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New Year's Day (U2 song)

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"New Year's Day"
Song

"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at #10 on the singles chart, #11 on the Dutch Top 40 and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their career. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed the single at #427 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[1] This song was also included in the Pitchfork 500.

Writing and composition

The lyric had its origins in a love song from Bono to his wife,[2] but was subsequently reshaped and inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement.[3]

In 1983, Bono said of the song, "It would be stupid to start drawing up battle lines, but I think the fact that 'New Year's Day' made the Top Ten indicated a disillusionment among record buyers. I don't think 'New Year's Day' was a pop single, certainly not in the way that Mickie Most might define a pop single as something that lasts three minutes and three weeks in the chart. I don't think we could have written that kind of song."[4]

Live performances

"New Year's Day" is U2's fifth most frequently performed live song,[5] with The Edge switching back and forth between piano and guitar during the song. In some early performances, Bono also played guitar. It has been a standard on every U2 tour since its debut on 1 December 1982 at the first show of the War Tour's Pre-Tour. During the 1980s, The Edge used a Fender Stratocaster to perform this song, along with a keyboard. During the 1990s and 2000s, he has alternated between a Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard. The Les Paul the Edge used to write this song was sold for charity. Up until the Elevation Tour, Clayton normally used a chorus effect on his bass guitar for this song live.

"New Year's Day" has appeared on U2 concert video releases including 1983's Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky, Zoo TV: Live from Sydney, PopMart: Live from Mexico City, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago, Live from Paris, and U2 3D.

The B-side of "New Year's Day", "Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop?)", was never performed live. However, an early version known simply as "Pete the Chop" was played at some concerts in 1980.[6]

At 2005 Vertigo Tour stage at Silesian Stadium in Poland a quite remarkable example of fan action occurred. During New Year's Day, the lower sections of the crowd waved red coloured items while other sections waved white, creating the Polish flag and stunning the band. [7] This was repeated at 2009 U2 360° Tour at the same venue. [8] [9] [10]

Track listings

7" - Island / WIP 6848 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Short version)3:53
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
7" - Island / 811 323-7 (France)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Edit)3:40
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
7" - Island / 7S-86 (Japan)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Special version)4:16
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
2x7" - Island / UWIP6848 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Short version)3:53
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
3."Fire" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)3:45
4."I Threw a Brick Through a Window"/"A Day Without Me" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)6:58
12" - Island / 12 WIP 6848 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Album version)5:35
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
3."Fire" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)3:45
4."I Threw a Brick Through a Window"/"A Day Without Me" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)6:58
12" - Island / 814 948-1 (France)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (U.S. remix)4:30
2."Two Hearts Beat as One" (U.S. remix)5:40
CD - Island / 664 973 (Austria)
No.TitleLength
1."New Year's Day" (Album version)5:35
2."Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"3:24
3."Fire" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)3:45
4."I Threw a Brick Through a Window"/"A Day Without Me" (Live from Werchter, July 4, 1982)6:58

Music video

File:New-years-day-video.jpg
The music video features the band performing in the snow.

The video was one of their first to see heavy rotation on MTV. It was filmed in Sälen, Sweden in December 1982 and directed by Meiert Avis. The band only appeared in the performance scenes of the video as it was filmed in the dead of the Swedish winter. U2 guitarist Edge revealed in the official U2 biography that the four people riding on horseback in the video that appeared to be the four U2 members were in fact four Swedish teenage girls disguised as the members of U2 riding on horseback with masks over their faces. This was done as the band were frozen from shooting the video in sub-freezing temperatures the day before. Their biography states that Bono refused to wear any headgear despite the cold weather and had a lot of trouble mouthing the lyrics. The video also features footage of Soviet troops advancing in winter during World War II.

U2 allowed free-of-charge use of this song in a spot prepared by the European Commission. This clip published on YouTube shows a transformation of Poland in last 20 years mixed with short scenes from today’s Warsaw seen from a perspective of a 20-year-old woman.[11]

Chart positions

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top 50[12] 41
Dutch MegaCharts[13] 4
Irish Singles Chart[14] 2
New Zealand Singles Chart[13] 32
Norwegian Singles Chart[13] 9
Swedish Singles Chart[13] 17
UK Singles Chart[15] 10
USA Billboard Hot 100[citation needed] 53
USA Mainstream Rock Tracks[citation needed] 2

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2004-12-09. Retrieved 2008-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  2. ^ Niall Stokes, Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song.
  3. ^ Robert Hilburn, The Los Angeles Times, "Where Craft Ends and Spirit Begins", 8 August 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
  4. ^ Thrills, Adrian (February 26, 1983). "War & Peace". NME. Retrieved 2007-11-06. {{cite web}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  5. ^ All songs U2 played without snippets - U2 on tour
  6. ^ U2 London, 1980-07-13, Marquee Club, Early Days - U2 on tour
  7. ^ http://www.u2gigs.com/show1256.html
  8. ^ http://www.u2gigs.com/show1582.html
  9. ^ http://goyb.u2.com/news/article/5211
  10. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjlvhNKMqpc&feature=player_embedded
  11. ^ A spot prepared by the European Commission
  12. ^ "Search Results: New Year's Day U2". RPM. 1983-05-21. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  13. ^ a b c d "U2 – New Year's Day". Hung Median. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  14. ^ "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 2009-11-23. Note: U2 must be searched manually.
  15. ^ "EveryHit.com search results: U2". Everyhit.com. Retrieved 2009-11-22. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

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