Bono and guitarist the Edge had been reading works by cyberpunk author William Gibson, who wrote about a futuristic urban environment known as "The Sprawl". Gibson was an influence in the texture of the song, which Bono described as "fucked up sci-fi". Bono wanted to use noise to create a visual setting for the song, similar to Gibson's futuristic world, filled with advertisements on LED displays and neon signs, as in the 1982 film "Blade Runner". With "Zooropa" as the album's opening song, Bono stated that he wanted the album's music to be like "legal drugs" that would create a trip where "you come out of the other end and you feel like you've been on some kind of a journey". The closing song on the album, "The Wanderer", features Johnny Cash on vocals, and was intended on being the "antidote" to the futuristic-sounding opener.