Set for release on March 17th -- St. Patrick's Day -- news of the album broke when members of their fan club received a letter that appears to be written by The Edge that says, "When a song becomes well known, it's always associated with a particular voice. I can't think of 'Tangled Up in Blue' without the reedy timbre of Bob Dylan or 'All the Time in the World' without the unique voice of Louis Armstrong.

"So what happens when a voice develops and experience and maturity give it additional resonance? U2 have been around long enough to know what that is like. It's true for us all, but it's particularly true for Bono."

He goes on to say that they were "very young men" when they recorded some of their biggest songs, and that they now "mean something quite" to them. On the new album they brought the songs "back...to the present day and give them the benefit or otherwise of a 21st-century re-imagining...

"Intimacy replaced post-punk urgency. New keys. New chords. New tempos and new lyrics arrived. It turns out that a great song is kind of indestructible. Once we surrendered our reverence for the original version each song started to open up to a new authentic voice of this time, of the people we are, and particularly the singer Bono has become...

"I hope you like our new direction.”

In the "After the Afterwords" section of his book, Bono writes, "During lockdown, we were able to re-imagine 40 U2 tracks for the Songs of Surrender collection, which gave me a chance to live inside those songs again as I wrote this memoir. It also meant I could deal with something that's been nagging me for some time. The lyrics on a few songs that I've always felt were never quite written. They are now. (I think.)"

The 40 songs that Bono used as chapter titles are:

“Out of Control” – Boy
“Stories for Boys” – Boy
“I Will Follow” – Boy
“11 O’Clock Tick Tock” – non-album single
“Two Hearts Beat as One” – War
“Sunday Bloody Sunday” – War
“40” – War
“Bad” – The Unforgettable Fire
“Pride (In the Name of Love)” – The Unforgettable Fire
“Where the Streets Have No Name” – The Joshua Tree
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – The Joshua Tree
“With or Without You” – The Joshua Tree
“Red Hill Mining Town” – The Joshua Tree
“Desire” – Rattle and Hum
“All I Want Is You” – Rattle and Hum
“One” – Achtung Baby
“Until the End of the World” – Achtung Baby
“The Fly” – Achtung Baby
“Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” – Achtung Baby
“Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” – Zooropa
“Dirty Day” – Zooropa
"If God Will Send His Angels” – Pop
“Beautiful Day” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
“Walk On” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
“Peace on Earth” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
“Electrical Storm” – non-album single
“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
“Vertigo” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
“Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
“Crumbs from Your Table” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
“Miracle Drug” – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
“Invisible” – non-album single
“Ordinary Love” – non-album single
“The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” – Songs of Innocence
“Song for Someone” – Songs of Innocence
“Every Breaking Wave” – Songs of Innocence
“Cedarwood Road” – Songs of Innocence
“The Little Things that Give You Away” – Songs of Experience
“Lights of Home” – Songs of Experience
“Get Out of Your Own Way” – Songs of Experience

Sitemap