The U2 song that Bono thanks “God on a daily basis” for
Music fans often talk about how a particular song saved them or how they needed to hear certain lyrics at the right time. But what about the artists themselves? Few connections are as personal as the one between a musician and their music. The lyrics come straight from their hearts and minds, often telling a personal story, and as they take it on the road, performing it night after night, they’re constantly reminded of that bond—or at least Bono is.
For someone at his level, and for a band that has reached the dizzying heights U2 has, it’s probably important to have a song that keeps them grounded. Despite the divided opinions on the band, there’s no denying they were once one of the world’s most popular and recognisable rock acts. From humble beginnings as schoolboys playing in a band to becoming globally renowned artists, they’ve climbed all the way to the top. But as we know, the air gets thin up there—and it’s easy to lose your head.
As they get on stage each night to huge masses of crowds, they could easily get swept up without a song to ground them. Sure, they have ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ as a reminder that the journey of life is never over. But in Bono’s eyes, it’s ‘City Of Blinding Lights’ that truly keeps him grounded and grateful.
It’s a tale in two parts. “The first verse is in London, and the chorus is in New York,” Bono explains of the song in the book U2 by U2. In the interplay of the two cities, it’s a consideration of where he started and where he ended up as he explained, “The thing I had in mind was my first trip to London with [wife] Ali when we were teenagers, on the ferry and the train, walking into Piccadilly Circus and up Wardour Street and just discovering what a big city could offer you and what it could take away.” Reflecting on that youthful memory as he first began to dream big, that moment represents the start of this lifelong dedication to his dream but matched with a determination to stay grounded throughout.
“And then, of course, New York, the scene in Madison Square Garden during the Elevation tour, where the lights came on, and 18,000 New Yorkers were in tears, jumping up and down, and I shouted out to them, ‘Oh, you look so beautiful tonight,’” he explained of the chorus as the lyric was plucked from another real-life memory. As the band played in New York only a few days after the 9/11 attack, Bono recalls seeing the crowd dancing and being awed by the resilience of humans, calling out that compliment to them and later putting it in the song.
“That’s what this song is about, remembering those times,” he explained as he saw these two memories converging in this special piece. But mostly, it’s a lesson to him and to everyone; “It’s about recapturing a sense of wonder, being in a city, and reminding yourself that you don’t have to lose your soul to gain the world.”
Overwhelmingly, it’s a song that makes him feel thankful for the life he’s lived and the way he’s lived it, stating, “I thank God on a daily basis for endless amounts of grace and covering the cracks that I would have fallen through.”
