Staring at the Sun (U2 song)

"Staring at the Sun"
First single cover
Single by U2
from the album Pop
B-side	"North and South of the River" "Your Blue Room" (CD 1 only)
Released	15 April 1997
Format	7" vinyl, CD, cassette
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:37
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Bono and The Edge
Producer	Flood
U2 singles chronology
"Discothèque" (1997) "Staring at the Sun" (1997) "Last Night on Earth" (1997)
Alternative cover Second single cover

"Staring at the Sun" is the second single from U2's 1997 album, Pop. It peaked at No. 3 on the UK singles chart, No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks, No. 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks, and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

History

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]

A new mix of "Staring at the Sun" was released for the compilation, The Best of 1990-2000. During the summer of 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."

Live performances

"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 right 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. 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 has not been played full since October 24, 2001 in New York City.

It appeared in the live videos/recordings Please: PopHeart Live EP, "Please" single, PopMart: Live from Mexico City, Hasta la Vista Baby! and U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland.

Track listings

7" and cassette release
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Staring at the Sun"	4:37
2.	"North and South of the River"	4:38

CD release 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Staring at the Sun"	4:37
2.	"North and South of the River"	4:38
3.	"Your Blue Room"	5:28

CD release 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Staring at the Sun" (Monster Truck mix)	5:06
2.	"Staring at the Sun" (Sad Bastards mix)	6:19
3.	"North and South of the River"	4:38
4.	"Staring at the Sun" (Lab Rat mix)	5:05

2002 promotional release
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Staring at the Sun" (Brothers In Rhythm Club mix)	9:42
2.	"Staring at the Sun" (Brothers In Rhythm Ambient mix)	5:27

These remixes by Brothers In Rhythm originated as bootlegs on 12" vinyl. They use the live Rotterdam performance featured on the "Please" single rather than the album version. U2 approved it for limited promotional use to coincide with the release of The Best of 1990-2000.^[2]

Charts

Chart (1997) Peak position Australian ARIA Charts[3] 23 Austrian Singles Chart[3] 25 Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[3] 46 Canadian RPM Singles Chart[4] 1 Canadian Singles Chart[5] 2 Canadian RPM Alternative 30[6] 1 Dutch MegaCharts[3] 19 Finland Singles Chart[3] 4 French Singles Chart[3] 49 Irish Singles Chart[7] 4

Chart (1997) Peak position New Zealand Singles Chart[3] 4 Swedish Singles Chart[3] 26 Swiss Singles Chart[3] 29 UK Singles Chart[8] 3 US Billboard Hot 100[5] 26 US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[5] 2 US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[5] 1 US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[5] 22

See also

• List of covers of U2 songs – Staring at the Sun
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1997 (Canada)
• List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles (Canada)
• Number one modern rock hits of 1997

References

1. ^ http://u2faqs.com/songs/#19
2. ^ http://www.discogs.com/release/169543
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "1ste Ultratop-hitquiz". Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=U2&titel=Staring+At+The+Sun&cat=s. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 
4. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 65, No. 9, May 05 1997". RPM. 5 May 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.3203&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 7 March 2010.  Note: "Staring at the Sun" needs to be searched manually.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "U2: Charts and Awards". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5lShoqdHr. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 
6. ^ "Rock/Alternative - Volume 65, No. 8, April 28 1997". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3195&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-05-09. 
7. ^ "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 23 November 2009.  Note: U2 must be searched manually.
8. ^ "EveryHit.com search results: U2". Everyhit.com. http://www.everyhit.com. Retrieved 2009-11-22.  Note: U2 must be searched manually.