Sunday Bloody Sunday

Sunday Bloody Sunday by Steve Lillywhite ((110) Sunday Bloody Sunday - YouTube)

Name of musician(s)/ bio

The band that created the song is U2 and they consist of Paul Hewson otherwise known as Bono, David Evans otherwise known as Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. The band were initially just school boys recording in their free time, then they gained traction from their controversial music that spoke on topics that are tough to speak on, and the song we chose were some of those songs. They then tried out different styles of music and when that failed they went back to their previous style.

Approximate date song was produced

The song Sunday Bloody Sunday was released on March 21st 1983, and the song was first released in West Germany and the Netherlands.

Social ill/problem being protested: The song is protesting the violence that occurred on January 30th 1972 in Derry, Northern Island. The event is known as Bloody Sunday because 26 unarmed civilians were shot by British troops. This caused much criticism and this song is a part of that.

Sample of the most compelling lyrics


 * “There's many lost, but tell me, who has won? / The trench is dug within our hearts”
 * “Broken bottles under children's feet / Bodies strewn across the dead end street”

Relevance of the words and phrases selected: is the song convincing in its message? Explain why you think so in detail.


 * “I can't believe the news today’ is the very first line that is sung. The song comes from the perspective of a person who is watching the news and discovers the events that occurred in Derry, Northern Ireland. From singing the song from their point of view, we are able to distinguish the thinking process that most people are thinking about when seeing this event. The onlookers come to a realization of the tragic events and say, “Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away”. Wishing that it was not true that in 1972, British troops took fire against unarmed protesters. This song was important in convincing the message that there was no point in the violence as there was no victor. This is exemplified with the lines “There's many lost, but tell me, who has won? / The trench is dug within our hearts.”

Significance of the song in history (how does this song fit into the history to protest music?)


 * This song was important as it gave a new way of looking at the events versus the other version created by John Lennon. While the song was making a connection with the bloody Sunday in 1972, it was mostly targeting the way the situation was handled and that it should not be repeated point blank.

Contemporary connections


 * Related to May BLM protest when protestors were harmed by policemen. However, the Bloody Sunday event had a small scale of number of people in total as well as injured compared to the one in the United States.

Trivia related to the events, people, and places


 * “In the year 2011, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” was ranked as the number 272 song on the list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” by the Rolling Stone Magazine.
 * “A live edition of this track is featured on the documentary-style movie Bloody Sunday of 2002.”
 * “This song is part of U2’s War album and was composed by Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., and Adam Clayton.”
 * “This track was initially recorded between September and November 1982.”

The reasons you selected this song and/or musician


 * We chosen this song as it reminded us of the recent movement that occurred in America, rather than in Europe. We found it interesting how similar the events were with the BLM movement and the Bogside Massacre, also known as Bloody Sunday. An incident in 1972 was being repeated in 2020, with police brutality against mostly unarmed protesters.

External links


 * https://medium.com/@thelegendsofmusic/sunday-bloody-sunday-the-story-behind-u2s-most-political-song-f3fd719e1009
 * https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/u2s-sunday-bloody-sunday-meaning/
 * https://www.thoughtco.com/rhetorical-analysis-u2s-sunday-bloody-sunday-1690718
 * U2 | Members, Songs, & Facts | Britannica