From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"
Sunday Bloody Sunday" is the opening track from
U2's
1983 album,
War. The song was released as the album's third
single on 11 March 1983 in Germany and The Netherlands.
[1] "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted for its militaristic drumbeat, harsh guitar, and melodic harmonies.
[2] One of U2's most overtly political songs, its lyrics describe the horror felt by an observer of
The Troubles in
Northern Ireland, mainly focusing on the
Bloody Sunday incident in
Derry where British troops shot and killed civil rights marchers. Along with "
New Year's Day", the song helped U2 reach a wider listening audience. It was generally well-received by critics on the album's release.
[3][4]
.
The song has remained a staple of U2's live concerts.
[5] During its earliest performances, the song created controversy.
Bono reasserted the song's anti-hate, anti-sectarian-violence message to his audience for many years. Today, it is considered one of U2's
signature songs, being one of the band's most performed songs. Critics rate it among the best political
protest songs,
[6] and it has been
covered by over a dozen artists.
[7] It was named the 268th greatest song by
Rolling Stone on their list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Writing and recording
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" grew from a guitar riff and lyric written by
The Edge in 1982. While newlyweds
Bono and
Ali Hewson honeymooned in
Jamaica, The Edge worked in Ireland on music for the band's upcoming album. Following an argument with his girlfriend, and a period of doubt in his own song-writing abilities, The Edge—"feeling depressed... channeled [his] fear and frustration and self-loathing into a piece of music."
[8] This early draft did not yet have a title or chorus melody, but did contain a structural outline and theme. After Bono had reworked the lyrics, the band recorded the song at
Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. During the sessions, producer
Steve Lillywhite encouraged drummer
Larry Mullen Jr. to use a
click track, but Mullen was firmly against the idea. A chance meeting with
Andy Newmark (of
Sly & the Family Stone) — a drummer who used a click track religiously — changed Mullen's mind.
[8] The opening drum pattern soon developed into the song's hook. A local
violinist,
Steve Wickham, approached The Edge one morning at a
bus stop and asked if U2 had any need for a violin on their next album. In the studio for only half a day, Wickham's electric violin became the final instrumental contribution to the song.
[8]
Drummer Mullen said of the song in 1983:
"We're into the politics of people, we're not into politics. Like you talk about Northern Ireland, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' people sort of think, 'Oh, that time when 13 Catholics were shot by British soldiers'; that's not what the song is about. That's an incident, the most famous incident in Northern Ireland and it's the strongest way of saying, 'How long? How long do we have to put up with this?' I don't care who's who - Catholics, Protestants, whatever. You know people are dying every single day through bitterness and hate, and we're saying why? What's the point? And you can move that into places like El Salvador and other similar situations - people dying. Let's forget the politics, let's stop shooting each other and sit around the table and talk about it... There are a lot of bands taking sides saying politics is crap, etc. Well, so what! The real battle is people dying, that's the real battle."[9]
Composition
This two-
bar guitar
riff[10] is repeated often throughout "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is played at a
tempo of 108 beats per minute in a 4/4
time signature.
[10] The song opens with a militaristic drumbeat and
electric violin part. The aggressive
snare drum rhythm closely resembles a beat used to keep a
military band in step. The distinctive drum sound was achieved by recording Mullen's drumwork at the base of a staircase, producing a more natural reverb. It is followed by
The Edge's repeating
arpeggios (see notation at left). The riff, which follows a
Bm–
D–
G6 chord progression, establishes the
minor chord territory of the piece. As the song progresses, the lyrics and guitar become more furious. The guitar riff has been described as the "bone-crushing arena-rock riff of the decade" by
Rolling Stone.
[11] A
bass drum kick on every beat provides the musical foundation until the first chorus, when
Adam Clayton's
bass guitar enters.
.
In contrast to the violent nature of the verses, the emergence of
major chords creates a feeling of hope during Bono's "How long, how long must we sing this song?" refrain. During the chorus, The Edge's backing vocals further develop this tread, using a harmonic imitative echo. The snare drum is absent from this section, and the guitar parts are muted. This part of the song deviates musically from the raw aggression seen in the song's verses and gives the song a more uplifting structure.
[10] Bono once commented that "love is...a central theme" of "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
[12]
.
The band have said the lyrics refer to the events of both
Bloody Sunday (1972) and
Bloody Sunday (1920), but are not specifically about either event.
[13] The song takes the standpoint of someone horrified by the cycle of violence in the province. Bono rewrote The Edge's initial lyrics, attempting to contrast the two events with
Easter Sunday, but he has said that the band was too inexperienced at the time to fully realise that goal, noting that "it was a song whose eloquence lay in its harmonic power rather than its verbal strength."
[8]
.
Early versions opened with the line "Don't talk to me about the rights of the
IRA,
UDA".
[8] U2's bassist,
Adam Clayton, recalls that better judgment led to the removal of such a politically charged line, and that the song's "viewpoint became very humane and non-sectarian...which, is the only responsible position."
[14] The chosen opening line, "I can't believe the news today" crystallises the prevailing response, especially among young people, to the violence in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s.
[14] In successive stanzas, however, the lyrics appear to disown that anger and place the song in a religious context—paraphrasing text from
Matthew 10:35 ("mother's children; brothers, sisters torn apart") and bringing a twist to
1 Corinthians 15:32 ("we eat and drink while tomorrow
they die", instead of "we die"). The song finishes with a call for the Irish to stop fighting each other, and "claim the victory Jesus won...on [a] Sunday bloody Sunday."
[10]
Reception
U2 was aware when they decided to record "Sunday Bloody Sunday" that its lyrics could be misinterpreted as
sectarian, and possibly jeopardize their personal lives. Some of The Edge's original lyrics explicitly spoke out against violent rebels, but were omitted in order to protect the group.
[8] Even without these lyrics, some listeners still considered it to be a
rebel song—even one which glorifies the events of the two Bloody Sundays to which the lyrics refer.
[15]
.
Commercially, the single had its biggest impact in The Netherlands, where it reached number 3 on the national charts.
[16] In the U.S., the song gained significant
album-oriented rock radio airplay, and together with the earlier "
New Year's Day" helped exposed U2 to a mainstream American rock audience.
.
Critical reception to the song was positive. In the Irish magazine
Hot Press, Liam Mackey wrote that "Sunday Bloody Sunday" "takes the widescreen view...a powerful riff and machine-gun drumming [is] crisscrossed by skipping violin."
[3] Denise Sullivan commented for
Allmusic that Mullen's opening drumwork "helps set the tone for the unforgiving, take-no-prisoners feel of the song, as well as for the rest of the album."
[4] In 2004,
Rolling Stone ranked "Sunday Bloody Sunday" 268th on its list of
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
[17] The staff of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame selected "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as one of
500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
[18] The
New Statesman listed it as one of the Top 20 Political Songs.
[19]
Live performances
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" has been performed more than 600 times by U2.
[5] It was first heard by a live audience in December 1982 in Glasgow, Scotland, on a twenty-one show "Pre-
War Tour." The band were particularly nervous about playing the song in
Belfast,
Northern Ireland. Upon introducing the song there at the Maysfield Leisure Centre, Bono promised to "never play it again" if the crowd didn't like it. The crowd overwhelmingly enjoyed the song; The Edge recalls that "the place went nuts, it drew a really positive reaction.", also saying that "We thought a lot about the song before we played it in Belfast and Bono told the audience that if they didn't like it then we'd never play it again. Out of the 3,000 people in the hall about three walked out. I think that says a lot about the audience's trust in us."
[20] The band remained apprehensive, however. Even by the song's sixth performance, Bono was introducing the song with the statement "This is
not a rebel song."
[21][22]
.
Throughout 1983's War Tour, Bono continued to reassure audiences that "This song is not a rebel song, this song is 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'"
[23] highlighting the non-partisan intentions of the lyrics. The live performances on this tour featured a routine during which Bono would set a
white flag in the front of the stage while the band
vamped three chords—B minor, D major, and G major. (though the band traditionally tune their instruments down a half step so the chords are B flat minor, D flat and G Flat). As the band vamped, Bono would sing "no more!" with the audience.
[24] These performances were highly effective with U2's audience (at the time, U2 was most popular as a
college rock act). Live performances of the song subsequently appeared on their 1983 live album
Under a Blood Red Sky and their concert film
Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. In the
Unforgettable Fire Tour of 1984 and 1985, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" continued to be a prominent midpoint of each U2 concert—as did the "no more!" interlude. Along with a performance of "
Bad," the song was performed at
Live Aid in July 1985.
.
As U2 reached new levels of fame in 1987 with
The Joshua Tree, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" continued to be a focal point of concerts. Some performances featured slower, more contemplative versions of the song; other concerts saw the wilder, more violent version. This tour marked the first time "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was played in
Northern Ireland since 1982, and it has not been performed there since.
[5]
.
The 1988
rockumentary Rattle and Hum includes a particularly renowned version of the song, recorded on 8 November 1987 at the
McNichols Arena in
Denver, Colorado.
[25] On this version Bono's mid-song rant angrily and emphatically condemns the
Remembrance Day Bombing that had occurred earlier that same day in the Northern Irish town of
Enniskillen:
.
| “ | And let me tell you somethin'. I've had enough of Irish Americans who haven't been back to their country in twenty or thirty years come up to me and talk about the resistance, the revolution back home...and the glory of the revolution...and the glory of dying for the revolution. Fuck the revolution! They don't talk about the glory of killing for the revolution. What's the glory in taking a man from his bed and gunning him down in front of his wife and his children? Where's the glory in that? Where's the glory in bombing a Remembrance Day parade of old age pensioners, their medals taken out and polished up for the day. Where's the glory in that? To leave them dying or crippled for life or dead under the rubble of the revolution, that the majority of the people in my country don't want. No more![26] | ” |
This concert in Mexico City in February 2006 depicts the elaborate stage effects used for "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
.
After the Joshua Tree Tour, Bono was heard saying the band might never play the song again, because the song was "made real" with the performance in Denver, and it could never be matched again.
[26][27] Following their original intent, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was not played during any of the forty-seven shows on the
Lovetown Tour in 1989. The song reappeared for a brief period during the
Zoo TV Tour, and late during the second half of
PopMart Tour (1997–1998), U2 played an emotional concert in war-ravaged
Sarajevo that included a solo performance of the song by
The Edge. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was subsequently played live in this style until the end of the tour in March 1998.
[5]
.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" was played at every concert on the 2001
Elevation and 2005–2006
Vertigo tours.
[5] Performances in 2001 frequently included parts of
Bob Marley's "
Get Up, Stand Up" and "Johnny Was". A memorable mid-song message referencing the
Omagh bombing of 1998 ("Turn this song into a prayer!") is captured on the live DVD
U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle. In concerts in New York City after the
September 11, 2001 attacks, the "no more!" interlude was replaced by Bono holding an
American flag.
[28]
.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" was used during the The Vertigo Tour of 2005 and 2006, as one of many politically driven songs performed during the middle part of the band's set. Bono extended the "no more!" interlude to explain a headband he had donned in the previous song.
[29] The headband depicted the word "coexist" (written to depict a
crescent, a
Star of David, and a
Christian cross). The Coexist symbol is trademarked in the United States by an
LLP in
Indiana,
[30] and the original artwork was created in 2001 by a Polish artist.
[31] As with the 2001 shows, the Vertigo tour saw the song applied to subjects further afield than The Troubles in Northern Ireland. During 2006 Australian shows, in Brisbane, Bono asked for Australian Terrorism suspect
David Hicks to be brought home and tried under Australian laws. In subsequent Australian concerts he dedicated the song to the victims of the
2002 Bali Bombings – where 88 of the fatalities were Australians – saying 'This is your song now!'.
[32] The song was also performed at every concert on the
U2 360° Tour, paying tribute to the
2009 Iranian election protests on each occasion by projecting scenes from the protests and
Persian writing in green on the video screen.
[33]
Music video
This performance in June 1983 from the concert film
Live at Red Rocks was later released as the song's music video.
.
Although a promotional
music video had not been produced for the original release, the band used footage from a 5 June 1983 live performance filmed for the
concert film Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky to promote the song. Directed by Gavin Taylor, the video displays Bono's use of a
white flag during performances of the song. The video highlights the intensity and emotion felt by many audience members during U2's concerts, while the rainy, torch-lit setting in
Colorado's
Red Rocks Amphitheatre further adds to the atmosphere. In 2004,
Rolling Stone cited the performance as one "50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll" and noted that "[t]he sight of Bono singing the anti-violence anthem 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' while waving a white flag through crimson mist (created by a combination of wet weather, hot lights and the illumination of those crags) became the defining image of U2's warrior-rock spirit and—shown in heavy rotation on MTV—broke the band nationwide."
[34]
Other releases
The album version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was originally included on
War, but it can also be heard on a number of promotional releases, including the compilations
The Best of 1980-1990 and
U218 Singles. Several live versions have been released; the video available on
Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky is from a performance at
Red Rocks Amphitheatre in June 1983, but the version on the live album
Under a Blood Red Sky is from a performance in August 1983. Audio from the
Sarajevo concert of 1997 is featured as a b-side on 1997's single "
If God Will Send His Angels." The song also appears on
Rattle and Hum,
PopMart: Live from Mexico City,
Elevation 2001: Live from Boston,
U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle,
Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago,
U2 3D and in the closing credits of the 2002 TV film
Bloody Sunday.
[35][36]
Track listings
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" was commercially released throughout most of Europe in support of U2's album
War. Its cover art is the same as that of "
Two Hearts Beat as One", except on the Japan release. The
B-side on the single, "Endless Deep", is one of the few U2 songs that features
bassist Adam Clayton singing.
| 1. | "Sunday Bloody Sunday" | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Endless Deep" | 2:58 |
| 1. | "Sunday Bloody Sunday" | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Two Hearts Beat as One" (7" edit) | 3:52 |
| 1. | "Sunday Bloody Sunday" | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Red Light" | 4:03 |
| 1. | "Sunday Bloody Sunday" | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Two Hearts Beat as One" (U.S. remix) | 5:40 |
| 3. | "New Year's Day" (U.S. remix) | 4:30 |
Chart positions
See also
Notes
- ^ a b U2Wanderer.org. "U2 Discography - Sunday Bloody Sunday Single". http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/sing012.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ Hillburn, Robert (2004-08-08). "The Songwriters - U2 - 'Where Craft Ends and Spirit Begins'". Los Angeles Times. http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=3472. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ a b Mackey, Liam (1983-02-18). "Review of War". Hot Press. http://atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=2594. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Denise. "Song Review: "Sunday Bloody Sunday"". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:ctc8b594zsxf. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ a b c d e U2-Vertigo-Tour.com. "U2 on Tour - played songs: Sunday Bloody Sunday". http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/song11.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ VH1 Editors. (2004). VH1's 25 Greatest Political Protest Songs. [Television series]. VH1 television. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/68962/episode_countdown.jhtml.
- ^ U2Wanderer.org. "U2 Cover Songs Discography". http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/covers.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ a b c d e f U2; McCormick, N. (2006-09-26). U2 by U2. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 135–139. ISBN 0-06-077675-7.
- ^ "Larry Mullen Interview". White Lucy. 1 April 1983. http://u2_interviews.tripod.com/id18.html. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
- ^ a b c d Commercial sheet music for "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Universal-Polygram International Music Publishing. Distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing. ISBN 0-7119-7309-1. Retrieved 12 December 2006.
- ^ Connelly, Christopher (1984-01-19). "Under A Blood Red Sky Review: U2: Review". Rolling Stone. http://web.archive.org/web/20080419073338/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/102415/under_a_blood_red_sky. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ Lozaw, Tristam (1984-06-01). "Love, Devotion & Surrender". U2 Magazine. http://atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=1878. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ U2, Rona Elliot (interviewer). (1987-09-11). U2: The Rona Elliot Interview. [Online download]. NBC via iTunes Store.
- ^ a b Stokes, Niall (1996). Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song. Australia: Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-7322-6036-1.
- ^ Flanagan, Bill (1996-09-01). U2 at the End of the World. New York: Dell Publishing. p. 385. ISBN 0-385-31154-0.
- ^ a b "U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday". Ultratop. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=U2&titel=Sunday+Bloody+Sunday&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time — #268". Rolling Stone. 2004-12-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20080620040916/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596113/sunday_bloody_sunday. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "The Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. http://rockhall.com/exhibits/500-songs-that-shaped-rock-and/. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ Smith, Ian K (25 March 2010). "Top 20 Political Songs: Sunday Bloody Sunday". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2010/03/u2-sunday-bloody-political. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 179. ISBN 0-00-719668-7.
- ^ de la Parra, Pimm Jal (March 1995). U2 Live: A Concert Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9198-7.
- ^ Thrills, Adrian (26 February 1983). "War & Peace". NME. http://u2_interviews.tripod.com/id19.html. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
- ^ U2. Under a Blood Red Sky. Island Records. Compact disc, 1983.
- ^ U2, Gavin Taylor (director). (1983). Under a Blood Red Sky. [VHS]. RCA / Columbia Video.
- ^ Chatterton, Mark (2001). U2 The Complete Encyclopedia. London: Firefly Publishing.
- ^ a b U2, Phil Joanou (director). (1999). U2: Rattle and Hum. [DVD]. Paramount.
- ^ Mackey, Liam (1998-12-01). "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Part 1". Hot Press. http://atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=2436. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ Guzman, Isaac (2001-10-26). "No Bombast, but U2 Bands Together with N.Y.". New York Daily News.
- ^ U2, Hamish Hamilton (director). (2005). Vertigo 2005: U2 Live from Chicago. [DVD]. Island / Interscope Video.
- ^ Hutchinson, Kevin. "Can't We All Just Coexist?". http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=3995. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
- ^ "(Polish) Jerozolimie". http://zafryki.art.pl/coex/coex.html. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
- ^ U2 Concert, Sydney 11 Nov 2006.
- ^ Edith Bowman: Lunch with Bono. BBC. BBC Radio 1, London, England. 2009-08-19. 35:30 minutes in. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
- ^ Cave, Damien, et al. (2004-06-24). "U2's Gamble at Red Rocks". Rolling Stone: 146.
- ^ U2Wanderer.org. "U2Wanderer.org - U2 Discography - By Song U2 Discography". http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/songs.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ U2Wanderer.org. "U2Wanderer.org - U2 Discography - U2 Video and DVD Releases". http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/video.html. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- ^ "U2: Charts & Awards: Billboard Singles". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifwxqr5ldde~T51. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
References
- Alan, Carter (1997). U2: The Road to Pop. Boston: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-19930-5.
- Assayas, Michka (2005). Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 1-57322-309-3.
- Dunphy, Eamon (1987). Unforgettable Fire. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-38974-9.
- Stockman, Steve (2003). Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2. Orlando, Florida: Relevant Books. ISBN 0-9760357-5-8.
- U2 (2006). McCormick, Neil. ed. U2 by U2. New York: HarperCollins Publisher. ISBN 0-06-077675-7.
External links
