This song was inspired by William Golding's book Lord Of The Flies, which is about a group of boys who get stranded on an island and set up their own cruel society. "Shadows And Tall Trees" is the name of the seventh chapter in the book. "It's a story about how fear of one another - or fear of 'the other' in a metaphysical sense - can shape our imagination and twist our thinking," Bono wrote in his memoir Surrender. "It's a story about the end of innocence that still shapes my thinking and writing today."
One of the first U2 songs, "Shadows And Tall Trees" evolved out of early live sets and was included on their debut album, Boy. It was the only song from U2's first demo to make it on an album.
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