"No Line on the Horizon" (2008)
Demo Song
Background Information
“No Line on the Horizon” is the name of a song that was eventually released on No Line on the Horizon in 2009.
In January 2008 USA Today ran an article by Anthony Breznican, and spoke to Bono and The Edge while they were in Park City, Utah promoting the film U2:3D. During the interview, Bono pulled out a song to play for Breznican:
“Can I interrupt this broadcast?” he says. “There’s an amazing moment in Ireland, where we live, when the sea and the sky can have the same color and the line of the horizon disappears. And I look at these mountains, and it’s just about to happen here.”He reaches beneath the seat and pulls out a CD case, withdrawing a hand-labeled disc. “I have just the right song for it … if I can find it.”
He slips the CD into the player and heavy distortion fills the car. It’s a song called “No Line on the Horizon,” which the band is developing for their next album. “It came out of a new distortion box that my guitar tech got,” the Edge says.
“This is a little full on!” Bono shouts. “But it’s worth it, just to get a flavor of this. It’s only a demo.”
The song is rough, weaving between brutal guitar blasts underscoring the mellow title refrain. “These are just first drafts,” Bono explains. He slips in another CD, this one U2’s version of a lively Irish folk ditty about folk singer Ronnie Drew, one of the founders of the Dubliners.
In the book accompanying the box set and the magazine versions of “No Line on the Horizon” a number of song titles are listed on a board above Edge’s head in one of the photos included. The song titles include songs we know about and a few other names that had not been seen. The full list included “I Was Lost,” “No Line on the Horizon,” “Moment of Surrender,” “Magnificent (French Disco),” “Chromium Chords,” “Tripoli,” “Cedars of Lebanon,” “For Your Love,” “Sexy Boots,” “Breathe,” “Hymn / White as Snow,” “Not as Yet,” “Diorama,” and “Kingdom of Your Love.” “I Was Lost” is likely an early version of “Unknown Caller.” “French Disco” was revealed to be “Magnificent.” “Chromium Chords” and “Tripoli” likely merged along the way becoming “Fez – Being Born.” “For Your Love” is an early title for “Stand Up Comedy,” “Sexy Boots” an early title for “Get on Your Boots” and “Diorma” an early title for “I’ll Go Crazy”.