Moment of Surrender

During the initial recording sessions for the album in 2007 in Fez, Morocco, the band wrote the song with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois within a few hours.

During performances, the stage lights were dimmed and fans were urged to hold up their mobile phones to create "a stadium full of tiny stars".

[2] "Moment of Surrender" was written by U2 and No Line on the Horizon producers/co-writers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois during a two-week recording session in Fez, Morocco between May and June 2007.

After a quick discussion about the chord changes and the meter (in which they decided to have a "funny layout" that was not based on "eights or sixteens"), the six of them improvised the entirety of the piece.

[3][7] Eno was outraged that U2 wanted to shorten the song,[8] and he was adamant that the band not alter the original track too much, saying, "These fucking guys, they're supposed to be so spiritual—they don't spot a miracle when it hits them in the face.

[11] Rolling Stone said the song "merges a Joshua Tree-style gospel feel with a hypnotically loping bass line and a syncopated beat".

David Fricke of Rolling Stone enjoyed the song, writing, "The rising-falling effect of the harmony voices around Bono... is a perfect picture of where he really wants to be, when he gets to the line about 'vision over visibility.

Reviewer Rob Sheffield complimented the melding of bass, guitar, and vocals, calling it "the kind of gimme-divinity anthem that U2 cut their teeth on, except it really does seem like they've gotten better at these songs now that they've picked up some bummed-out adult grit.

"[22] NME felt that it was the "most impressive" song on the album, describing it as a "gorgeously sparse prayer built around Adam Clayton's heartbeat bassline and Bono's rough growl", and noting that despite its seven-minute length, it did not feel too long.

[23] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian was more critical of the song, saying it "doesn't have enough of a tune to support the full seven-minute gospel treatment",[24] a sentiment that The Times agreed with.

[26] Mojo praised the song's musicianship, saying it was "graced by swaggering performances" and that the Edge's "languid guitar solo" was reminiscent of David Gilmour.

[27] Time gave No Line on the Horizon a negative review, but praised "Moment of Surrender" for its "heartbreaking melody" and Bono's "Oh-oh-oh" vocals that reminded the critic of the end of "With or Without You".

[7] Musician Gavin Friday described the song as "Al Green on Irish steroids", and Hot Press editor Niall Stokes called it "a modern rock classic" that will "stand forever as one of U2's most inspirational creations".

[31] "Moment of Surrender" made its live debut on the opening night of the U2 360° Tour in Barcelona, Spain during the encore, as the show's final song.

[34] Prior to performances of "Moment of Surrender", a disco ball was lowered and the stage lights turned off, and Bono encouraged fans to take out their mobile phones and create "a stadium full of tiny stars".

Rolling Stone enjoyed the visual effect in context of the tour's space theme,[35] saying it "truly made it seem like the stadium had reached outerspace, with thousands of cellphone lights turning into stars".

'"[1][44] In Rolling Stone's voting for the decade's best song, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich placed "Moment of Surrender" in the number-one spot on his ballot.

[46] During the sequence, the cop (played by Saïd Taghmaoui), leaves the bar and begins to wander the streets of Cádiz at night, eventually making his way down to the beach where he falls asleep on the sand.