U2: New Years Day

Det er kanskje ikke så originalt, men akkurat nå ved inngangen til 2021, virker det riktig å gripe tilbake til tidlig 80-tall og U2s "New Years Day". En sang fra tiden da de fortsatt var unge og lovende, og hadde noen enorme live-opptredener, men enda ikke var blitt de globale stjernene de ble noen år senere:

New Years Day kom ut som singel i januar 1983. I august samme år kom de til Norge og spilte på Kalvøya-festivalen. Wikipedia forteller dette om sangens bakgrunn og budskap:

"The lyric had its origins in a love song from Bono to his wife, but was subsequently reshaped and inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement. The bassline stemmed from bassist Adam Clayton trying to figure out the chords to the Visage song "Fade to Grey" during a soundcheck. 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."

Det er litt morsom å lese om hvordan musikkvideoen ble laget også. Dette var i musikkvideoenes tidlige barndom, og "New Years Day" var en av de mest spilte musikkvideoene i MTVs tidligste år. Det var ikke helt tilfeldig, for U2 dro til Sverige midtvinters for å få rette innspillingsforhold. Wikipedia skriver:

"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."