"Get Out of Your Own Way" - U2

Single

Track Listing:

Added to the 2024 Reissue:

Background Information

On November 1, 2017, U2 finally announced the details of the Songs of Experience album. Immediately after the announcement, two songs were made available to download from the album with purchase, “Get Out of Your Own Way” and “The Blackout”. Two weeks later, an additional track, “American Soul” was made available (although in some cases it was made available earlier in error.) All were part of the album, Songs of Experience on streaming services and on download sites, with artwork from the album. These were not labeled as a single on these services. Promotion of the song continued without a commercial release. Starting on November 2, 2017, the song, “Get Out of Your Own Way” was also sent to radio in Poland, a test market for the song. The song was also used on the BBC during the week that U2 appeared on the EMAs, and as of December 4, 2017, the song was sent to AAA stations in the US for promotion. The version being sent to these markets is a radio edit of the song which runs 03:20. These digitally delivered promo versions of the song are edited to remove the spoken word piece by Kendrick Lamar.

The first standalone single for the song came on streaming platforms and other digital storefronts on December 28, 2017. The song is a remix of “Get Out of Your Own Way” by Switch. Switch is a British DJ, known for his work with Major Lazer, and remixes for M.I.A., Kylie Minogue and other artists. In 2008, he did a remix of Underworld’s “Boy, Boy, Boy“ which is a track listed in our discography due to the participation of Larry Mullen on that track. The Switch remix was released with artwork that is similar to the cover of the Songs of Experience box set, featuring a blue and black design.The “Switch Remix” was made available as a Hi-Res audio track (44.1kHz / 24-bit PCM) one of U2’s first releases in a high resolution audio quality.

A second standalone single followed on January 26, 2017. Once again it was a remix of “Get Out of Your Own Way” by Dutch DJ Afrojack. The version released commercially was 04:07 in length and at the same time a longer version of this and the Switch remixes were released for promotion. Once again the remix single contains simple artwork with a design in blue and black reminiscent of the album art, and the title of the song. A third standalone single was released on April 6, 2018, this time including the Acoustic version of the song. This is a recording of Bono and The Edge performing the song in Milan on December 7, 2017, which aired on RAI Television on December 10, 2017 as part of the show Che tempo che fa. Neither the Afrojack remix, nor the Acoustic version was released in a high resolution format.

An animated video was released to promote the song in January 2018. The video, put together by the collective Broken Fingaz, features a number of animation techniques and is the official video for the song. The same animation was recut into two new videos, one for each of the remixes of the track by Switch and Afrojack. Two additional videos for the song were filmed, but never released. One filmed in October with director Jonas Åkerlund, as the band toured in Mexico, features U2 on a rooftop in Mexico City performing the song and celebrating the culture of Mexico. The second video was filmed in November, when U2 performed in Trafalgar Square as part of the MTV EMAs, and that video features U2 playing the song on stage as the audience holds up protest signs provided by the band. The Mexico video had been teased as being ‘released soon’ on December 11, 2017, with 23 seconds of footage being shared on YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter. Mexican newspaper Le Reforma reports that the band used props from the James Bond film Spectre, without getting permission of the artisans, who later asked that the footage not be used.

“Get Out of Your Own Way” was performed nightly on the Experience + Innocence tour, and three performances from 2018 have been released. Performances from New York (July 1) and Berlin (November 13) appear on the fan club releases Live Songs of Innocence + Experience and Experience + Innocence: Live in Berlin. The version performed in Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre that year was also released on Live at the Apollo For One Night Only.

On September 16, 2022, as part of an upgrade of U2’s singles on digital sites “Get Out of Your Own Way” was reissued. The new version of the single includes both remixes as well as the acoustic version as a single release, and includes the album version of the song (complete with Kendrick Lamar) as well for the first time as part of a commercial release. See our catalog listings below for information on this release. The cover used was an image of Bono’s daughters, used commercially for the first time.

Liner Notes

Get Out of Your Own Way (Switch Remix): Performed by U2. Original produced by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Matt Nordtrom, Jacknife Lee, Jolyon Thomas, David Taylor, Steve Lillywhite. Remixed by SWITCH. Original engineered by Tyler Spry, Matt Nordstrom, Matty Green, Rich Rich.

Get Out of Your Own Way (Afrojack Remix): Performed by U2. Original produced by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Matt Nordtrom, Jacknife Lee, Jolyon Thomas, David Taylor, Steve Lillywhite. Remixed by Afrojack, SWITCH. Original engineered by Tyler Spry, Matt Nordstrom, Matty Green, Rich Rich.

Get Out of Your Own Way (Acoustic Version): Performed by U2 featuring Bono and The Edge. Vocals: Bono and The Edge. Guitar: The Edge. Mastering engineer: Scott Sedillo. Studio Personnel: Scott Sedillo.

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