These strands came together in "Red Hill Mining Town", a rough version of which was worked up during the early Joshua Tree album writing sessions in late 1985.McCormick (2006), p. 172 Bono's lyrics focused on the stress the dispute had on families and their relationships, many of which broke down. In particular, inspiration was drawn from the Tony Parker book Red Hill: A Mining Community. Bono was criticised in some quarters for not being politically specific enough. However, Bono said he felt he was more interested in the relationships and that others were more qualified to comment on the strike itself.
