The song The Replacements wrote to hit back at U2
There are a number of U2 tracks that have rubbed fans the wrong way. The song ‘Discotheque’ was particularly loathed by Taylor Hawkins, who once said in an interview, “They were all doing the Y.M.C.A. dance and shit in the video, and me and my brother were sitting there watching, going, ‘What. The fuck. Is going on?!’” And from that, of course, the entire world hated Songs of Innocence, given that it was forced onto people’s iPhones without permission. The Replacements, meanwhile, disliked ‘I Will Follow’.
In 1981, Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg went to see U2 at a nightclub in Minneapolis called Uncle Sam’s. It was towards the end of the band’s first international tour and was done in promotion of their first studio album. Due to not having many songs available, U2 performed the track ‘I Will Follow’ twice, which rubbed Westerberg the wrong way.
It wasn’t necessarily that he thought it was a lousy song; musically, he quite liked it but disagreed massively with the lyrics. He read them to be an insult towards the youth in general and, as such, thought that playing it to a younger crowd was, to put it plainly, a bad move. However, as Bono wrote it for his deceased mother, Westerberg interpreted the track wrong.
Regardless, Westerberg had his interpretation of the lyrics and felt so frustrated by them that it prompted him to write music in protest. The first track was done that night when he put together ‘Kid’s Don’t Follow’. It directly reflects what he thought of the U2 track and his counterargument, saying to Bono, “Your idea of the youth is wrong”.
Westerberg later wrote ‘I Will Dare’, which was also in retaliation to the U2 song. Excited by the track, Westerberg wanted it to be included on the album they were making at the time, Hootenanny, but they were already too deep into the engineering process. Instead, he had to wait, and the piece was included on the band’s next album, Let It Be.
Since music is such an emotional art form, some of the best work artists produce happens when they’re in an emotional state. If you’re Nick Cave, that’s exploring the depth and complexity of unimaginable grief; Bob Dylan can critique the country he calls home and hold a mirror up to the injustice of it, while Paul Westerberg can be pissed off at a U2 song he’s misinterpreted.
Regardless of the reason behind the tracks, there is no doubt they are good. In fact, ‘I Will Dare’ is considered by many to be one of the best songs that The Replacements ever put out. Many people are incredibly grateful that the internet didn’t exist when Westerberg saw U2; otherwise, he might have looked up the meaning of the track and let his annoyance pass.
