One Tree Hill is one of the stand-out tracks on U2’s classic The Joshua Tree album, released on 9 March 1987.
It is not a well known fact that the song was released as a single and even made it all the way to #1 – but only down under.
In March 1988, a full year after the release of the album it stems from, One Tree Hill was released as the fourth single from the album in New Zealand and Australia. In North America they opted for In God’s Country, hoping that tapping into a patriotic feeling would work better. Both are great tracks, but only one of them succeeded. One Tree Hill even made it all the way to #1 on the New Zealand singles chart.
The track was written in memory of Greg Carroll, a Māori the band met during The Unforgettable Fire tour in 1984. He became very close friends with the band, and lead singer Bono in particular. He started working for the band in 1984.
Unfortunately, Carroll was killed in a motorcycle accident on 3 July 1986 in Dublin. He was taking Bono’s bike back to his house on a rainy night and was hit by a car that pulled out in front of him. He had just arrived to help the band during the writing and recording of the forthcoming album, and it goes without saying that it impacted all of them very deeply.
It was Carroll’s death, and U2’s attendence at the subsequent funeral (or “tangi” as they are called by the Maori) in New Zealand that led Bono wrote the lyrics to One Tree Hill. The lyrics reflect Bono’s thoughts at the funeral, and in addition to being about Carroll, they also pay homage to Chilean activist Victor Jara.
Musically, the song was developed in a jam session with producer Brian Eno. The vocals were recorded in a single take, as Bono felt emotionally drained and incapable of singing them a second time.
The band even made a video for the song, but it was primarily shown in New Zealand and Australia.
One Tree Hill was received favourably by critics, one describing it as “a soft, haunting benediction,” “a remarkable musical centrepiece,” and a celebration of life.
U2 delayed performing the song on the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987 due to Bono’s fears over his emotional state while singing it. After its live debut on the tour’s third leg and an enthusiastic reaction from audiences, the song was played occasionally for the rest of the tour and semi-regularly during the Lovetown Tour of 1989-90. After that it would only appear sporadically in set lists for years to come, with most renditions were performed in New Zealand. Performances in November 2010 on the U2 360° Tour were dedicated to the miners who died in the Pike River Mine disaster.
The song would get a renaissance in 2017, when it was more frequently performed than ever before. This was due to the band performing the entire Joshua Tree album in full, which obviously made it hard for the band to skip the song. Fans were more than pleased with this, including U2 superfan Arlin Bartels: “One Tree Hill was the highlight of the tour, with images of Greg Carroll on the big screen. “O Great Ocean, O Great Sea. Run to the Ocean, Run to the Sea”.”
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