The U2 song containing a stolen Haim riff
As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and U2 had nothing but positive intentions in their heart when they decided to repurpose a riff by Haim in one of their songs. Out of respect to the Haim sisters, the Irish band even invited them down to the studio while the track was crafted, and they assisted with backing vocals.
‘Lights of Home’ from their 2017 album Songs of Experience is built around the main riff from ‘My Song 5’, which appeared on Haim’s debut album Days Are Gone. The U2 track was first teased in July 2016 when they took to social media to share an image of them posing at the studio with Haim, and a year later, it finally emerged why.
While it wasn’t a collaboration in the typical fashion, asking the Haim sisters to record backing vocals on ‘Lights of Home’ containing the stolen riff as a further acknowledgement of their contribution. The Los Angeles-based indie band were also listed as co-writers on the Songs of Experience track, avoiding any potential future lawsuit.
At the time, Haim were unsure why U2 wanted them in the studio, with Danielle Haim later revealing they received a “cryptic” call from their manager. Although she didn’t know what the offer entailed, Haim made their way to the studio out of intrigue and a deep love of U2.
Danielle explained to Stereogum: “But anyway, when we got this call, it was shocking. I remember we brought a bunch of food and like, presented it. We didn’t know what do — should we bring dessert or something? We went to meet them and hear this question they had. I think it was a cake. I think we were eating this cake, and the whole band was there, and they asked us, basically, ‘Hey, look, we wrote a song around one of your guitar parts’.”
Danielle continued: “I was like, ‘What!?’ It turned out it was the guitar for ‘My Song 5.’ They were like, ‘Is that OK? Do you want to be a part of the song? Do you want to sing on it?’ Like, yes to all of the above.”
Of the experience, she recalled: “The melody is even the guitar part, which is crazy, to hear Bono sing this little lick I wrote. We spent that night singing on it. They were still figuring it out. Again, being a fly on another artist’s wall — Edge and Bono literally taking a microphone and being like ‘No, I hear this’ or ‘What if it does this?’ It was unbelievable.”
For Haim, who had only released one album at this stage, to have been a source of inspiration for one of their heroes was an out-of-body experience. A few years later, Danielle revealed she tried to get Bono to repay the favour and drunk-texted him to deliver a line on ‘Summer Girl’.
On the Song Exploder podcast, she recalled: “I think we then got really super-drunk and [Rostam] finally convinced me to send it [the text]. So I sent Bono the song, and he was so nice. He was like: ‘This is great, let me see where I fit in.’ My mind was exploding.”
Unfortunately, the plans fell through due to illness despite Bono’s initial eagerness. “Finally he texted me back and was like: ‘You know what: I’m so sick, I’m so sorry – unless you want a blown horn on this song; my voice is just so shot. I don’t think I can come up with anything in time.'”
Listen to ‘Lights of Home’ below.
