"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Treeand was released as the album's second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the band's second consecutive number-one single on the US Hot 100 after "With or Without You", while peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart.

Like much of The Joshua Tree, the song was inspired by the group's interest in American music. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" exhibits influences from gospel music and its lyrics describe spiritual yearning. Lead vocalist Bono's vocals are in high register and guitarist The Edge plays a chiming arpeggio. The song originated from a demo the group used to develop a unique drum pattern played by drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was well-received by critics. It has subsequently become one of the group's most well-known songs and has been performed on many of their concert tours. The track has appeared on several of their compilations and concert films. In 2004, it was named the 93rd greatest song by Rolling Stoneon their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" originated from a demo variously titled "The Weather Girls" and "Under the Weather" that the band recorded in a jam session. Bassist Adam Clayton called the demo's melody "a bit of a one-note groove", while an unconvinced The Edge, the band's guitarist, compared it to "'Eye of the Tiger' played by a reggae band". However, the band liked the drum part played by drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. Co-producer Daniel Lanois said, "It was a very original beat from Larry. We always look for those beats that would qualify as a signature for the song. And that certainly was one of those. It had this tom-tom thing that he does and nobody ever understands. And we just didn't want to let go of that beat, it was so unique." Lanois encouraged Mullen to continue developing the weird drum pattern beyond the demo. Mullen said the beat became even more unusual, and although Lanois eventually mixed most of the pattern out to just keep the basics, the rhythm became the root of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".

"I've always liked gospel music and I encouraged Bono to take it to that place...It was a very non-U2 thing to do at the time, to go up the street of gospel. I think it opened a door for them, to experiment with that territory...[Bono]'s singing at the top of his range and there is something very compelling about somebody pushing themselves. It's like hearing Aretha Franklin almost. It jumps on you and you can't help but feel the feeling."

The group worked on the track at the studio they had set up at Georgian mansion Danesmoate in Dublin. Lanois compared the creation of the song to constructing a building, first laying down the drums as the foundation, then adding additional layers piece by piece, before finally "putting in furniture". After The Edge wrote a chord sequence and played it on acoustic guitar "with a lot of power in the strumming", the group attempted to compose a suitable vocal melody, trying out a variety of ideas. During a jam session, Bono began singing a "classic soul" melody, and it was this addition that made The Edge hear the song's potential. At that point, he remembered a phrase he had written in a notebook that morning as a possible song title, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for". He suggests it was influenced by a line from the Bob Dylan song "Idiot Wind": " You'll find out when you reach the top you're on the bottom". He wrote the phrase on a piece of paper and handed it to Bono while he was singing. The Edge called the phrase's fit with the song "like hand in glove". It became the song's refrain and title. From that point on, the song was the first piece played to visitors during the recording sessions.

As recording continued, a number of guitar overdubs were added, including an auto-pan effect and a chiming arpeggio to modernise the old-style "gospel song". While The Edge was improvising guitar parts one day, Bono spotted a "chrome bells" guitar hook that he liked. It was added as a counter-melody to the song's "muddy shoes" guitar part, and it is this hook that The Edge plays during live performances of the song. Bono sang in the upper register of his range to add to the feeling of spiritual yearning; in the verses he hits a B note, and an A in the chorus. Background vocals were provided by The Edge, Lanois, and co-producer Brian Eno, their voices being multi-tracked. Lanois suggests that his and Eno's involvement in the track's creation aided in their background vocals. He stated, "You're not going to get that sound of, 'Oh they brought in some soul singers' if you know what I mean. Our hearts and souls are already there. If we sing it'll sound more real." The song's writing was completed relatively early during the band's time at Danesmoate. The mix was worked on for a while, though, with most of the production team contributing. The final mix was completed by Lanois and The Edge in a home studio set up at Melbeach, a house purchased by The Edge. They mixed it on top of a previous Steve Lillywhite mix, which gave the song a phasing sound.

Lanois says he is very attached to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and has, on occasion, joined U2 on stage to perform it. The original "Weather Girls" demo, re-titled "Desert of Our Love", was included with the 2007 remastered version of The Joshua Treeon a bonus disc of outtakes and B-sides.

"Spanish Eyes" was created early during The Joshua Treesessions. It began as a recording made in Adam Clayton's house of Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. playing around with several different elements. The piece evolved substantially over the course of an afternoon, but the casette and its recording was subsequently lost and forgotten. The Edge found the cassette towards the end of the album sessions and played it to the rest of the group. The band realised that it was a good track, but did not have enough time to complete it prior to The Joshua Tree 's release.

"Deep in the Heart" stemmed from a three-chord piano piece Bono composed on the piano about the last time he had been in the family home on Cedarwood Road in Dublin, which his father had just sold. The memories of his time living there gave rise to many of the lyrical ideas on the song. The Edge and Adam Clayton reworked the piece extensively, with Bono later describing the finished result as "an almost jazz-like improvisation on three chords", also noting that "the rhythm section turned it into a very special piece of music." The song was recorded in a similar manner to the song "4th of July" from U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire; The Edge and Clayton were playing together in a room and unaware that they were being recorded on a 4-track cassette machine by the band's assistant, Marc Coleman.

Initially, "Red Hill Mining Town" was planned for release as the second single. However, Bono was unable to sing the song during pre-tour rehearsals and the band were reportedly unhappy with the video shot by Neil Jordan, so "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" became a late choice for the second single.

The music video for the song was filmed on Fremont Street in Las Vegas on 12 April 1987. It features the band members wandering around while The Edge played an acoustic guitar. The music video was later re-released on the U218 Videoscompilation DVD.

Island Records commissioned New York choir director, Dennis Bell, to a record a gospel version of the song, and Island intended to release it after U2's single. However, Island boss Chris Blackwell vetoed the plan saying that a second single would look like a money grab. Bell subsequently formed his own label and found a distributor for the song. While in Glasgow in late July 1987 during The Joshua Tree Tour, Rob Partridge of Island Records played the demo put together by Bell of The New Voices of Freedom singing the song. In late September, U2 rehearsed with Bell's choir in Greater Calvary Baptist Church in Harlem, and a few days later they performed the song together at U2's Madison Square Garden concert. Footage of the rehearsal is featured in the Rattle and Hummotion picture, while the Madison Square Garden performance appears on the accompanying album.

A live performance of the song appears in the concert films PopMart: Live from Mexico Cityand Vertigo 05: Live from Milan. Digital live versions were released through iTunes on the Love: Live from the Point Depotand U2.COMmunicationalbums.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" received praise from many critics. Hot Pressjournalist Bill Graham described the song as on the one-hand as a "smart job of pop handwork, pretty standard American radio rock-ballad fare" but that "the band's rhythms are far more supple and cultivated than your average bouffant HM band of that period". The Sunday Independentsuggested that the song was proof the band could be commercially accessible, yet not resort to rock clichés. NMEremarked that the song showed that the band cared about something, which made them "special". The Rocketnoted that Bono's lyrics about needing personal spirituality resulted in a "unique marriage of American gospel and Gaelic soul" and that the "human perspective he brings to this sentiment rings far truer than the rantings of, say, the born-again Bob Dylan". Several publications, including The Bergen Recordand The Boston Globe, called the track "hypnotic" and interpreted it as depicting the band on a spiritual quest.

In 2004, Rolling Stonemagazine placed the song at #93 of its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In the same year, Los Angeles Timescritic Robert Hilburn said it was U2's "Let It Be". The staff of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame selected "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as one of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" appeared in the 1999 film Runaway Bride, and it is also heard several times in the 1994 film Blown Away.

"Where the Streets Have No Name" · " I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For " · "With or Without You" · "Bullet the Blue Sky" · "Running to Stand Still" · "Red Hill Mining Town" · "In God's Country" · "Trip Through Your Wires" · "One Tree Hill" · "Exit" · "Mothers of the Disappeared"

"Helter Skelter" · "Van Diemen's Land" · "Desire" · "Hawkmoon 269" · "All Along the Watchtower" · " I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For " · "Freedom for My People" · "Silver and Gold" · "Pride (In the Name of Love)" · "Angel of Harlem" · "Love Rescue Me" · "When Love Comes to Town" · "Heartland" · "God Part II" · "The Star Spangled Banner" · "Bullet the Blue Sky" · "All I Want Is You"

1980: "Another Day" • "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" • "A Day Without Me" • "I Will Follow" • 1981: "Fire" • "Gloria" • 1982: "A Celebration" • 1983: "New Year's Day" • "Two Hearts Beat as One" • "Sunday Bloody Sunday" • 1984: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" • 1985: "The Unforgettable Fire" • 1987: "With or Without You" • " I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For " • "Where the Streets Have No Name" • "In God's Country" • 1988: "One Tree Hill" • "Desire" • "Angel of Harlem" • 1989: "When Love Comes to Town" (with B.B. King) • "All I Want Is You"

1991: "The Fly" • "Mysterious Ways" • 1992: "One" • "Even Better Than the Real Thing" • "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" • 1993: "Numb" • "Lemon" • "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" • 1995: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" • "Miss Sarajevo" (as Passengers) 1997: "Discothèque" • "Staring at the Sun" • "Last Night on Earth" • "Please" • "If God Will Send His Angels" • "Mofo" • 1998: "Sweetest Thing"

2000: "Beautiful Day" • 2001: "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" • "Elevation" • "Walk On" • 2002: "Electrical Storm" • 2004: "Take Me to the Clouds Above" (LMC vs. U2) • "Vertigo" • 2005: "All Because of You" • "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" • "City of Blinding Lights" • "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (live, with Paul McCartney) • 2006: "One" (with Mary J. Blige) • "The Saints Are Coming" (with Green Day) • 2007: "Window in the Skies" • 2008: "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" (with The Dubliners, Kíla, and A Band of Bowsies) • 2009: "Get on Your Boots" • "Magnificent" • "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"