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			{{shortlead\|date=August 2023}}
⚫	~~#REDIRECT~~ ]
			{{Infobox song
			\| name = A Sort of Homecoming
			\| cover =
			\| alt =
			\| type = ]
			\| artist = ]
		⚫	\| album = ]
			\| released = 1984
			\| format =
			\| recorded =
			\| studio =
			\| venue =
			\| genre = ], ]
			\| length = 5:28
			\| label = ]
			\| composer = U2
			\| lyricist = ]
			\| producer = ], ]
			}}

			"'''A Sort of Homecoming'''" is a song by Irish ] band ], and is the opening track on their 1984 album, '']''. A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track ], '']''.

			==Composition==
			As the opening track on '']'', "A Sort of Homecoming" epitomises the new direction U2 had taken.<ref name="PARRA_52-56">Parra (1994), pp. 52-56</ref> A far more atmospheric album than the previous overt-rock of '']'', the album has a rich and orchestrated sound.<ref name="PARRA_52-56"/> Like much of the album, the song replaces the hard-hitting martial drum sound of ''War'' with a subtler ]ic ], and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix.<ref name="Graham 1996, p. 23">Graham (1996), p. 23</ref>

			On the ] and leading up to recording ''The Unforgettable Fire'', U2 lead singer and lyricist, ], had become a voracious reader. He read fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song-writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poetic one.<ref name="Stokes 1996, p. 51">Stokes (1996), p. 51</ref> He read works of poet ], whose line "poetry is a sort of homecoming" inspired not just the song's title but the song itself.<ref name="Stokes 1996, p. 51"/> Celan's profound spiritual doubt contrasts with U2 members' previous religious certainties. The song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band had become more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and religious beliefs in comparison to during the '']''-''War'' period.<ref>Graham (1996), p. 23-24; Stokes (1996), p. 51</ref> The phrase, "poetry is a sort of homecoming" had additional significance for Bono as a singer who was constantly away from home and travelling.<ref name="Stokes 1996, p. 51"/>

			According to guitarist ] in a 1984 interview, producer ] made a reference mix of the instrumental whilst recording the backing track which was difficult to match whilst recording the vocals, hence the vocals were bounced on top of the existing rough mix.<ref>{{cite magazine\|first=Adam\|last=Sweeting\|date=January 1985\|magazine=One Two Testing\|title=U2 can have an Edge like this\|url=https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/u2/11617?theme=1}}</ref> According to bassist ], Bono's vocals for the song were re-recorded at the last minute. The band had worked overnight to finish ''The Unforgettable Fire'' by 8 a.m. on the final day of the recording sessions so Lanois could deliver the tapes for ]. As they listened back to the song, Bono said that he wanted to record another ] of his vocals. With his taxi to the airport waiting outside, Lanois relented and cued up the tapes, allowing Bono one final take. Lanois told the band that he would ] it at the mastering studio in London and then departed.<ref>{{cite magazine\|title=Daniel Lanois: The Book of Daniel\|magazine=]\|first=Fred\|last=Schruers\|date=September 1993}}</ref>

			"A Sort of Homecoming" is in the key of D. The song has a tempo of 118 beats per minute.<ref>{{Cite web \|url=https://songbpm.com/a-sort-of-homecoming?q=a%20sort%20of%20homecoming \|title=BPM for 'A Sort of Homecoming - Remastered 2009' by 'U2' \| Find the BPM for any song \| Type a song, get a BPM \| Every tempo \| songbpm \|access-date=2018-08-09 \|archive-date=2018-08-09 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809121805/https://songbpm.com/a-sort-of-homecoming?q=a%20sort%20of%20homecoming \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

			==Video==
			A film of U2 on tour in Northern Europe in October–November 1984 was made to accompany a live version <ref>Recorded during a sound-check for the concert at Wembley Arena in London on 15 November 1984, and released on the '']'' extended player in 1985, http://www.u2gigs.com/show902.html</ref> of the song, which was used as a television video to promote ''The Unforgettable Fire'' album, showing the band on the road travelling through London, in France and the ], and in performance at several venues, including the ''Westfalenhalle'' in ], ], returning across the ] by ferry boat to the ] at the song's conclusion.<ref>September 2011 internet article detailing the video and its original use, 'Non-stop 80's', 'U2, A Sort of Homecoming', http://www.nonstop80s.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/u2-sort-of-homecoming-1984.html.</ref><ref>'A Sort of Homecoming' video film on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZoX7yiTpiU</ref><ref>U2 Unforgettable Fire Tour schedule, European 2nd leg in 1984 https://www.u2gigs.com/tour174.html</ref>

			==Influence==
			] lead singer ] wrote for '']'' magazine's <ref>{{cite web\| title = The Immortals: The First Fifty\| work = Rolling Stone Issue 946\| publisher = Rolling Stone\| url =https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty
			\| access-date = 2006-12-21 \| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061219005845/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty\| archive-date= 19 December 2006 \| url-status= dead}}</ref> the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart. The first song on '']'', "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward—it's so rousing, brilliant and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby." ] have covered the song on numerous occasions with lead singer ] often playing it by himself on guitar.

			==Live performances==
			The live premiere of "A Sort of Homecoming" came during ] on 17 September 1984.<ref>{{cite web\|title=U2 CONCERT: SEP 17, 1984 AT MELBOURNE\|url=http://tours.atu2.com/concert/melbourne-sports-and-entertainment-centre-melbourne-sep-17-1984\|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141113150257/http://tours.atu2.com/concert/melbourne-sports-and-entertainment-centre-melbourne-sep-17-1984\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=November 13, 2014}}</ref> When played live, the song would start with just ] playing while ] sang. After the first verse, the rest of the band would join in. {{Citation needed\|date=October 2013}}

			It was performed regularly on the rest of The Unforgettable Fire Tour, typically after "]", and was played occasionally on the first two legs of the next tour, ]. It was dropped from the band's live set on 27 June 1987 and did not reappear again until the second leg of the ] in 2001.<ref name="atu2">{{cite web\|title=A SORT OF HOMECOMING\|url=http://tours.atu2.com/song/a-sort-of-homecoming\|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141113150237/http://tours.atu2.com/song/a-sort-of-homecoming\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=November 13, 2014}}</ref>

			It was played live again for the first time in 14 years during the band's homecoming gig at ] in ] on 25 August 2001, however the performance didn't go well with Bono struggling to recall its original lyrical construction. It made only one more Elevation Tour appearance, when at a concert at the ] on 16 November 2001 a fan was invited up on stage by the band to perform on an acoustic guitar, and he began playing the song impromptu.<ref name="u2gigs">{{cite web\|title=U2 Oakland, 2001-11-16, Oakland Arena, Elevation Tour - U2 on tour\|date=16 November 2001 \|url=http://www.u2gigs.com/show1203.html}}</ref> U2 played along but Bono's recollection of the lyrics was even worse than at the Slane Castle gig three months earlier, with him admitting as much mid-song to the audience, and he re-coursed to improvised word-play instead, during which he cited ]'s work as a source of inspiration for the song originally.<ref>Recording of the song being performed at Oakland Arena on 16 November 2001 on Youtube (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNgSItAJUfI</ref> ''A Sort of Homecoming'' was not performed again until opening night of ], where it has been performed occasionally in alternation with "Bad."<ref name="atu2"/>

			A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track ], '']''. It is also the only song with lyrics inside the sleeve for the album.

			==Personnel==
			*] – ]
			*] – ], backing vocals
			*] – ]
			*] – ]

			==Charts==
			{\| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
			!scope="col"\|Chart (1985)
			!scope="col"\|Peak<br>position
			\|-
			!scope="row"\|US ''Billboard'' ]<ref name="mainstreamrock">{{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/u2/chart-history/rtt/\|title=U2 – Mainstream Rock Airplay\|magazine=]\|access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref>
			\|45
			\|}

			==See also==
			*]

			==Notes==
			{{reflist}}

			==References==
			* {{cite book\| last = Graham\| first = Bill\| author2 = van Oosten de Boer, Caroline\| title = U2: The Complete Guide to their Music\| publisher = Omnibus Press\| year = 2004\| location = London\| isbn = 0-7119-9886-8}}
			* {{cite book \|last=McCormick, Neil \|title=U2 by U2 \|publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers \|year=2006 \|location=London \|isbn=0-00-719668-7 \|url-access=registration \|url=https://archive.org/details/u2byu200u2ne }}
			* Parra, Pimm Jal de la ''U2 Live: A Concert Documentary'', 1996, Harper Collins Publishers, {{ISBN\|0-7322-6036-1}}
			* {{cite book\| last = Stokes\| first = Niall\| title = Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song\| publisher = HarperCollinsPublishers\| year = 1996\| location = Australia\| isbn = 0-7322-6036-1}}

			==External links==
			* - Lists all known performances of "A Sort of Homecoming".

			{{The Unforgettable Fire Track Listing}}
			{{U2 songs}}
			{{authority control}}

			{{DEFAULTSORT:Sort of Homecoming, A}}
			]
			]
			]
			]
			]
			]

Latest revision as of 05:50, 28 February 2024

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (August 2023)

1984 song by U2

"A Sort of Homecoming"
Song by U2
from the album The Unforgettable Fire
Released	1984
Genre	Rock, post-punk
Length	5:28
Label	Island
Composer(s)	U2
Lyricist(s)	Bono
Producer(s)	Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois

"A Sort of Homecoming" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the opening track on their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track EP, Wide Awake in America.

Composition

As the opening track on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming" epitomises the new direction U2 had taken. A far more atmospheric album than the previous overt-rock of War, the album has a rich and orchestrated sound. Like much of the album, the song replaces the hard-hitting martial drum sound of War with a subtler polyrhythmic shuffle, and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix.

On the War Tour and leading up to recording The Unforgettable Fire, U2 lead singer and lyricist, Bono, had become a voracious reader. He read fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song-writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poetic one. He read works of poet Paul Celan, whose line "poetry is a sort of homecoming" inspired not just the song's title but the song itself. Celan's profound spiritual doubt contrasts with U2 members' previous religious certainties. The song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band had become more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and religious beliefs in comparison to during the October-War period. The phrase, "poetry is a sort of homecoming" had additional significance for Bono as a singer who was constantly away from home and travelling.

According to guitarist The Edge in a 1984 interview, producer Daniel Lanois made a reference mix of the instrumental whilst recording the backing track which was difficult to match whilst recording the vocals, hence the vocals were bounced on top of the existing rough mix. According to bassist Adam Clayton, Bono's vocals for the song were re-recorded at the last minute. The band had worked overnight to finish The Unforgettable Fire by 8 a.m. on the final day of the recording sessions so Lanois could deliver the tapes for mastering. As they listened back to the song, Bono said that he wanted to record another take of his vocals. With his taxi to the airport waiting outside, Lanois relented and cued up the tapes, allowing Bono one final take. Lanois told the band that he would mix it at the mastering studio in London and then departed.

"A Sort of Homecoming" is in the key of D. The song has a tempo of 118 beats per minute.

Video

A film of U2 on tour in Northern Europe in October–November 1984 was made to accompany a live version of the song, which was used as a television video to promote The Unforgettable Fire album, showing the band on the road travelling through London, in France and the Low Countries, and in performance at several venues, including the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, West Germany, returning across the North Sea by ferry boat to the British Isles at the song's conclusion.

Influence

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin wrote for Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart. The first song on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward—it's so rousing, brilliant and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby." Pearl Jam have covered the song on numerous occasions with lead singer Eddie Vedder often playing it by himself on guitar.

Live performances

The live premiere of "A Sort of Homecoming" came during The Unforgettable Fire Tour on 17 September 1984. When played live, the song would start with just The Edge playing while Bono sang. After the first verse, the rest of the band would join in.

It was performed regularly on the rest of The Unforgettable Fire Tour, typically after "The Electric Co.", and was played occasionally on the first two legs of the next tour, The Joshua Tree Tour. It was dropped from the band's live set on 27 June 1987 and did not reappear again until the second leg of the Elevation Tour in 2001.

It was played live again for the first time in 14 years during the band's homecoming gig at Slane Castle in Ireland on 25 August 2001, however the performance didn't go well with Bono struggling to recall its original lyrical construction. It made only one more Elevation Tour appearance, when at a concert at the Oakland Arena on 16 November 2001 a fan was invited up on stage by the band to perform on an acoustic guitar, and he began playing the song impromptu. U2 played along but Bono's recollection of the lyrics was even worse than at the Slane Castle gig three months earlier, with him admitting as much mid-song to the audience, and he re-coursed to improvised word-play instead, during which he cited Van Morrison's work as a source of inspiration for the song originally. A Sort of Homecoming was not performed again until opening night of The Joshua Tree Tour 2017, where it has been performed occasionally in alternation with "Bad."

A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track EP, Wide Awake in America. It is also the only song with lyrics inside the sleeve for the album.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks	45

Notes

^ Parra (1994), pp. 52-56
Graham (1996), p. 23
^ Stokes (1996), p. 51
Graham (1996), p. 23-24; Stokes (1996), p. 51
Sweeting, Adam (January 1985). "U2 can have an Edge like this". One Two Testing.
Schruers, Fred (September 1993). "Daniel Lanois: The Book of Daniel". Musician.
"BPM for 'A Sort of Homecoming - Remastered 2009' by 'U2' | Find the BPM for any song | Type a song, get a BPM | Every tempo | songbpm". Archived from the original on 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
Recorded during a sound-check for the concert at Wembley Arena in London on 15 November 1984, and released on the Wide Awake in America extended player in 1985, http://www.u2gigs.com/show902.html
September 2011 internet article detailing the video and its original use, 'Non-stop 80's', 'U2, A Sort of Homecoming', http://www.nonstop80s.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/u2-sort-of-homecoming-1984.html.
'A Sort of Homecoming' video film on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZoX7yiTpiU
U2 Unforgettable Fire Tour schedule, European 2nd leg in 1984 https://www.u2gigs.com/tour174.html
"The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
"U2 CONCERT: SEP 17, 1984 AT MELBOURNE". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014.
^ "A SORT OF HOMECOMING". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014.
"U2 Oakland, 2001-11-16, Oakland Arena, Elevation Tour - U2 on tour". 16 November 2001.
Recording of the song being performed at Oakland Arena on 16 November 2001 on Youtube (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNgSItAJUfI
"U2 – Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved 27 February 2023.

References

Graham, Bill; van Oosten de Boer, Caroline (2004). U2: The Complete Guide to their Music. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9886-8.
McCormick, Neil (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 0-00-719668-7.
Parra, Pimm Jal de la U2 Live: A Concert Documentary, 1996, Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-7322-6036-1
Stokes, Niall (1996). Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 0-7322-6036-1.

External links

A Sort of Homecoming's performance history at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com - Lists all known performances of "A Sort of Homecoming".

v t e The Unforgettable Fire track listing
"A Sort of Homecoming" "Pride (In the Name of Love)" "Wire" "The Unforgettable Fire" "Promenade" "4th of July" "Bad" "Indian Summer Sky" "Elvis Presley and America" "MLK"
←WarThe Joshua Tree→

v t e U2 songs
Discography Covers
1970s	"Out of Control"
1980s	"Another Day" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "A Day Without Me" "I Will Follow" "An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart" "The Electric Co." "Fire" "Gloria" "October" "A Celebration" "New Year's Day" "Two Hearts Beat as One" "Sunday Bloody Sunday" "Seconds" "Red Light" "Pride (In the Name of Love)" "The Unforgettable Fire" "A Sort of Homecoming" "4th of July" "Bad" "Elvis Presley and America" "MLK" "With or Without You" "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" "Where the Streets Have No Name" "In God's Country" "One Tree Hill" "Bullet the Blue Sky" "Running to Stand Still" "Red Hill Mining Town" "Trip Through Your Wires" "Exit" "Mothers of the Disappeared" "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" "Desire" "Angel of Harlem" "When Love Comes to Town" "All I Want Is You" "Hawkmoon 269" "Heartland" "God Part II"
1990s	"Night and Day" "The Fly" "Mysterious Ways" "One" "Even Better Than the Real Thing" "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" "Zoo Station" "Until the End of the World" "So Cruel" "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" "Acrobat" "Love Is Blindness" "Numb" "Lemon" "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" "Zooropa" "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car" "Dirty Day" "The Wanderer" "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" "Miss Sarajevo" "Slug" "Your Blue Room" "Discothèque" "Staring at the Sun" "Last Night on Earth" "Please" "If God Will Send His Angels" "Mofo" "Gone" "Sweetest Thing"
2000s	"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" "Beautiful Day" "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" "Elevation" "Walk On" "Kite" "In a Little While" "Wild Honey" "Peace on Earth" "When I Look at the World" "New York" "Electrical Storm" "The Hands That Built America" "Take Me to the Clouds Above" "Vertigo" "All Because of You" "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" "City of Blinding Lights" "Miracle Drug" "A Man and a Woman" "One Step Closer" "Original of the Species" "Yahweh" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" "The Saints Are Coming" "Window in the Skies" "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" "Get On Your Boots" "Magnificent" "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" "No Line on the Horizon" "Moment of Surrender" "Unknown Caller" "Stand Up Comedy" "Fez – Being Born" "White as Snow" "Breathe" "Cedars of Lebanon" "Winter"
2010s	"Ordinary Love" "Invisible" "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)" "Every Breaking Wave" "Song for Someone" "You're the Best Thing About Me" "Get Out of Your Own Way" "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way" "XXX"
2020s	"Your Song Saved My Life" "Atomic City"
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