Sunday Bloody Sunday

This song is one of U2's most recognized songs; it's actually one of my favorites but not for reasons that people might think.

The song brings to life the mindless killing that has gone on and still happens in Ireland today. This song in particular is about civil rights activists being gunned down by British troops in Northern Ireland.

Bono made this statement in the middle of performing Sunday Blood Sunday. It was captured on film on Rattle and Hum:

"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. F*ck 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!"

That was "no more" of the song being sung at a concert for over 10 years.

The first U2 concerts I was able to attend were the Popmart tour. I saw them before they went to Europe and afterwords. I remember being at the concert with one of my very good U2 freak friends and hearing the guitar riff from Sunday Bloody Sunday start....I gasped and turned to him! He told me that they had started performing at their concert in Sarjevo (a war torn city). That was the first time I cried at a concert... I knew I was experiencing something that was moving on so many levels...

The Edge did a solo performance during the last leg of the Popmart tour, which definately made the song more somber (as it probably should be). But the last two tours (Elevation and Vertigo) Bono headed the band in performing the song.

If you click the title of this post, it should take you to a video of the best performance of all time by of Sunday Bloody Sunday. U2, Live at Red Rocks.