City of Blinding Lights

The song reached number one in Spain, and peaked in the top ten in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and several other countries.

"City of Blinding Lights" was well received by critics and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song at the 2006 ceremony.

U2 developed "City of Blinding Lights" from a song called "Scott Walker", an outtake from the band's 1997 album Pop.

[10][15] There is no chorus after the third verse; instead, the track enters into a coda where, after restating the introductory piano theme, the guitar, bass, and drum parts come to a finish.

[1] The sound of "City of Blinding Lights" has been compared to U2's 1987 single "Where the Streets Have No Name", prompted by a similar style of guitar playing, as well as to the atmospheric tone of the band's 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire.

"[21] Bono developed the opening stanza from a memory of his first trip to London with his future wife, Alison Stewart, when they were teenagers.

The experience of walking through Piccadilly Circus and along Wardour Street put him in mind of "discovering what a big city could offer you and what it could take away.

Author Cameron Conant related the opening verse to the doubt he felt about his convictions on politics, marriage, and faith as he aged, concluding that a person's confidence in their beliefs makes it seem as if they know more than they do.

[22] Music critic Bill Friskics-Warren felt that the final line, "Blessings not just for the ones who kneel, luckily", was a way for Bono to berate himself for not praying enough, and was an attack on Christianity because "faith often perpetuates the misery and divisiveness that he decries.

"[23] Steve Stockman, a chaplain at Queen's University of Belfast, believed the song was a metaphor for growing up,[24] and that the final line meant that not just people of faith could be blessed.

[1] The live versions of "The Fly" and "Even Better Than the Real Thing" were recorded at the Stop Sellafield concert staged by Greenpeace at the G-Mex Centre in Manchester on 19 June 1992.

[21] The music video for "City of Blinding Lights" was shot at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on 27 April 2005, and was directed by Alex Courtes and Martin Fougerol.

[37] Manager Paul McGuinness believed selecting Vancouver as the filming location made a lot of sense, saying, "[i]t's a world-renowned production centre.

[35][39] During the shoot, U2 performed "City of Blinding Lights" multiple times, followed by "Vertigo", "All Because of You" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own".

[40] The lighting is kept low, drawing attention to the visuals on the LED curtains used throughout the tour and obscuring much of the band members' facial features in shadow.

[39] "City of Blinding Lights" was performed on every night of the Vertigo Tour, opening 86 of the 131 concerts and a public dress rehearsal immediately before its launch.

[47] "City of Blinding Lights" was played on every night of the U2 360° Tour, in each case appearing approximately halfway through the set.

The lighting effects utilised the numerous fluorescent tubes set around the stage, while the video screen showed cityscapes at night superimposed with the band members performances.

[51] Clayton said, "I think ending [the main set] on 'City of Blinding Lights,' lyrically it has an interesting through line which relates to innocence, in a way.

Reviewing the album, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the song had "huge melodic and sonic hooks" and labelled it one of "the ingredients that make How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb a very good U2 record.

"[57] Pitchfork Media reviewer Amanda Petrusich thought it was one of the album's highlights, calling it "an earnest and galactic fight song, and the sort of track that's best enjoyed in cars and airplanes, simply because it encites [sic] so much giddy movement.

'"[16] Rating the song three stars out of five, Uncut reviewer Stephen Dalton wrote it was "indebted to the sky-punching peaks, grand vistas and monochrome emotions of the band's 1980s albums", deeming it a "heart-stirring anthem.

"[59] Peter Murphy called it "the album's masterpiece" in his review for Hot Press, describing the opening as "little short of celestial.

[76] The film's use of the song was parodied in the 2009 The Simpsons episode "The Devil Wears Nada"; "City of Blinding Lights" is played briefly as Homer and Carl arrive in Paris.

[78] American sports network ESPN used "City of Blinding Lights" in their 2006 FIFA World Cup television commercials; the piece, titled "Anthem", featured narration about the sport by Bono, which was set against a montage of children playing football across the globe and video of the band in concert.

[83] The track was used by Barack Obama as the entrance theme for his presidential candidacy announcement in Springfield, Illinois, on 10 February 2007,[84][85] and it was played before his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

[86] Obama frequently used it as the lead-in as he took the stage for campaign events during the 2008 U.S. presidential election,[87][88] a spectacle that even convinced one student to vote for him,[89] and played it on primary night rallies with supporters.

[85][88][92] U2 performed the song, along with "Pride (In the Name of Love)", to upwards of 400,000 people on 18 January 2009 at the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the upcoming inauguration of Obama.

[93][94] Introducing "City of Blinding Lights", which the band were asked to play,[92] Bono spoke directly to Obama, saying, "What a thrill for four Irish boys from the northside of Dublin to honour you, sir, the next President of the United States, Barack Obama, for choosing this song to be part of the soundtrack of your campaign, and more besides.

"[87][94] Bono modified the first verse to reference the surroundings, singing "America, let your road rise / Under Lincoln's unblinking eyes" in place of "Neon hearts, dayglo eyes / A city lit by fireflies," gave a shout-out to vice presidential inauguree Joe Biden at the end of the verse, and changed a part of the chorus to proclaim "America's getting ready to leave the ground.

A black and white image of a light-skinned man with a microphone held to his mouth. He is visible from the chest up and wears a sleeveless black shirt with an opened sleeveless white vest overtop. A small cross is worn around his neck. His black hair is styled into a mullet. The man looks past the camera to the left. A mixture of trees and sky are visible in the background.
Bono performing in 1983. The song's theme of innocence was partially inspired by a photograph of the singer taken during the same era.
A brightly lit city at night. A suspension bridge lit up with bright blue lights crosses a still body of water in front of the city. The water reflects the blue light, causing rainbow-like stripes to appear on the surface where the lights of the bridge and the city meet.
"... what it felt like to arrive here in the United States, come over the bridge into Manhattan ... a[n] amazing, magical time in our lives when we didn't know how powerful it was not to know." —Bono on the theme of innocence [ 21 ]
A grey building with two distinctive sections. The section on the left curves in a circular manner away from the viewer. The lower half is composed of windows. The section on the right is shaped like a square and has windows only in the bottom-left corner. A yellow circle and two jagged green shapes resembling triangles are at the top-right of the square building, with the words General Motors Place written in white capitals directly beneath. Several skyscrapers are visible in the background.
The music video was shot at GM Place in Vancouver .
A darkened stage seen from above. Curtains of red and white lights hang down behind and to the sides of the four band members who are lit up with spotlights. Three of the members are on the main stage while the fourth is on the b-stage, an elliptical catwalk that surrounds the main stage.
The visuals used on the Vertigo Tour were displayed in the music video.
A tour stage; four large legs curve up above the stage and hold a video screen which is extended down to the band. The legs are lit up in red at the top and orange at the bottom. The video screen has multi-coloured lights flashing on it. The audience surrounds the stage on all sides.
The stage effects of the U2 360° Tour reflect the LED curtain visuals from the Vertigo Tour.
A darkened stage seen from above. Vertical and horizontal white poles of lights rise from both the main stage and from a long catwalk in front of it. Above a large screen above the catwalk shows white-bluish skyscraper images against a purplish night sky
The stage presentation during the Innocence + Experience and Experience + Innocence Tours featured fluorescent tubes and cityscapes.
A dark-skinned man visible from the waist up gestures as he speaks from a podium. He has very short black hair and is wearing a black suit with a white shirt and blue tie underneath. He wears a watch on his left hand. A blue sign with the words "Change We Need" on it in white is attached to the front of the podium.
Barack Obama often used "City of Blinding Lights" as a lead-in for campaign events.