The Edge and Bono by U2
Photo: Getty Images, Chung Sung-Jun. All rights reserved.
With “Sunday Bloody Sunday” U2 set a musical monument to one of the most horrific moments in the history of Ireland/Northern Ireland. Now, on the 50th anniversary of the bloody event that has gone down in history as “Bloody Sunday”, the Irish band has once again commemorated the terrible day and put an acoustic version of their piece online.
In a black-and-white video posted to U2’s Instagram page, frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge perform the 1983 classic that appeared on the War album.
Many fans of the band will immediately notice that Bono slightly changed the lyrics. The last stanza reads: “Here at the murder scene / The virus of fiction, reality TV/ Why so many mothers cry/ Religion is the enemy of the Holy Spirit guide/ And the battle just begun/ Where is the victory Jesus won?”
The musicians accompanied their Instagram post with the lines “30 January 2022 – With love, Bono & Edge”. Archive images of the bloody Sunday in 1972 complement the video. On January 30, 1972, 13 Irishmen were shot dead and 13 others shot by soldiers of the British Parachute Regiment in the Northern Irish city of Derry during a protest march against the policy of the British government under Edward Heath. The Northern Ireland conflict then escalated.
U2 have consistently played Sunday Bloody Sunday live since it was released in 1983. With its catchy drum rhythm and the sing-along lines “How long, how long must we sing this song?”, it is one of the band’s most important songs.
After U2 released a new song “Your Song Saved My Life” in November 2021 after a long time, guitarist The Edge recently emphasized that the group is already working on material for a follow-up to “Songs Of Experience” (2017). Bono, meanwhile, spoke out with surprising views on U2’s music and what he felt was an unpalatable band name.