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U2 — Sunday Bloody Sunday
Album: War
Avg rating:
7.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3282









Released: 1983
Length: 4:32
Plays (last 30 days): 0
I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away.
How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
'Cause tonight
We can be as one, tonight.

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead-end street.
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall.

Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Oh, let's go.

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart.

Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.

How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
'Cause tonight
We can be as one, tonight.
Tonight.

Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your tears away.
I'll wipe your bloodshot eyes.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Sunday, bloody Sunday.

Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday
Yeah, let's go!

And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality.
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die.

The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On...

Sunday, bloody Sunday
Sunday, bloody Sunday.
Comments (300)add comment
 Ok_Sobriquet wrote:

Should we tell 'em there's a PSD button or should we just let them keep banging their head?
Dunno but, wouldn't seem that either would help! LOL  I guess that some people just hear noise but, then there are those of us that recognize that many, many songs actually have a story or, a theme that it's based upon. U2, among other bands, typically have at least a couple songs, that kinda "highlight" what the band is all about. 

Ahhh, this just brings backtmemories of the days of newly minted sobriety. Dancing out the demons in church halls with a bunch of crazy people all clinging to a new life without drugs and alcohol. 
This is such a strong song from the early 80s.  It's indelible on my memory from that magical time in my youth!
 Ok_Sobriquet wrote:

Should we tell 'em there's a PSD button or should we just let them keep banging their head?



LOL! Too funny!  ...let them keep banging their head!      
How long? How long indeed. Violent critters we are.
 Fabienne wrote:
Is this song never ending? {#Frustrated}

Should we tell 'em there's a PSD button or should we just let them keep banging their head?
 floydpink wrote:

Segue Bloody Segue genius, Bill, perfect follow up to The Cranberries Zombie. RIP Dolores



Today it is followed by "Listening Wind" by Peter Gabriel, once again proving your segue comment as true.
Exceptional tune!!!  
Good pick for today. For 2021. 
Twice in '83 we were blown away by this transcendent group here. They had us singing and marching along to that ferocious Celtic drumbeat for hours -- and they've got us for the rest of our lives! 
When U2 made fine music
 floydpink wrote:
Segue Bloody Segue genius, Bill, perfect follow up to The Cranberries Zombie. RIP Dolores
 

And now it's 2020, and the same segue.  Still good.
 atmanv1 wrote:


who knows I skipped it after about 1 min.
 
Gave it a 10 just for you.
Follows Zombie (Cranberries). Perfect. Is Invisible Sun next?
This song should be above 10
 meatmike wrote:

Yes, in that intolerance and irrational violence will never end.
 
What is that supposed to mean? I fail to see the analogy as it relates to this discussion. 
 meatmike wrote:

Yes, in that intolerance and irrational violence will never end.
 

who knows I skipped it after about 1 min.
 Fabienne wrote:
Is this song never ending? {#Frustrated}
 
Yes, in that intolerance and irrational violence will never end.
 coloradojohn wrote:
Love it! Always have, always will. "When fact is fiction and TV reality..." really echoes loudly these days. Are we witnessing The Fall?
 
CoJo - I'll go +1 to 9 to highlight how true you comment is.  LLRP!!  Hope you're well wherever you roam (back in Japan?) 
have a listen to the 1987 live track.. where he tells off the Irish Americans for supporting the IRA when they bombed old aged pensioners... Bono tells them 'fuck the revolution'! But thanks to Adams and McGuinness and their loyalist visionaries we now have relative peace. We appreciate it.
Perfect.

It's easy to forget that U2 had talent once and released some of the greatest rock ever created. Brilliant tune.
amazing drum line - iconic
 jbjnr wrote:
A fantastic track, from a fantastic album - but the sound quality of this version appears very bad in my headphones - was it always so tinny (and saturated by the sound of it)  or is this just a bad mp3 rip of it?
 
i think it was always kinda rough around the edges
 Krakus wrote:
Best U2 song ever. Still gives me chills.
 
ditto
Long Live  RP


Rating to me is only 7
Segue Bloody Segue genius, Bill, perfect follow up to The Cranberries Zombie. RIP Dolores

I remember buying this album. I should probabally listen to it again just to remind myself just how good a band they were.

Best U2 song ever. Still gives me chills.
Nothing beats this live...
 gippy73 wrote:
It's definitively impossible to not pump up the volume with this incredible song!

"A palla!!!" ;) 

 
Indeed! {#Cheers}
Love it! Always have, always will. "When fact is fiction and TV reality..." really echoes loudly these days. Are we witnessing The Fall?
Hey, great "occupation set". How about "Black Day in July" by Gordon lightfoot next?
Red Rocks 2016?


A fantastic track, from a fantastic album - but the sound quality of this version appears very bad in my headphones - was it always so tinny (and saturated by the sound of it)  or is this just a bad mp3 rip of it?
 Ulises wrote:

The same can be said of the whiners.

 
And those that categorize people that disagree with your opinion as whiners
Good old U2.  Oh, the memories . . .
It's definitively impossible to not pump up the volume with this incredible song!

"A palla!!!" ;) 
I first heard this live at the 1983 US Festival in California.  U2 was on in the middle of the afternoon, not being the huge band they were to become.  They did manage, however, to capture the attention of the 300,000+ crowd, the first band of the day to do so.  A week later they played their famous show at Red Rocks in Colorado that was played on MTV, capturing the attention of millions, and they were on their way.

Last year I flew to NYC to see their final show of their North American Innocence Tour at Madison Square Garden.  This tune was prominent in the show.  Amazing.
 kingart wrote:
A great song. 
And one of the most abusively overplayed FM tracks in the history of the planet.
If I never heard the *&^%&*! thing again, it would be too soon.
 

 
The same can be said of the whiners.
I remember hearing this when it came out and being floored by how good they were. I still love them.
A great song. 
And one of the most abusively overplayed FM tracks in the history of the planet.
If I never heard the *&^%&*! thing again, it would be too soon.
 
This is GREAT U2.
It would be so easy to criticize it as derivative and repetitive, but that would be ignoring its emotional impact.  Just listen! 
Not again
Is this song never ending? {#Frustrated}
Still a great song!  Good reminder to dust off the U2 collection, I haven't listened to them in a while.  {#Music}
Indeed: how long must you play this song?

Even Gerry Adams must be sick of hearing this. 
RP just played "Every Breaking Wave" two songs ago.  Hearing these two songs separated by 30 years so close together reminds me of how much they've changed.  This is a  9 or 10.  The new stuff...not so much. 
Liked them b4 & during this time period.....b4 they became so commercial...my ex use to buy their albums when they were in the import music section
 Giverofpain wrote:

How relevant is this song 30 years later?  Like it or not, it is still here and as a testimony still being played.  This song was good in 83 and is great 2014.


I agree that it is a great song, but its being played is not really a "testimony" to its present-day relevance.  That would mean that every song on the playlist is still (if ever) relevant - such as this other popular ditty.
U Talkin' U2 To Me?
who2 
They were so EARNEST then. They are much better now.
oops.  U2 just two songs ago 

How relevant is this song 30 years later?  Like it or not, it is still here and as a testimony still being played.  This song was good in 83 and is great 2014.


....This is NOT a rebel song.....!
 MinMan wrote:
yea... Bono is a wanker. 'nuf sed?

 
..... can't argue with that one
 Stingray wrote:

I've read lots of rediculous posts here over the past 10+ years and did not hesitate myself to post quite a bit of bullshit now and then (on groups I had to change my opinion about later - Porcupine is one such example, a group I did not know first and disliked, while I hold them in highest esteem today).

That said I can nothing but laugh about your foolish-childish and outright dumb remarks. I am not going to refer about the musical qualities of U2 - everybody knows they are not great musicians (maybe with the exception of Bono's voice and songwriting in sveral, certainly not all cases). To compare Neil Young with Bono alone is so stupid and tells so much about you (for example that you do not play any instrument, though you might possibly blow on your comb now and then, if nothing else is availble to blow) and your limited knowledge of music, that one does not know to simply ignore you, or inform you what a little musical creature you are. Leave alone NEIL YOUNG is a social hero for at least two generations, what counts here now is that he is a masterful musician, an incredible songwriter with a catalogue 20 times bigger than U2's and a spaced-out guitar player of the rare kind (in his own style) Bono and the 2-and-a-half other musical amateurs cannot touch Young in his sleep. When young is still touring and writing great music, Bono will already sit on his island with Bill Gates discussing how to save the world.

You are simply not knowing what you are talking about. I looked shortly through you ratings, what you like and dislike! That told me where you are coming from - musically, while your choice of words seem to proof that you grew up in one of the million trailor-parks Congo, Guinea-Bissau and USA are so well-known for.

You are without ANY credibility, Miss Horstman!

 



 
I love it when you get up on your hobby horse and give us a good old fashion rant.  But I do not agree.  You place a lot of value on musicianship, which is your right to do.  I personally don't give two shits in a bucket how well someone drums or sings or plays guitar. That's old fart grandpa bullshit.  Play me a fucking melody -- that is all I care about.  Your "opinion" is about as worthless as the toilet paper I flushed down the toilet when I took a shit this morning.   U2 is MUCH better than Squeal Young.   GET OUT.


 
yea... Bono is a wanker. 'nuf sed?
 Stingray wrote:
 . . . To compare Neil Young with Bono alone is so stupid and tells so much about you (for example that you do not play any instrument, though you might possibly blow on your comb now and then, if nothing else is available to blow) . . .
 
{#Roflol}  (I never thought this day would come, but Stingray made me laugh.)
 horstman wrote:

Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.



 

I've read lots of rediculous posts here over the past 10+ years and did not hesitate myself to post quite a bit of bullshit now and then (on groups I had to change my opinion about later - Porcupine is one such example, a group I did not know first and disliked, while I hold them in highest esteem today).

That said I can nothing but laugh about your foolish-childish and outright dumb remarks. I am not going to refer about the musical qualities of U2 - everybody knows they are not great musicians (maybe with the exception of Bono's voice and songwriting in sveral, certainly not all cases). To compare Neil Young with Bono alone is so stupid and tells so much about you (for example that you do not play any instrument, though you might possibly blow on your comb now and then, if nothing else is availble to blow) and your limited knowledge of music, that one does not know to simply ignore you, or inform you what a little musical creature you are. Leave alone NEIL YOUNG is a social hero for at least two generations, what counts here now is that he is a masterful musician, an incredible songwriter with a catalogue 20 times bigger than U2's and a spaced-out guitar player of the rare kind (in his own style) Bono and the 2-and-a-half other musical amateurs cannot touch Young in his sleep. When young is still touring and writing great music, Bono will already sit on his island with Bill Gates discussing how to save the world.

You are simply not knowing what you are talking about. I looked shortly through you ratings, what you like and dislike! That told me where you are coming from - musically, while your choice of words seem to proof that you grew up in one of the million trailor-parks Congo, Guinea-Bissau and USA are so well-known for.

You are without ANY credibility, Miss Horstman!

 


Simple song, if you ask me!
 jnesser wrote:

ditto - i dislike anything after War. they lost all their emotion and starting writing for the record company's sake.

 

I, too, lost interest in the band after this "War" effort but insist their passion was missing in many efforts after this one.
 hortsman:



What a load of crap. First, you compare apples and oranges. U2 and Neil Young are largely different types of music, even though the material and subject matter are not dissimilar. Second, Neil Young is about to end his first half-century in the business. I think if he was talentless, he would long ago have faded and vanished. Not so. Third, some of his music is as iconic and as instantly recognizable as anything U2 has ever done, perhaps more so, as Neil is irrevocably linked with the '60s-70s era that may be the single most shining and memorable years of popular music, with the likes of Ohio, Woodstock, and Southern Man (and in the '90s, Throw Your Hatred Down and Flags of Freedom) being about as steeped in counter-culture anti-war-and-racism as any other artist. Fourth, your hyperbole is crass and knuckle headed. Fifth, it's not just music. You should be aware of Young's efforts, like Bono, to make the world be a better place.  https://www.lincvolt.com  What, exactly, are YOU doing to that end?

horstman wrote:
Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.
And they captured the essence of war in a far better, more approachable manner than Mr. Young did, any day, any time.
  
horstman, you disappoint me! Your post is atypically mean-spirited. Nothing against U2, they had their moments (2 great albums and several good ones), but your comments are so laughably off-base that I have to assume they were simply a failed attempt at humour. The lads from U2 would be the first to set you straight on this.

While The Edge gets (well deserved) props for his role in developing U2s sound, the stripped down production of their early albums reminds me how central Larry Mullen Jr. is to their sonics.  Yes, this song emphasizes the martial beat, but again, it only reinforces Clayton's role in the overall U2 sound.
 horstman wrote:

Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.

And they captured the essence of war in a far better, more approachable manner than Mr. Young did, any day, any time.


Nuff said.   

 
Love U2, Love Neil. Both part of my all-time top 10 artists.
 Can't see it any better that On the Beach did.


 horstman wrote:
Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.
And they captured the essence of war in a far better, more approachable manner than Mr. Young did, any day, any time.
 
horstman, you disappoint me! Your post is atypically mean-spirited. Nothing against U2, they had their moments (2 great albums and several good ones), but your comments are so laughably off-base that I have to assume they were simply a failed attempt at humour. The lads from U2 would be the first to set you straight on this.
 horstman wrote:

Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.

And they captured the essence of war in a far better, more approachable manner than Mr. Young did, any day, any time.
Nuff said.   
 
I agree...  well said...  love this song...
 
 kurtster wrote:


I'm with you.  And the music of the 60's is so far better than most of what has come since.

Can't think of anything from then that is as whiny as this.  Even Neil Young's stuff from back then ...

 
Neil Young has about as much musical talent as Bono's last fart! This group stood head and shoulders over anything that Neil did either as a solo artist or with CSNY. Easily.

And they captured the essence of war in a far better, more approachable manner than Mr. Young did, any day, any time.


Nuff said.   
 Aud wrote:


In the 80's with Reagan's Starwars yeah, but.... be a little kid during the Cuban Missile crisis and watching your parents visibly panicing getting that bomb shelter ready.

 

I'm with you.  And the music of the 60's is so far better than most of what has come since.

Can't think of anything from then that is as whiny as this.  Even Neil Young's stuff from back then ...

The militaristic drumbeat of war is part of the thematic structure of this song...  the lyrics refer directly to a specific historical event on January 30, 1972 in which 26 unarmed civil-rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army, but the song expands beyond that one episode to make a general protest against war and murder...

considering the drone strikes by the current USA administration, which is killing civilians, including women and children, this song is as relevant as ever...
 

ACLU to Obama: ‘We are tired of living in a nation governed by fear’

Under President Obama, the United States is “a nation governed by fear,” the American Civil Liberties Union says in an open letter that echoes the criticisms Obama has made of George W. Bush’s national security policies.

“We say as Americans that we are tired of seeing liberty sacrificed on the altar of security and having a handful of lawmakers decide what we should and should not know,” the ACLU writes in a statement circulated to grassroots supporters and addressed to Obama. “We are tired of living in a nation governed by fear instead of the principles of freedom and liberty that made this nation great.”...


oh listen; it's The Edge and his one riff.
 oneyet wrote:
Oooh to be Young in the eighties.

The shadow  of the bomb hanging over us all the time.

 

In the 80's with Reagan's Starwars yeah, but.... be a little kid during the Cuban Missile crisis and watching your parents visibly panicing getting that bomb shelter ready.
I re-read a couple of screens worth of comments for this song ... and I just cracked up!  You guys are hilarious!
Oooh to be Young in the eighties.

The shadow  of the bomb hanging over us all the time.
Yuck.

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 
 leafmold wrote:
It's remarkable how young they all were when this came out—and it still sounds damn good.
 
I would consider U2 a god Musical Act rather than good Artists as their music never really progressed much beyond this.
  i totally agree
max_redonx wrote:
Bill PLEASE stop playing this dreck!!!!!    I beg you!   Easily the most overrated band in recorded history. 
 


Excellent transition from "Crystal Frontier."
Discussing this song's purely musical merits and ignoring its political context and impact is about as intelligent as it would be to criticise Picasso's Guernica in terms of brushwork and nothing else. 
 SaintPeter wrote:
This song makes my skin crawl.
 
And well it should. So much hate has made so much pain. This song should make your skin crawl.
It's remarkable how young they all were when this came out—and it still sounds damn good.
 Hannio wrote:

Nothing pisses some people off more than the success of others.

 

I agree.  I still can't stand Bono though.  Sorry.  Talk about a publicity whore.
Look!

Still crawling!!
This song makes my skin crawl.
I finally made it to Red Rocks last summer.  Looks like an awesome place to see a show.  Sadly, I was there on a Saturday morning, but still impressive.  The place was packed with exercise freaks training up and down the rows.

 jnesser wrote:

ditto - i dislike anything after War. they lost all their emotion and starting writing for the record company's sake.
  You don't like the music, ok.  You think the lyrics are lousy, ok.  The drummer and bass player are weak, fine.  The guitarist really can't play, ok.  The singer is monotonous, fine. 

These would all be opinions on the songs that you are absolutely entitled to have,  based as they are on your own subjective tastes.  I would disagree with you on all counts but, again, fine.

But - "they lost all emotion and started writing for the record company's sake" - Have you actually ever listened to The Joshua Tree, or Rattle and Hum, or Achtung Baby or All that You ....., No Line..... etc.  That is nonsensical opinoin based on nothing.
 blackjackshellac wrote:
Okay, the tunes good, but they deffo bloody well went downhill from Sunday Bloody Sunday.
 
ditto - i dislike anything after War. they lost all their emotion and starting writing for the record company's sake.
LOVE the new PSD button.
Bill PLEASE stop playing this dreck!!!!!    I beg you!   Easily the most overrated band in recorded history. 
<yawn>
 blackjackshellac wrote:
Okay, the tunes good, but they deffo bloody well went downhill from Sunday Bloody Sunday.
 
agreed

I got to see the concert in Philly when this came out.
We camped out overnite for tickets behind the music store.
The concert was great. The camping out with friends was even better.......


Okay, the tunes good, but they deffo bloody well went downhill from Sunday Bloody Sunday.
 kr,mn-eric wrote:
at least is isn't anything from their newer albums!!
 

which actually have some fantastic songs on them
Has moved me from the first time I heard it. 10+++
 redmachine wrote:
You're all mad.
Awful middle of the road over-worthy fake rock, perfect for the shallow consumerist western cultures that feed the bloated corporations Bono and his like suckle at the teat of.
He is an utter prick.
 
Nothing pisses some people off more than the success of others.

Pure Genius.
at least is isn't anything from their newer albums!!
 redmachine wrote:
You're all mad.
Awful middle of the road over-worthy fake rock, perfect for the shallow consumerist western cultures that feed the bloated corporations Bono and his like suckle at the teat of.
He is an utter prick.
 
Whether he's a prick sucking at a tit, I don't know....

But I do know I don't enjoy the song.  Pretentious crap, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Not again!
 sirdroseph wrote:
Overplayed? yes Bono a hypocrite? yes Have they become a glossy, commercial, corporate joke? yes Is this a fantastic song? yes{#Notworthy} 8->9!
 
There ya go.  Logic, check.  Acknowledgment of past greatness, check.  Acknowledgement of currenty soullessness, check. 

That line has all the making of a valid comment that contributes to the dialogue. 

Weird how old this song actually is/makes me feel.
 MiracleDrug wrote:
Bono and his mates ARE and always has/have been BRILLIANT...

even when they were crap... {#Lol}

the only true ART to come from that generation of Rock.

(WISH the scale went up to ELEVEN)
 

Yes great song, but I think your evaluation of "true ART to come from that generation of Rock" could be somewhat presumptuous, especially given that you were apparently little more than a toddler during the "era" you refer to.  Of course, we're all entitled to our opinions.
{#Meditate}


 redmachine wrote:
You're all mad.
Awful middle of the road over-worthy fake rock, perfect for the shallow consumerist western cultures that feed the bloated corporations Bono and his like suckle at the teat of.
He is an utter prick.
 
Do try to avoid splitting your infinitives.

Bono and his mates ARE and always has/have been BRILLIANT...

even when they were crap... {#Lol}

the only true ART to come from that generation of Rock.

(WISH the scale went up to ELEVEN)


You're all mad.
Awful middle of the road over-worthy fake rock, perfect for the shallow consumerist western cultures that feed the bloated corporations Bono and his like suckle at the teat of.
He is an utter prick.
Brings back early years of MTV video (Bono singing live at Red Rocks)- and the very essence of anthem-based R&R. Great to hear agin.

 romeotuma wrote:


We be dancing...  love it...

 
We :)
Not these one dimentional hacks again.
bloody awful.
I love RP but the amount of this shite they play on here is a nightmare.
Does no-one outside the UK realise how piss poor these jokers are?
Just got to see them play this live in Moncton, New Brunswick this past weekend for their final concert of the 360 tour. It was as fantastic then as it was in 1983 when it came out! Can't hear it enough
9 -> 10
 Stingray wrote:
OK, take it this way - I really dislike early U2!
 
I really like only early U2, first three albums.


23 years after seeing the War tour in Chapel Hill NC, Bono spoke to me again at the National Prayer Breakfast https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/bononationalprayerbreakfast.htm
iconic doesn't even to begin to describe this... if you don't get the dynamics of Northern Ireland, you won't get this...

 Zigi wrote:

That's probably his over enthusiastic use of delay and reverb which gives it a really 80s FX happy guitar sound.
 
There's no delay in this track. And I think there's no delay in any track on War.
 

and its true we are immune
when fact is fiction, TV reality. . .  
 

dagnabbit, Bill.   

Stop playing all this excellent music.  I have to pee ...  LOL


 TreborG2 wrote:

so now are we to find people posting in every U2 song how much bono is a sell-out and everything else negative? 
In the words of the great Oddball:

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?"


 

This is what Bono wanted, be happy for him.
How can anyone not love this song? 

Oh that's right - it's all a matter of opinion.

And mine is this is a masterpiece.