City of Blinding Lights
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"City of Blinding Lights" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and was released as the album's fourth single on 6 June 2005. The earliest incarnation of the song was developed during sessions for the band's 1997 album Pop. The lyrics were partially inspired by lead singer Bono's memory of his first trip to London, and by the band's experience of playing New York City in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Other lyrics refer to Bono's relationship with his wife. "City of Blinding Lights" was well received by critics and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song at the 2006 ceremony. The track was used by Barack Obama for his campaign during the 2008 US presidential election, and U2 performed the song at his inaugural celebration. It was commonly played as the opening song during the band's Vertigo Tour, and it has been performed on every night of the ongoing U2 360° Tour. (more...)
No Line on the Horizon
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No Line on the Horizon is the twelfth studio album by the rock band U2. Released on 27 February 2009, it was the band's first album since How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), marking the longest gap between studio albums of U2's career. Work on the album began in 2006 with record producer Rick Rubin, but most of the material from those sessions was shelved. From June 2007 to December 2008, the band collaborated with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who produced and co-wrote many of the new songs. Writing and recording took place in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Morocco. Prior to the album's release, U2 announced that Eno's and Lanois's involvement, as well as the band's time in Fez, Morocco, had resulted in a more experimental record than their previous two albums; the band compared the shift in style to that seen between The Joshua Tree (1987) and Achtung Baby (1991). Upon its release, No Line on the Horizon received generally favourable reviews, although many critics noted that it was not as experimental as previously suggested. (more...)
Mothers of the Disappeared
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"Mothers of the Disappeared" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the eleventh and final track on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. The song was inspired by lead singer Bono's experiences in Nicaragua and El Salvador in July 1986, following U2's involvement on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour. He learned of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a group of women whose children had been "disappeared" by the Argentinean and Chilean dictatorships. Bono sympathized and wanted to pay tribute to their cause. The song was written on a Spanish guitar, and the melody lifted from a piece Bono composed in Ethiopia in 1985 to help teach children basic forms of hygiene. Thematically it has been interpreted as an examination of failures and contradictions in US foreign policy. U2 performed it at four concerts on the 1998 PopMart Tour in South America, and the Madres joined the band onstage for the performance on two of those occasions. (more...)
To request on 9 March.