Songs of Experience is the 14th studio album by Irish rock band U2, released on 1 December 2017. The album's title, along with that of the band's previous album Songs of Innocence, is named after William Blake's poem collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
The album was intended to come out shortly after Innocence's fall 2014 release, but while writing and recording did begin at the end of that year, it wouldn't be finished until the band were on their 2017 Joshua Tree Tour, at which point it had been put on hold, reassessed, reworked, remixed and rewritten. Some of the factors for this delay included the global political climate shifting in a conservative direction with the UK's Brexit referendum and Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 US presidential election as well as Bono experiencing a "brush with mortality" after undergoing open-heart surgery in December 2016, which both informed the themes of the rewritten lyrics.
Three tracks from the album were released as singles: "You're the Best Thing About Me", "The Blackout" and "Get Out of Your Own Way".
Tracklist:
- "Love is All We Have Left" (4:12)
- "Lights of Home" (5:24)
- "You're the Best Thing About Me" (7:24)
- "Get Out of Your Own Way" (6:03)
- "American Soul" (4:14)
- "Summer of Love" (3:25)
- "Red Flag Day" (3:50)
- "The Showman/Little More Better" (5:17)
- "The Little Things that Give You Away" (4:41)
- "Landlady" (5:00)
- "The Blackout" (4:13)
- "Love is Bigger than anything in its way" (5:00)
- "13 (there is a Light)" (4:13)
Personnel
- Bono – vocals, guitar
- The Edge – guitar, piano, synthesisers, vocals
- Adam Clayton – bass guitar
- Larry Mullen, Jr. – drums, percussion, backing vocals
"I can see the tropes in front of me":
- Death Song: Indirectly. Many of the songs reference Bono's death scare, and one conception of the lyrics is what Bono would say as his last words to various people.
- Fear Song: "The Blackout", referencing Bono's death scare, plus political developments.
- Hakuna Matata: Despite the gloomy subject matter on much of the album, a lot of the songs are optimistic, singing about pushing through obstacles and the belief things can get better. "Lights of Home" makes this combination most explicit, the lyrics suggesting both dying and going "home", but also that the singer has a lot to live for, and may just be going to their actual home.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Lights of Home" includes elements, "Get Out of your Own Way" and "Love is bigger than Anything in its way" are fully this.
- Silly Love Songs: "You're the Best Thing About Me" and "Landlady" are written for Bono's wife. Though in a twist, You're the best thing references a nightmare where Bono walked out, and Landlady is about appreciating support earlier in life.
- To the Tune of...: "13(There is a light)" is a somewhat redone version of Song for Someone on the previous album, and American Soul copies parts of Volcano, also from the previous album.
- War Refugees: "American Soul", "Summer of Love" and "Red Flag Day" all reference the large amount of Syrian refugees leaving at the time.
