by tackling characters on the margins of society, such as the poor, drug addicts, and murderers. The record makes clear that U2 doesn’t believe these broken souls are inhuman, and in fact is bold enough to ask us to stand up for them.

The Joshua Tree suggests that while America has a dark side, it is capable of changing lives for the better and giving hope to those who have none. Bono puts it beautifully, “...there was the America that we always thought of, the America of... Martin Luther King... then there was this other America that came around once in awhile that was a much more fear-based mentality” (U2 on 'The Joshua Tree,')

In a nation today rife with division, discrimination, and anger, I feel that The Joshua Tree is just as relevant now as it was thirty years ago. Perhaps if everyone was reminded of the values that the good America stands for, and genuinely worked to spread them in the world, we would live in a much safer, authentic, and joyful place.