Random Jukebox: U2’s Miss Sarajevo, One New Year’s Day 

You don’t get the mix, he’s turned 66.

Well, seeing as it’s Bono’s birthday then… 

U2 have copped a lot of flack over the last few decades, quite understandably at times. First there’s Saint Bono, whose horse is so high he needs a ladder to get up on it. And with the exception of the death of Michael Hutchence-inspired Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of (from 2000’s underrated Eno/Lanois-captained All That You Can’t Leave Behind), it certainly does feel like the abjectly fatuous juggernaut of a foursome haven’t released anything particularly notable since. 

Despite my admiring of the trivia fact that they’re the longest-running major band who have survived with absolutely zero line-up changes, you can’t help but think that they probably should have thrown in the collective towel a long time ago.

There are lots of songs by U2 that have been killed by overplay, that I’d be quite happy to never hear again. Oh, hello Sunday Bloody Sunday, With Or Without You, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Actually, I have found what I’m looking for, and it isn’t them.

But One, the one that’s a lovely elegiac composition with a universal message, is, er, one  I never tire of. Ultimately it’s the highlight of the Hansa-helmed Achtung Baby: a celebrated ‘European’ album which, quite honestly, is the only U2 long-player I’d objectively go out of my way to play today… even if we all know it’s ironic standpoint and broader musical palette was hugely inspired not just by David Bowie’s art-rocking Berlin albums, but by the Pet Shop Boys’ hilarious disco melding of Where The Streets Have No Name with Frankie Valli’s Brill Building evergreen Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, ostensibly done to poke fun at U2’s rock posturing pomposity.

Having said that, 1993’s Zooropa is still a worthy sonic side bar, and I’m still rather partial to two or three Bono/Edge tunes not under the U2 banner*. Like this one. Even Neil Tennant himself likes this one.

The insistent urgency of New Year’s Day was almost certainly the first U2 song I was aware of, though it became the second record by the earnest quartet I actually bought, somewhat belatedly after Pride (In The Name Of Love) sometime in 1984. This stirring anthem pretty much made U2 a major concern in Britain, almost single handedly, going on to lay the foundation for the band to become one of the defining international acts of their era. 

A song about soldiering forward and bridging divisions despite trouble and strife, New Year’s Day exemplifies the ways early, edgy U2 refracted the modern world in inventive ways, while still striving for a sort of timelessness. Thematically, in 2005 Bono told the Los Angeles Times that the lyrics refer to the movement for Solidarity in Poland—lead by persecuted trades union boss and future president Lech Wałęsa—helming a 1st of January worker’s strike. Just seven months after the song became a hit, the Communist Polish government announced they would abolish martial law.

Musically, NYE is a visceral take on new wave. The Edge pulls double duty, bashing out scorching guitars and desolate piano, Larry Mullen Jr.’s drumming is as solid as ever. While Adam Clayton, the English one, contributes a livewire bass line, which, amazingly, evolved from him working out how to play Visage’s synth-pop gem Fade To Grey, later conforming the factoid to Bass Player Magazine:

“That actually grew out of me trying to work out the chords to the Visage tune Fade To Grey. It was a kind of Euro-disco dance hit, and somehow it turned into New Year’s Day.”

Bono remarked on the twist to the “under a blood red sky” lyrical theme, “At the same time, it’s a love song. Love is always strongest when it’s set against a struggle.” Talking of which, in July 2015, I was road tripping through America and passed a stunning rock structure and amphitheatre just outside Denver. Yup, these are the famous Red Rocks where U2 taped their live album Under A Blood Red Sky. 

Happy 66th you insufferable Irish munchkin.

Steve Pafford

*Those other songs not under the U2 banner? Both sung by women: Nancy and Tina, of course.

BONUS BEATS: Though they brought their Joshua Tree at 30 tour close to me in the Sydney of November 2019, the only time I’ve “seen” U2 in concert was one of their hi-tech Zoo TV shebangs at Wembley Stadium in London in 1993.

Such were the poor sigh lines from the pitch than when the Lou Reed duet on Satellite Of Love flashed up on the video screens, my female friendmate Judi could barely even see that (she may as well have been on her knees, girl), exclaiming, slightly gobsmacked “I can’t believe Lou Reed’s up there!” I never had the heart to tell her he wasn’t, so if you’re reading this Jude, sorry! Hopefully you’ll see clearly now…