"Thank You For the Day" (2005)
Demo Song
Background Information
“Thank You For the Day” or “Thank You” is a U2 song that was in development with Daniel Lanois for No Line on the Horizon which has not yet been released.
In May 2004, Daniel Lanois obtained an honorary degree from McMaster University in Hamilton. During the acceptance of this honour he played three songs including a new song called “Thank You” – a news story at daniellanois.com went into more detail:
“I brought my pedal steel guitar today,” he explained to the audience of more than 1,500. “I thought it appropriate since it was the first instrument I learned how to play, right down the street here at the conservatory of music. Once a week, I’d walk there from Hess Village where we lived at the time.”
He played three songs with backup vocalist Lori Reid. The first was a haunting instrumental from his most recent solo album, Shine. Next, he played The Maker, a song of spirituality from his 1989 solo album Acadie. The third number was a newly written song, appropriately entitled, Thank You.
“It’s a song of gratitude,” Lanois told the audience. “And through it, you feel my gratitude here today.”
In October 2005, Daniel Lanois appeared on a podcast for the “Wall to Wall” Guitar Festival. At the end of the podcast he did a short set, including a song that he revealed that Bono had co-written, called “Thank You For the Day”. Lanois sang the following lyrics:
Mmm
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the day
It takes my breath away
Thank you for the stars
That hold up the night
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the dayMmm
Thank you for the moon
That shines so bright
Thank you for the courage
To seek out what’s right
Thank you for the road
And it’s endless bend
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the dayThank you for the song
That’s in my heart
May we never be apart
Thank you for the miracle air we breathe
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the dayMmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm
Mmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm
Thank you for the road
And it’s endless bend
Thank you for the day
Thank you for the day
During a trip to Africa in 2006, in which he was interviewed by Brian Williams, Bono told NBC that he was writing lyrics and had worked on a number of new songs. He shared a short lyric:
I love this work I do. It’s a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That’s where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head. I was working on one this morning. I scribble notes on Air India sick bags. Can’t read my own handwriting. It’s called “Thank You for the Day.” [sings] “There’s no storm on the seas. You’re just bent over in the breeze. There’s no midnight, please. You’re just on your knees. There’s a harbor and a safe port, but what was is now not. There was no price to pay. Thank you for the day.” So I don’t know where that comes from, but it keeps coming! It interrupts you when you’re trying to get your job done.
A song identified as “Thank You For the Day” was also among the songs that were heard coming from Bono’s home in the South of France in the summer of 2006.
One of the photos in the deluxe booklet that comes with the box set and magazine versions of No Line on the Horizon features a white board with some titles listed on the board. We are unsure if “No Line on the Horizon” and “Songs of Ascent” here are referring to the album titles or possible song names. But there are other notes which definitely look like they are songs, including “Pilgrim’s Lack of Progress,” “House of Abraham,” “Velvet Home (?)” and “Thank You for the Day” which is a title we have heard about elsewhere.
