# In 1985, Bono’s trip to Ethiopia resulted in a song Brian Eno hated so much he tried to delete it. Now it has 300,000,000 streams

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1985-bonos-trip-to-ethiopia-resulted-in-a-song-brian-eno-hated-so-much-he-tried-to-delete-it-now-it-has-300000000-streams/
- Published: 2026-11-11T10:21:08+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-11T12:04:31+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/ethiopia-u2-song-brian-eno-hated-tried-delete-history/
- Topics: Africa, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Bono’s Ethiopia trip influenced the song’s lyrics.
- Eno reportedly tried to delete the track.
- The song has reached 300 million streams.

## Summary

Bono drew on his 1985 visit to Ethiopia when writing the unfinished lyrics that became ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’, the opening track on U2’s *The Joshua Tree*. Brian Eno wanted the album to blend the band’s rock sound with freer, flowing musical ideas, but the song’s loose structure proved difficult to shape.

The article says Eno disliked the track so much that he tried to delete it, though it went on to become one of U2’s best-known songs. The headline reports that it has reached 300 million streams. Bono recalled jotting down images of deserts and drought on scraps of paper in northern Ethiopia, linking them to the idea that hardship can reveal who people are.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.