“Exactly as it was”: the song U2 only needed to record once in the studio
It is rare to have everything refined and ready to go in the recording studio. While most artists write continuously to avoid the infamous writer’s block, when entering the studio, most of these ideas are left with a healthy amount of space and room for improvement. Then, when it comes to the actual recording part, it usually takes a handful of attempts before everything is as it should be. One song by U2 evaded all expectations when they only did one singular take.
U2 have always adopted a unique approach to songwriting and recording, which typically views “finished products” as a myth. For this reason, they need structure and deadlines; otherwise, they will likely keep crafting and altering an album endlessly, and it will never see the light of day. Sometimes, they exercise restraint more than usual, but in the end, they usually decide a record is good enough instead of aimlessly trying to reach a level of perfectionism that doesn’t actually exist.
Despite being central to countless surges of scrutiny, including being labelled by peers and audiences as a gimmick band, U2 only ever did what felt right, making them one of the more authentic groups to emerge from the 1980s. At the time, making it in a predominantly rock world was brutal, but by doing only what they wanted, they gained the level of popularity most can only aspire to.
According to Bono, this honesty is what keeps them going, and if they didn’t have that, none of it would work. As he once explained: “I think it would be the end of our group if we didn’t make a record we believed in. We’ve broken our band up so many times internally. When we started working with Brian Eno early on, in a way we had to break up and start over. We did it again with Achtung Baby. We had to shoot U2 in the head before anyone else did.”
This consistent strive to reach a specific standard also means that when it’s effortless, it’s completely effortless. Most of the time, U2 might agonise over certain choices and sounds, eventually deciding an album needs to be released before they butcher it in the name of perfectionism. During No Line on the Horizon, however, one particular song was performed only once, and it was made onto the album in the exact same state they recorded it in to begin with.
This was ‘Moment of Surrender’, which has long been hailed No Line on the Horizon‘s ‘One’, originally written about a drug addict experiencing a spiritual epiphany, with a title borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous when the addict is urged to admit needing help due to being “powerless over alcohol”. As a result, the song feels viscerally overwhelming, with Bono putting his all into creating a lead vocal that delivered the right amount of emotion.
Apparently, that level of authenticity was all that was needed, as they only recorded the song once, placing the first version onto the album without any additional tampering. As Brian Eno recalled: “Apart from some editing and the addition of the short cello piece that introduces it, the song appears on the album exactly as it was the first and only time we played it”.
Unlike other U2 songs, which usually require meticulous attention to detail, ‘Moment of Surrender’ almost materialised in its fully realised form beforehand, its immense depth speaking for itself in one rare moment of perfection.
