The U2 song Ian McCulloch admitted was one of the greatest ever: “It can’t be denied”
If Liverpool and Dublin ever get into a brawl of some kind, just call Ian McCulloch and Bono – they’ll be straight there on the reinforcement for their respective sides. This may be tongue in cheek, but only slightly, because the pair weren’t exactly known for having the most harmonious relationship in their heyday. With the Echo and the Bunnymen singer even dobbed ‘Mac the Mouth’, it’s clear that civility wasn’t exactly his middle name.
Famously having claimed back in the 1980s that U2 made “music for plumbers and bricklayers” and branding its frontman with the nickname “Nobbo”, McCulloch evidently felt that the Bunnymen offered a more refined sonic surf when it came to the new wave, with the likes of U2 and Simple Minds barely making it to shore by comparison. Whether this was really true is highly debatable, but when it comes to a good old rock and roll spat, McCulloch had you covered.
However, some 40 years on from those slap-in-the-face sentiments, it seems the warmth of nostalgia has wormed its way into even some of the most shrivelled and jaded of hearts. Now firmly on the eclipse of his twilight years, McCulloch has become all reminiscent over his rivals of days gone by – even suggesting, unbelievably, that the warp of time may have let bygones be bygones.
He told the Daily Record in 2021: “Bono sent me a card on my 60th, which was nice. Their song ‘One’ is one of the greatest tunes of all time. It can’t be denied. They had this big sound, he could sing, and their melodies were strong. They sound like a band who believe in themselves, and a lot of people like that.”
McCulloch’s newfound appreciation for the U2 songbook goes a long way toward demonstrating the sheer calibre of the new wave era. It created hits that simultaneously spoke to the culture of the moment but are still equally relevant—and reverent—in today’s world.
It’s also a fitting tune for the Echo and the Bunnymen leader to single out, “dragging the past out into the light” and depicting the reunification of the band and of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Bringing the two most prominent forces of the new wave back into each other’s peaceful orbit, it’s clear that ‘One’ carries some kind of unquantifiable elixir power in Bono’s wailing vocal.
The anthemic power of the 1980s and ‘90s charted a pivotal period not just in musical terms but in the social history of the world at large. Both U2 and Echo and the Bunnymen were among the frontrunners of that crusading battalion, irrespective of the fact that they may have been at each other’s necks behind the scenes. Eventually, however, when the overtures of peace finally had their chance to come around, Bono and McCulloch knew only ‘One’ song could seal the fate, making previously chasmic voids simply a distant memory of the past.
