The popular Irish rock band U2 has an obsession with heroin and its negative effects on users. Supposedly, this relates to the enormous heroin problems in Dublin. Lead singer Bono is particularly vocal about his emotions against the drug, mentioning it in several interviews and even debasing junkies during concerts.
"If anyone here tonight is using heroin, FUCK OFF!"
--Bono, intro to Bad at some Zoo TV-era concerts
Bono has written several songs about heroin addicts, mostly based on his experiences with friends who have suffered and died under the influence of the drug:
- Bad - "This is a song about the city we grew up in. A song about Dublin city...This is a song about a friend of mine who was given on his 21st birthday enough heroin into his bloodstream to kill him. This is a song called Bad." -- Bono (Chicago concert for Joshua Tree in 1987)
- Love is Blindness - "Squeeze the handle, blow out the candle, love is blindness" (Watch for Bono's miming while performing this song on the ZooTV video)
- Running to Stand Still - Almost an homage to Lou Reed's Run, Run, Run and Heroin, dealing with the drug problem in "Towers of Ballymun," a slum in Dublin
Additionally, a film written by Bono and directed by friend-of-the-band Wim Wenders, The Million Dollar Hotel, portrays dregs of society including several heroin addicts.