U2: 40 CLASSIC SONGS RE-IMAGINED FOR NEW ALBUM

By @lisaontheradio

U2 have re-recorded 40 tracks for a new album, Songs of Surrender, which is also the title of Bono's memoir, published in November.

In making the announcement they released a minute-long video showing them throughout the years while a new version of "Beautiful Day" plays.

Set for release on March 17th -- St. Patrick's Day -- news of the album broke when members of their fan club received a letter that appears to be written by The Edge that says, "When a song becomes well known, it's always associated with a particular voice. I can't think of 'Tangled Up in Blue' without the reedy timbre of Bob Dylan or 'All the Time in the World' without the unique voice of Louis Armstrong.

"So what happens when a voice develops and experience and maturity give it additional resonance? U2 have been around long enough to know what that is like. It's true for us all, but it's particularly true for Bono."

He goes on to say that they were "very young men" when they recorded some of their biggest songs, and that they now "mean something quite" to them. On the new album they brought the songs "back...to the present day and give them the benefit or otherwise of a 21st-century re-imagining...

"Intimacy replaced post-punk urgency. New keys. New chords. New tempos and new lyrics arrived. It turns out that a great song is kind of indestructible. Once we surrendered our reverence for the original version each song started to open up to a new authentic voice of this time, of the people we are, and particularly the singer Bono has become...

"I hope you like our new direction.”

In the "After the Afterwords" section of his book, Bono writes, "During lockdown, we were able to re-imagine 40 U2 tracks for the Songs of Surrender collection, which gave me a chance to live inside those songs again as I wrote this memoir. It also meant I could deal with something that's been nagging me for some time. The lyrics on a few songs that I've always felt were never quite written. They are now. (I think.)"

The 40 songs that Bono used as chapter titles are:

  1. “Out of Control” – Boy
  2. “Stories for Boys” – Boy
  3. “I Will Follow” – Boy
  4. “11 O’Clock Tick Tock” – non-album single
  5. “Two Hearts Beat as One” – War
  6. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – War
  7. “40” – War
  8. “Bad” – The Unforgettable Fire
  9. “Pride (In the Name of Love)” – The Unforgettable Fire
  10. “Where the Streets Have No Name” – The Joshua Tree
  11. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – The Joshua Tree
  12. “With or Without You” – The Joshua Tree
  13. “Red Hill Mining Town” – The Joshua Tree
  14. “Desire” – Rattle and Hum
  15. “All I Want Is You” – Rattle and Hum
  16. “One” – Achtung Baby
  17. “Until the End of the World” – Achtung Baby
  18. “The Fly” – Achtung Baby
  19. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” – Achtung Baby
  20. “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” – Zooropa
  21. “Dirty Day” – Zooropa
  22. "If God Will Send His Angels” – Pop
  23. “Beautiful Day” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
  24. “Walk On” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
  25. “Peace on Earth” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
  26. “Electrical Storm” – non-album single
  27. “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
  28. “Vertigo” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
  29. “Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
  30. “Crumbs from Your Table” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
  31. “Miracle Drug” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
  32. “Invisible” – non-album single
  33. “Ordinary Love” – non-album single
  34. “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” – Songs of Innocence
  35. “Song for Someone” – Songs of Innocence
  36. “Every Breaking Wave” – Songs of Innocence
  37. “Cedarwood Road” – Songs of Innocence
  38. “The Little Things that Give You Away” – Songs of Experience
  39. “Lights of Home” – Songs of Experience
  40. “Get Out of Your Own Way” – Songs of Experience

Photo: Getty Images

The 40 tracks are collected together under each of the four band member's names across four separate "albums."

Side 1 – The Edge 

  1. One 
  2. Where the Streets Have No Name 
  3. Stories for Boys 
  4. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock 
  5. Out of Control 
  6. Beautiful Day 
  7. Bad 
  8. Every Breaking Wave 
  9. Walk On (Ukraine) 
  10. Pride (In the Name of Love) 

Side 2 - Larry Mullen

  1. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses 
  2. Get Out of Your Own Way 
  3. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of 
  4. Red Hill Mining Town 
  5. Ordinary Love 
  6. Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own 
  7. Invisible 
  8. Dirty Day 
  9. The Miracle of Joey Ramone 
  10. City of Blinding Lights 

Side 3 - Adam Clayton

  1. Vertigo 
  2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 
  3. Electrical Storm 
  4. The Fly 
  5. If God Will Send His Angels  
  6. Desire 
  7. Until the End of the World 
  8. Song for Someone 
  9. All I Want Is You 
  10. Peace on Earth 

Side 4 - Bono

  1. With or Without You 
  2. Stay 
  3. Sunday Bloody Sunday 
  4. Lights of Home 
  5. Cedarwood Road 
  6. I Will Follow 
  7. Two Hearts Beat as One 
  8. Miracle Drug 
  9. The Little Things That Give You Away 
  10. 40 

Songs of Surrender will be released on March 17th in multiple configurations -- CD, vinyl, digital and cassette -- as well as in a Super Deluxe Hardback Collector’s Box Set.

The only two albums U2 are not reworking songs off of are 1981's October and 2009's No Line on the Horizon.

U2 haven't had a big album since 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Their last album of original material was 2017's Songs of Experience.

Source: u2.com and Premiere

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