Happy New Years From DWT... And U2

The Rolling Stones were my favorite band for my whole life-- until 1979 when I first heard U2. Then they became my favorite band-- at least until I got into The Clash a month later. The Clash are still my favorite band. When the first U2 album was mailed to the press it included the first American story about the band. I wrote it. Boy was an amazing album. I Will Follow made me ditch the Rolling Stones… even after all those acid trips I had taken on the first day their albums were released all through my time in college! But “I Will Follow,” despite my review, didn’t break the band; neither did boy. Their first international mega-hit was “New Year’s Day” from the third album, War, in 1983. I was still a huge fan, even if The Clash was my #1 favorite band already.

U-2 often used my indie 415 Records bands as their opening acts. Romeo Void and the Red Rockers went out on several tours with them and I recall Wire Train doing a gig with them as well. War was a smash, especially because of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” and “New York’s Day,” both overtly political songs, as was the title track of course.

This year, in honor of New Year’s, Irish Central decided to republish Kate Hickey’s 2015 piece about the meaning behind the 1983 hit-- although I recall that it was a secret when it was released. “Although it is one of U2's most well-known tunes,” she wrote, “many fans don’t realize that the song's lyrics are actually about the Polish Solidarity movement. And you could be forgiven, given that it is called ‘New Year’s Day’ and it was released in January 1983.”

The lyrics, in fact, refer to the persecuted leader of the Polish Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa. Coincidentally, after the song was released Poland's Communist government announced that they would abolish martial law.

In 1980 the Solidarity movement in Poland, under the leadership of future Nobel Peace Prize winner and president Lech Walesa, challenged the oppressive rule of the Polish government. In December 1981, the Solidarity movement was outlawed and Walesa, together with the other leaders of the movement, was arrested and put in jail.

It is believed that "New Year’s Day" initially started out as a love song, dedicated to Bono’s high-school sweetheart, Ali, whom he had recently married, but this changed.

Bono told the Rolling Stone he made the lyrics up on the spot, as he often does. He said, "We improvise, and the things that came out; I let them come out."

"I must have been thinking about Lech Walesa being interned. Then, when we'd recorded the song, they announced that martial law would be lifted in Poland on New Year's Day. Incredible."

Here’s the beginning of the song:

All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day.
I will be with you again.
I will be with you again

As the song continues, it further documents the growing movement of people clamoring for freedom and justice throughout Eastern Europe in the early 1980s.

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers say it's true
It's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one.

The themes of understanding in a time of global unrest were a focal point for the album "War," the title of which was inspired by the various conflicts around the world at the time. "War" raced up the charts and became a huge commercial success, in the process knocking Michael Jackson's Thriller from the top of the charts. It became U2's first number-one album in the UK.

Here's a rather spectacular U2 performance of "New Year's Day" in December of 2006 in Poland. This audience sure seemed to know exactly what the song was about.