"Staring at the Sun" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their 1997 album, Pop, and was released by Island Records as the album's second single on 14 April 1997. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, number one in Canada and Iceland and number 26 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the US, it topped the BillboardModern Rock Tracks and Adult Alternative Songs charts. It also reached the top 10 in Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Norway.
The song was written with the line "Stuck together with God's glue", which was taken directly from the title of the album by the Irish band Something Happens, who are good friends with U2.[1] The band felt the song was a potential "anthem to rival 'One'."[2][3] A new mix of "Staring at the Sun" was released for the compilation, The Best of 1990–2000.[2] During the mid-2002 recording sessions in which "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands That Built America" were recorded, parts for four U2 songs were re-recorded, including "Staring at the Sun". The song has been compared to the work of Oasis.[4][5]
A kaleidoscope bearing the single's logo in gold was distributed to promote the single.[6]
Kevin Courtney from Irish Times commented, "Could this be U2's riposte to "Champagne Supernova", an overt attempt to steal some thunder back from Oasis and regain their rightful place as anthem makers supreme? "Staring at the Sun" has shades of psychedelia, lazy sunny afternoons watching a Waterloo sunset, and it's as big, bold and Beatlesque as anything Noel Gallagher has ever knocked out. The Edge picks out pictures of matchstick men on his guitar, while Bono sings of "Summer stretching on the grass ... Summer dresses pass . .." A front runner for U2's big Summer 97 hit."[7] British magazine Music Week gave it top score with five out of five and named it Single of the Week, writing, "Possibly the most obvious single on Pop, this track is awash with a melancholy that's amplified by The Edge's plangent, keening guitar signature. Big."[8] David Sinclair from The Times said, "God is good, but will He listen? Bono asks in this solid return to traditional U2 territory. Does He have a choice?"[9]
"Staring at the Sun" was played at most of the PopMart Tour shows. However, during the first concert at Las Vegas, U2 failed to time the song correctly and had to start over. Bono singing at the wrong tempo was to blame for the mistake. The song was performed acoustically for most of the rest of that tour.[2] It had several appearances on the Elevation Tour, being the only Pop song to be performed on all three legs of the Elevation Tour. Sometimes it also appeared as a snippet in "Discothèque". It was performed as a live staple of the North American leg of the 2018 Experience + Innocence Tour."[10][11]
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