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| "A Sort of Homecoming" | |
|---|---|
| Song byU2 | |
| from the albumThe Unforgettable Fire | |
| Released | 1984 |
| Genre | Rock,post-punk |
| Length | 5:28 |
| Label | Island |
| Composer | U2 |
| Lyricist | Bono |
| Producers | Brian Eno,Daniel Lanois |
"A Sort of Homecoming" is a song by Irishrock bandU2, and is the opening track on their 1984 album,The Unforgettable Fire. A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-trackEP,Wide Awake in America.
As the opening track onThe Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming" epitomises the new direction U2 had taken.[1] A far more atmospheric album than the previous overt-rock ofWar, the album has a rich and orchestrated sound.[1] Like much of the album, the song replaces the hard-hitting martial drum sound ofWar with a subtlerpolyrhythmicshuffle, and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix.[2]
On theWar Tour and leading up to recordingThe Unforgettable Fire, U2 lead singer and lyricist,Bono, had become a voracious reader. He read fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song-writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poetic one.[3] He read works of poetPaul Celan, whose line "poetry is a sort of homecoming" inspired not just the song's title but the song itself.[3] Celan's profound spiritual doubt contrasts with U2 members' previous religious certainties. The song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band had become more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and religious beliefs in comparison to during theOctober-War period.[4] The phrase, "poetry is a sort of homecoming" had additional significance for Bono as a singer who was constantly away from home and travelling.[3]
According to guitaristThe Edge in a 1984 interview, producerDaniel Lanois made a reference mix of the instrumental whilst recording the backing track which was difficult to match whilst recording the vocals, hence the vocals were bounced on top of the existing rough mix.[5] According to bassistAdam Clayton, Bono's vocals for the song were re-recorded at the last minute. The band had worked overnight to finishThe Unforgettable Fire by 8 a.m. on the final day of the recording sessions so Lanois could deliver the tapes formastering. As they listened back to the song, Bono said that he wanted to record anothertake of his vocals. With his taxi to the airport waiting outside, Lanois relented and cued up the tapes, allowing Bono one final take. Lanois told the band that he wouldmix it at the mastering studio in London and then departed.[6]
"A Sort of Homecoming" is in the key of D. The song has a tempo of 118 beats per minute.[7]
A film of U2 on tour in Northern Europe in October–November 1984 was made to accompany a live version[8] of the song, which was used as a television video to promoteThe Unforgettable Fire album, showing the band on the road travelling through London, in France and theLow Countries, and in performance at several venues, including theWestfalenhalle inDortmund,West Germany, returning across theNorth Sea by ferry boat to theBritish Isles at the song's conclusion.[9][10][11]
Coldplay lead singerChris Martin wrote forRolling Stone magazine's100 Greatest Artists of All Time[12] the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart. The first song onThe Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward—it's so rousing, brilliant and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby."Pearl Jam have covered the song on numerous occasions with lead singerEddie Vedder often playing it by himself on guitar.
The live premiere of "A Sort of Homecoming" came duringThe Unforgettable Fire Tour on 17 September 1984.[13] When played live, the song would start with justThe Edge playing whileBono sang. After the first verse, the rest of the band would join in.[citation needed]
It was performed regularly on the rest of The Unforgettable Fire Tour, typically after "The Electric Co.", and was played occasionally on the first two legs of the next tour,The Joshua Tree Tour. It was dropped from the band's live set on 27 June 1987 and did not reappear again until the second leg of theElevation Tour in 2001.[14]
It was played live again for the first time in 14 years during the band's homecoming gig atSlane Castle inIreland on 25 August 2001, however the performance didn't go well with Bono struggling to recall its original lyrical construction. It made only one more Elevation Tour appearance, when at a concert at theOakland Arena on 16 November 2001 a fan was invited up on stage by the band to perform on an acoustic guitar, and he began playing the song impromptu.[15] U2 played along but Bono's recollection of the lyrics was even worse than at the Slane Castle gig three months earlier, with him admitting as much mid-song to the audience, and he re-coursed to improvised word-play instead, during which he citedVan Morrison's work as a source of inspiration for the song originally.[16]A Sort of Homecoming was not performed again until opening night ofThe Joshua Tree Tour 2017, where it has been performed occasionally in alternation with "Bad."[14]
A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-trackEP,Wide Awake in America. It is also the only song with lyrics inside the sleeve for the album.
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboardTop Rock Tracks[17] | 45 |
