Synopsis

The Edge sits motionless in a stark room while a steady stream of distractions and intrusions are imposed on him. A dripping faucet, faces, hands, feet, ropes, and other bizarre interruptions invade his personal space as he stares blankly into the camera. The deliberately uncomfortable performance turns the song's list of commands and refusals into a visual study of sensory overload, detachment, and emotional shutdown. The video ends with the singer still largely unresponsive, trapped inside the chaos surrounding him.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Berlin on June 14, 1993, during the period when U2 were developing the visual language of the Zoo TV era.

• The song was released as a video single on August 16, 1993, rather than as a conventional commercial audio single. The release also included a video remix and a previously unused video for "Love Is Blindness."

• "Numb" marked the first U2 song to feature The Edge as the lead vocalist. He performed it live for the first time in Rome on July 7, 1993.

• The Edge's performance at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards was his first live solo appearance. The presentation used video screens and the visual material associated with the song's remix.

• A separate video remix was created by Emergency Broadcast Network. It replaced much of the original video's setting with rapidly edited television and film imagery, matching the song's collage-like electronic production.

• Morleigh Steinberg, the belly dancer who appears in the video, later became The Edge's wife.

• The track incorporates sampled and processed sounds, including arcade noises, a rewinding Walkman, and a drum performance taken from the film "Triumph of the Will." The video's barrage of interruptions complements that deliberately overloaded sound design.

• The original song began as an unused "Achtung Baby" recording called "Down All the Days" before being reworked during the sessions for "Zooropa."