Songfacts®:

• Bono says this is "a song about not like yourself. It's seeing your reflection in the window and wanting to smash it. I don't know where that's coming from. I try not to major on self-loathing but it does creep in every so often. Guilt to me is a very useless emotion. You make a mistake, you try and rectify it, you apologize, and you get on." (U2 by U2, 2005)
• By the time U2 got around to recording this, the band's drummer, Larry Mullen, was exhausted and had trouble keeping up with the tempo. He said, "The real wake-up call for me was after a long day getting nowhere on 'I Threw A Brick.' When I came back to the studio the following day, Edge had overdubbed a great tom part. I was so pissed off he had come up with a better drum part than me. It was the kick in the ass I needed."
• Released on their second album, October, "I Threw A Brick Through A Window" was a live favorite for the band in the early '80s, played on their October, War, and Unforgettable Fire tours.