Song for Someone
"Song for Someone" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fourth track from their thirteenth studio album, Songs of Innocence, and was released as its third single on 11 May 2015. It was produced by Ryan Tedder and Flood. To promote the single, the band performed "Song for Someone" on The Graham Norton Show.
| "Song for Someone" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by U2 | ||||
| from the album Songs of Innocence | ||||
| Released | 11 May 2015 | |||
| Recorded | 2010–2014 in California and New York | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:43 (album version) 3:46 (radio mix) | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | U2 (music), Bono and the Edge (lyrics) | |||
| Producer(s) | Ryan Tedder and Flood | |||
| U2 singles chronology | ||||
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The song was performed in every show during the Innocence + Experience Tour. It was also performed specially as a part of "Red Nose Day". Lead vocalist Bono described it as a love song dedicated to his wife, Ali. He told Rolling Stone, "Before I even knew what commitment was, I ended up as a young man in the arms of this young woman, in a world somewhat hostile to the concept of the childhood sweetheart and a first love."[1]
The music video for the song is a short film featuring Woody Harrelson and his daughter Zoe. A second video was released August 27th, 2015 and premiered exclusively on Facebook for 24 hours. The clip quickly amassed close to a million views. The video was directed by Matt Mahurin, who had worked with the band on previous videos such as "Love is Blindness" and "With Or Without You."
As part of a cross-promotion with Apple, fans at select European concerts during the Innocence + Experience tour were able to enter the "Experience Bus", a vehicle offering virtual reality headsets playing an alternate video for the song. It features a performance of the song by the band from the tour's "e-stage", intercut with footage of fans singing along. [2] The new version of the video was made available for streaming on the VRSE app.
Rolling Stone compared the track to the band's Grammy Award-winning single, "Walk On", stating that the song "begins with gentle acoustic guitars before gradually building up to a "Walk On"-style crescendo." Consequence of Sound cited "Song For Someone" as one of the "essential tracks" of Songs Of Innocence.
The song has peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, number 13 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart, number 19 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and number 30 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs Chart.
The song "13 (There Is a Light)" on the group's subsequent album Songs of Experience features a reprise of the chorus from "Song for Someone".
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Slovenia (SloTop50)[3] | 44 |
| US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[4] | 13 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[5] | 19 |
| US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[6] | 21 |
References
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/see-bono-grab-a-star-in-u2s-new-song-for-someone-video-20150827#ixzz3kDcLqZtr
- Trew, James (29 October 2015). "Apple dips a toe into VR with U2 music video". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- "U2 Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- "U2 Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- "U2 Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
