Where did they get the name Achtung Baby?
U2’s soundman Joe O’Herlihy used the phrase “achtung baby” often during the work on the album in Berlin. The phrase is used first in the Mel Brooks film The Producers, about the making of a musical called “Springtime for Hitler”, a guaranteed Broadway bomb. The name was chosen so that it could not be taken seriously, deflecting focus from the serious lyrics on the album and thus protecting U2 from further critical attacks like they received with Rattle and Hum. “Achtung” is the German word for “attention”, so the title translates to “Attention, Baby!” – an utterance of warning. Bono actually says “achtung baby” in the album, during “The Fly” – it’s about two minutes into the song. This is clearer on its live versions: Bono shouts “achtung, baby!” right before the Zoo TV screens flood the audience with images and cheap philosophy. Adam also joked that he tried to convince the band to name the album “Adam”, but then went on to say they had tossed the idea around of naming it “Man” — cle
