For the 1995 Batman Forever soundtrack, U2 borrowed from their Zooropa outtakes for the most exciting Batman song since Prince’s “Batdance.”
Videos by American Songwriter
The Irish band had reinvented themselves in the 1990s and made their second masterpiece, Achtung Baby. And on its follow-up Zooropa, they experimented further while exploring the themes of technology and consumerism. As U2 searched for humanness amid commercial extremes, the music sounded less and less organic.
“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” portrays the kind of self-indulgence that keeps the bat-signal lit in Gotham City. The track suits a comic book character who threads the fine line between superhero and antihero.
Rock ’n’ Roll Star
U2 first recorded “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” in 1993 during studio sessions for Zooropa. Bono writes about stardom, but he also critiques the demands of pop culture.
They want you to be Jesus
Now go down on one knee
But they want their money back
If you’re alive at thirty-three
And you’re turning tricks
With your crucifix
You’re a star
Ooh child
Bono’s Zoo TV Tour persona, MacPhisto, appears in the band’s animated visual for the song. But there was speculation at the time MacPhisto might make a brief cameo in Batman Forever. Instead, he stars in the video that shifts between live-action and comic-book animation.
You don’t know how you got here
You just know you want out
Believing in yourself almost as much as you doubt,
You’re a big smash
You wear it like a rash
Star.
Big-Name Soundtrack
The Batman Forever soundtrack also includes high-profile artists like Seal, Lenny Kravitz, PJ Harvey, Mazzy Star, and Method Man. Seal’s hit “Kiss From a Rose” was rereleased on the soundtrack following its inclusion on his 1994 album Seal II. It won three GRAMMYs, including for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Meanwhile, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” received GRAMMY nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.
The song reached No. 2 on the UK Singles chart but stalled at No. 16 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the U.S.
PopMart
Still, U2 were nearing the end phase of their experimental period. The immense 1997–1998 PopMart Tour received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed in the U.S. It forced the band into another transformation.
For the next chapter in U2’s story, they’d revert to the basic building blocks of a rock band. If “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” was Bono’s examination of stardom and excess, what soon followed was a period of humility.
Yet the Batman song arrived while U2 dabbled in future sounds and European dance music. The Edge’s pitch-shifting guitar creates a dystopian mood for Bono’s decadent rock star character. And the messianic intuitions of Bono’s star—and the fanatical demands of his audience—fit perfectly well in Batman’s universe.
Of course, you’re not shy
You don’t have to deny love,
Hold me
Thrill me
Kiss me
Kill me.
Photo by Western Mail Archive/Mirrorpix/Getty Images
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