"New Year's Day" is a song by Irish
rock band
U2. It is the third track on their 1983 album ''
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'' and was released as the album's
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
in January 1983. With lyrics written about the Polish
Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...
's distinctive bassline and
the Edge
David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...
's piano and guitar playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at number 10, and was also their first international hit, reaching for number 9 in Norway, number 11 on the Dutch Top 40, number 17 in Sweden, and number 53 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, becoming the band's first single to chart in the US.
In 2004, the song was ranked 427th on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''s list of "
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
". It was also included in
the Pitchfork 500
''The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present'' is a book compiling the greatest songs from 1977 to 2006, published in 2008 by Pitchfork Media. The book focuses on specific genres including indie rock, hip-hop, el ...
.
The UK cover features a photograph of Peter Rowen, who grew up near the group's lead vocalist
Bono in Ireland.
Writing and composition
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
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...
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. I don't think 'New Year's Day' was a pop single, certainly not in the way that
Mickie Most might define a pop single as something that lasts three minutes and three weeks in the chart. I don't think we could have written that kind of song."
Music video
The video was one of their first to see heavy rotation on
MTV. It was filmed in
Sälen
Sälen () is a locality situated in Malung-Sälen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 652 inhabitants in 2010.
Despite its small population, Sälen receives many tourists every winter. Sälen is best known for hosting the start of Vasaloppet ...
and
Mora,
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 said 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, because 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. The video also features footage of Soviet troops advancing in winter during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
U2 allowed free-of-charge use of this song in a spot prepared by the European Commission. This clip published on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
shows a transformation of Poland in the last 20 years mixed with short scenes from today's Warsaw seen from a perspective of a 20-year-old woman.
Live performances
"New Year's Day", U2's seventh-most frequently performed live song, has been a standard on every U2 tour since its debut on 1 December 1982 at the first show of the
War Tour's Pre-Tour. However, the Innocence + Experience tour only featured three performances of the song.
In concert, the Edge switches between piano and guitar during the song. In 1980s performances, he used a
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...
and a Yamaha CP70 electric grand piano. During the 1990s and 2000s, he has alternated between a
Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard. The Les Paul the Edge used to write this song was sold for charity. Until the
Elevation Tour
The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2000 album ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', the tour visited arenas across North America and Europe in 2001. Contrasting with the extrav ...
, Clayton normally used a chorus effect on his bass guitar for this song live. In the ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' performance, Bono is seen playing guitar.
"New Year's Day" has appeared on many of U2's concert video releases including 1983's ''
U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'', ''
Zoo TV: Live from Sydney'', ''
PopMart: Live from Mexico City'', ''
U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle'', ''
Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago'', ''
Live from Paris'', and ''
U2 3D
''U2 3D'' is a 2008 American-produced 3D concert film featuring rock band U2 performing during the Vertigo Tour in 2006. The film contains performances of 14 songs, including tracks from ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' (2004), the album sup ...
''.
U2 has never performed in concert the B-side of "New Year's Day", "Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop?)", although they played an early version known simply as "Pete the Chop" at some concerts in 1980.
When the band played "New Year's Day" during the
Vertigo Tour
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2004 album '' How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'', the tour visited arenas and stadiums between March 2005 and December 2006. The Vertigo To ...
performance at
Silesian Stadium in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, the crowd surprised the band when the lower sections waved red-coloured items while other sections waved white, creating the Polish flag. This was repeated during the
U2 360° Tour
The U2 360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2009 album ''No Line on the Horizon'', the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band playing "in the round" o ...
at the same venue.
Reception
In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' placed the song at number 427 on its list of "
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
"; the song was re-ranked to 435th on the magazine's 2010 version of the list. The song was also included in
the Pitchfork 500
''The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present'' is a book compiling the greatest songs from 1977 to 2006, published in 2008 by Pitchfork Media. The book focuses on specific genres including indie rock, hip-hop, el ...
.
''
Cash Box'' said in its contemporary review of the single that "an agitated yet steady rhythm lays the foundation for this stark, AOR-slanted single by a thinking man’s rock 'n' roll band."
Formats and track listings
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Musique remix
In May 2001, dance act Musique released a remix of the song, "New Year's Dub". The remix charted in some European countries, including in the UK and in Ireland, where it peaked at no. 15 and no. 13, respectively. It also charted in Australia, where it peaked at no. 74.
Track listings
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
See also
*
List of cover versions of U2 songs – New Year's Day
References
{{authority control
1983 singles
1983 songs
U2 songs
Irish new wave songs
Island Records singles
CBS Records singles
Music videos directed by Meiert Avis
Solidarity (Polish trade union)
Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite
Songs written by Adam Clayton
Songs written by Bono
Songs written by the Edge
Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr.