"Mothers of the Disappeared" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the eleventh and final track on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. The song was inspired by lead singer Bono's experiences in Nicaragua and El Salvador in July 1986, following U2's participation in the Conspiracy of Hope tour of benefit concerts for Amnesty International. He learned of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a group of women whose children had "forcibly disappeared" at the hands of the Argentine dictatorship, a situation that also happened during the Chilean dictatorship. While in Central America, he met members of COMADRES, a similar organization whose children had been abducted by the government in El Salvador. Bono sympathized with the Madres and COMADRES and wanted to pay tribute to their cause.
The song was written on a Spanish guitar, and the melody lifted from a piece Bono composed in Ethiopia in 1985 to help teach children basic forms of hygiene. The lyrics contain an implicit criticism of the Reagan Administration, which backed two South American regimes that seized power during coups d'état and which provided financial support for the military regime in El Salvador. Thematically it has been interpreted as an examination of failures and contradictions in U.S. foreign policy. The drum beat provided by Larry Mullen Jr. was processed through an effects unit that gave it a drone-like quality, which bassist Adam Clayton described as "evocative of that sinister death squad darkness".
"Mothers of the Disappeared" was favourably received by critics, who variously described it as "powerful", "a moving tribute", and containing "stunning beauty and sadness". The song was played seven times on the 1987 Joshua Tree Tour, and some recordings were considered for the ending sequence of the 1988 film Rattle and Hum. It was revived for four concerts on the 1998 PopMart Tour in South America, and for two of them, the Madres joined the band onstage for the performance, one of which was broadcast on television in Chile. Bono used the opportunity to ask former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet to reveal to the Madres the locations of their children's bodies. The song was played a further three times on the U2 360° Tour; one performance was dedicated to Fehmi Tosun, an ethnic Kurd who forcibly disappeared in Turkey in 1995. Bono re-recorded the song a cappella in 1998 for the album ¡Ni Un Paso Atrás! ().
Inspiration, writing, and recording Recording sessions for The Joshua Tree began in January 1986 in Danesmoate House in Dublin and continued throughout the year. U2 briefly interrupted these sessions in June to join Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour of benefit concerts. Following the first concert in San Francisco, lead singer Bono met René Castro, a Chilean mural artist. Castro had been tortured and held in a concentration camp for two years by the dictatorial Chilean government because his artwork criticised the Pinochet-led regime that seized power in 1973 during a coup d'état.De la Parra (2003), p. 76 Castro showed Bono a wall painting in the Mission District that depicted the ongoing plight in Chile and Argentina. He also learned of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a group of women whose children were forcibly disappeared by the Argentine government.McGee (2008), p. 98 The Madres' children were usually young people who had opposed the government during the Dirty War, and the coup d'état that brought Jorge Rafael Videla to power.Graham (2004), p. 35 The Madres joined together to campaign for information regarding the locations of their children's bodies and the circumstances of their deaths, believing them to have been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.Stokes (2005), p. 77
Inspired by the mural, Bono took an extended break from recording into July, traveling to Nicaragua and El Salvador with his wife, Alison Hewson, to see first-hand the distress of peasants bullied by political conflicts and U.S. military intervention. While there, they worked with the Central American Mission Partners (CAMP), a human rights and economic development organization.Luerssen (2010), pp. 183–184 In El Salvador they met members of the Comité de Madres Monsignor Romero (COMADRES: Committee of the Mothers Monsignor Romero), an organization of women whose children were forcibly disappeared by the Salvadoran government during the Civil War because they opposed the military regime that was in power.Luerssen (2010), p. 185Luerssen (2010), pp. 192–193 At one point during the trip, Bono, Alison, and a member of CAMP were shot at by government troops while on their way to deliver aid to a group of farmers. The shots were a warning and, according to author John Luerssen, the incident made Bono realize that "they didn't care for their intrusion and they could kill them if they felt compelled."
In 2006, Bono recounted another experience he had in El Salvador, where he had seen a body thrown from a van into the road. He remarked, "People would just disappear. If you were part of the opposition, you might find an SUV with the windows blacked out parked outside your house.... If that didn't stop you, occasionally they would come in and take you and murder you; there would be no trial."McCormick (2006), p. 184Assayas (2005), p. 182 Bono understood the cause of the Madres and COMADRES and wanted to pay tribute to it. His experiences in Central America inspired the lyrics of "Mothers of the Disappeared" and another track from The Joshua Tree, "Bullet the Blue Sky".Cogan (2008), p. 125
"Mothers of the Disappeared" was created and mixed at guitarist the Edge's newly-bought home, Melbeach, which U2 used as a recording studio.McGee (2008), p. 93 Bono wrote the song on his mother-in-law's Spanish guitar; the melody came from a song that Bono wrote in Ethiopia in 1985 to teach children about basic methods of hygiene. The drums, played by Larry Mullen Jr., were lifted from another song ("One Tree Hill", as reported by engineer Dave Meegan)Dave Meegan Gearspace comment on "Mothers of The Disappeared" by producer Brian Eno and subsequently slowed down and treated with "a canyon load of reverb". The Edge added a guitar part using a Bond Electraglide guitar, which he abused to produce a sound that he liked. Producer Daniel Lanois was the principal mixer of the song. Bono, likening the studio itself to an instrument, described Lanois's mix as a "performance".
At the conclusion of the lyrics sheet for the song in the liner notes of The Joshua Tree, U2 listed addresses for several branches of Amnesty International, and proceeds from the song were donated to the organization. In 1998, Bono re-recorded the song a cappella in English and Spanish for the album ¡Ni Un Paso Atras! (), along with a recitation of the William Butler Yeats poem "The Mother of God". The album was created by the Madres in commemoration of the disappearance of their children. The tracks were also recorded for the 1999 film 20 Años... 20 Poemas... 20 Artistas (20 Years... 20 Poems... 20 Artists).
Composition and theme
"Mothers of the Disappeared" runs for 5:14 (5 minutes, 14 seconds). It is played in common time in a key of A.Chipkin (1999), pp. 88–91 The song begins with the sound of rain hitting a roof, which fades in over the first fourteen seconds alongside the bass and a processed drum loop beat by Mullen which reverberates in the background. Thirty-two seconds into the song, Mullen's drums enter, playing a sporadic beat every four to five seconds. At the fifty-second mark the drums play a more regular beat, and the Edge's guitar, accompanied by Eno's synthesizer, enters. The first verse begins at 1:28, and introduces the chord progression of A5–E5–Fm–D–A5, which is played in the verses. At 2:41 Eno's keyboards enter, and the song begins to follow a D–D5–A5 chord progression, while Bono begins falsetto vocals. The second verse then begins at 3:01. The lyrics end at 3:37, and the song returns to the chord progression of D–D5–A5. The harmony gradually grows in volume until 4:33, at which point the song enters into a coda; the keyboards come to a finish and the guitar returns to playing A notes before fading over the next eight seconds alongside the bass. The synthesizer, drums, and drum loop conclude the song, fading out slowly over the last thirty-one seconds.
Eno used a piano as a percussive instrument and mixed the result with the drum loop through a PCM70 effects unit to create a sound that bassist Adam Clayton called "eerie and foreign and scary". Lanois stated that the processing of Mullen's beat, which resulted in a drone-like sound, became the song's backbone and personality. Clayton described it as "evocative of that sinister death squad darkness". Colm O'Hare of Hot Press felt it was "the key sonic element" because it "[evokes] an abstract sense of evil and dread".
In December 1986, Bono stated that he had a love–hate relationship with America, and that this influenced his work on the album. Speaking of his encounter with COMADRES in El Salvador and their impact on the song, he said, "There's no question in my mind of the Reagan Administration's involvement in backing the regime that is committing these atrocities. I doubt if the people of America are even aware of this. It's not my position to lecture them or tell them their place or to even open their eyes up to it in a very visual way, but it is affecting me and it affects the words I write and the music we make." In 2007, Clayton said "'Mothers of the Disappeared' was not just a reflection on what had happened under the military government in Chile but also at the US which had supported that government", and described Bono's vocals as "prehistoric", saying "it connects with something very primitive."
Greg Garrett, an English professor at Baylor University, saw the song as an effort to "[respond] to growing interests in doing justice—and calling to attention American failures in that regard", noting that the regimes in South America had been supported by the United States because of their anti-communist positions, even though their tactics were in opposition to the democratic values that "America claims to champion around the world".Garrett (2009), p. 97 Lisa Hand of the Sunday Independent noted the influence of America on the track, remarking, "[it] does not confine itself simply to the music, but also extends to some of the lyrics. However, far from being a tribute to the star-spangled banner, the words highlight the political untruths and ambiguities which exist within the U.S. 'Mothers of the Disappeared' and 'Bullet the Blue Sky' both take a hard look at the American involvement in South America". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post described the song as "a simple lament of great beauty and sadness pleading for the realization that ideological battles about right and left obscure the more important issue of right and wrong." Author David Kootnikoff described it as a "[portrait] of the American Dream gone rancid".Kootnikoff (2010), p. 63
Live performances U2 debuted "Mothers of the Disappeared" on 14 April 1987 in San Diego, California, on the first leg of the Joshua Tree Tour, where it closed the concert in place of the band's long-time finale "40".De la Parra (2003), p. 97 It was performed three more times on the leg; twice to open the encore and once to conclude the main set.De la Parra (2003), pp. 99–100, 102 U2 revived the song seven months later on the third leg, playing it in the encore at three of the final four concerts on the tour.De la Parra (2003), pp. 119–121