“Sixty-six a highway speaks
Of deserts dry
Of cool green valleys
Gold and silver veins
Of the shining cities …”
— “Heartland,” from U2‘s “Rattle and Hum” album. That was a period in which U2 was inspired by America’s landscape, including the Route 66 country of the Mojave Desert.
On a related note, the famed Joshua tree that appeared in the artwork of the band’s breakthrough 1987 album, “The Joshua Tree,” died about 2000. The cause of the tree’s death probably was old age.