July 05, 2004
This is what the internet is all about, at least in the context of the music world. Someone was hanging out near U2's studio in Dublin, and recorded 53 seconds of a track they were performing as it could be heard through the open windows of the studio. A link to the mp3 was then posted to a popular U2 fan forum, and now I'm sharing the link with you (now hosted on my server):
The sound quality is not very good -- obviously, given the recording conditions -- but you can hear some classic Edge guitar work and a great vocal by Bono. There's a directness about it that reminds me of early U2, and something about it brings Achtung Baby to mind as well. It seems to have that elusive "it" Bono likes to talk about, especially as the chorus comes in. The average U2 fan might not be all that excited about this clip, but for a fanatic like me, it's Christmas in July!
UPDATE: Several fans have attempted to transcribe the lyrics on the clip. This interpretation is courtesy of Interference.com:
VERSEPosted by JohnH at July 5, 2004 10:59 AM | TrackBack'I was born, a child of grace
Built this town in my own space
Everything was lovely such a beautiful place
You left me no illusion
Stole your hand across the world
Shadow cast across my room
You ailing is my cue
The light in the confusionCHORUS
All because of you
ALLLLL because of you
All because of you
I am, ALIVE, mmm I know you care'
I couldn't get the link to work??? Hmm, mysterious!
John, you're like a super U2 spy. You seem to know what they're doing before they do.
Posted by: holton at July 5, 2004 11:08 AMI uploaded it to my webspace, so try again, it should work now.
In this instance, my spy powers weren't working all that much... I didn't have to do anything but check my email, because @U2 put it in their daily email blast.
Posted by: John at July 5, 2004 11:23 AMYeah, I listened to this too, and I do think it's a) genuine and b) promising. After this nearly 4-year wait, I'm glad to hear something, even if it's just through the windows of the studio...
Posted by: Beth at July 5, 2004 12:01 PMthe song sound sreely good BABEY, , yeah 'its alllllllllll beacuse of you' , if you repart it a few times, it becomes reel catcchy. god bless that stalker!
Posted by: SeanJ at July 14, 2004 09:54 AMOoooooooooooh. Nice.
You know that at a recent photo shoot in France they LOST an unfinished copy of their new album?
Wish I knew where it went...
Posted by: hugo at July 28, 2004 08:11 AMI heard about that... also Bono said that if the bootleg showed up online, they were prepared to officially release the full album on iTunes. That would've been a huge move for the industry but I would've been disappointed. My poor Win98 computer can't handle iTunes!
Posted by: John at August 7, 2004 02:25 AM