U2 BLOODY SUNDAY

BLOODY SUNDAY

U2

BLOODY SUNDAY

On stage

context

Music band

The song

The Story behind U2’s most political song Since the 15th Century, Western Europe has played host to one of UK’s most bloody and traumatic wars, which is the enraging conflict between Northern Ireland and England. From all the bloodshed and violence, which has occurred since then there is one period, which stands out. Simply, labeled “The Troubles” it tells a bloody tale of a three decade conflict, which took place between Irish nationalists and Irish unionists from the 1960’s till the 1990’s. Although this bloody conflict was ended with the “Good Friday Agreement”, it’s legacy was so traumatic that it helped influence some of the biggest protest songs to have come out of the music industry. “Bloody Sunday” was a term given to an incident to an incident, which took place on 30th January 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland where British Soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians who were peacefully protesting against Operation Demetrius. Out of all the people who lost their life that day; Thirteen were killed outright, while another man lost his life four months later due to injuries. Many of the victims who were feeling the scene were shot at point blank range, while some who were helping the injured were shot. Other protesters were injured by rubber bullets or batons, and two were run down by army vehicles.This massacre is reported to have the highest number of people killed in a single shooting incident during the conflict. U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday Although U2’s version of the song arrives as a single precisely 11 years, 1 month, 21 days since the incident, the catalyst that inspired the band to pay tribute to the fallen with this song came because of a confrontation with IRA (Irish Republican Army) supporters in New York City. U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is designed to transport the listener into 1970’s war-torn Ireland where your present watching the horror unfold as an observer. Their version of accounts are instead inspired by their passive-aggressive approach to the situation with verses like “How long must we sing this song?”, which signifies their anger towards the authorities approach to the situation. However, that verse is immediately followed by ’Cause tonight, we can be as one, Tonight”, which signifies that the door is still open for a peace treaty. They also draw inspiration from the world famous picture of Edward Daly (see above) being spotted protecting a group of survivors attending to an injured boy by waving a blood stained handkerchief in the peace. Source : Medium.com Dec 14, 2018