Bono said the following in an inteview, unknown to whom and when, referred to at Telegraph's Neil McCormick's column about the silence in pop and rock music about US' "War on Terror" campain.
U2 have recently recorded a new track, Electrical Storm, for a forthcoming best-of. Bono says that, although it was his intention to write about the aftermath of 9/11, it has turned out to be a love song.
"It's about a couple in a room, feeling a storm brewing in the sky outside and equating that to the pressure they feel in their relationship. I think it captures a sense of unease I feel around the world, especially in America, an air of nervous anticipation. It's not an overtly political song, but I don't think we could have written it before what happened in New York."
A seasoned campaigner for good causes, Bono is only half joking when he suggests the public may be sceptical of rock stars making obvious political statements. "You have to get your message across in different ways. A hardened terrorist is not going to put down his weapon because Bono says war is bad," he says.
"I'm terrified that, if U2 make another big statement about peace, war might break out just to knock me off my high horse!"
Jonas Steverud (Maintainer of U2MoL) (Thanks to Annika Backhammar annika.backhammar
chello.se) ( 7:th of September 2002)
The song was originally written during the "All That You Can't Leave Behind Sessions" which had allegedly already produced a song about Michael Hutchense (Stuck in a Moment). My theory is Electrical Storm is another song about Hutchense. Why you ask? Two reasons, 1) the feuding couple in the song sound reminiscent of Hutchense and his girlfriend at the time of his death. 2) The phrase "Baby Don't Cry" is a reoccurring phrase sung harmonically with the version in the song by INXS. Plus the song on the INXS album was again about a feuding couple, and one of the partners making an attempt to quell the feud.
Jon Corl Cfbjrock49aol.com ( 3:rd of November 2002)
In an interview where fans had the chance to ask the questions, Bono responded to the following question:
JO WHILEY: We have tens of thousands of questions coming in from all over the world. The first one says, Dear Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam, I absolutely love "Electrical Storm," and was wondering if you could tell me what inspired the lyrics to this song.
BONO: It's hard. When I'm writing the lyrics to songs, I try to put into words what the band are doing musically. You know, the lyric tends to grow out of the melody, and the melody grows out of the chords. The title "Electrical Storm" came to me as a sort of just a suggestion about the nervous times that we live in, and post 9-11, and all that, but actually it ended up being a song just about lovers trying to clear the air, really. And I just left it there.
Jonas Steverud (Maintainer of U2MoL) (21:th of October 2004)