"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a cover of a song by U2, and was produced and newly arranged by Trent Reznor for Saul Williams' third studio album, The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust!.
Contents
Saul Williams on "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"I was an exchange student to Brazil when I was 16. Up until that point in my life the ONLY music I listened to was Hip Hop. That year away was pivotal, not only because I was at the heights of puberty in Brazil....but also because it exposed me to more music than I ever cared to listen to: along with all the Brazillian music which I still treasure: Sinead O'Conner. Morrisey. New Order. Depeche Mode. And definitely U2. The first time I heard Sunday Bloody Sunday, I was in a club in Manaus which is a city in the middle of the Amazon. When I heard those drums come through the speakers I was hooked. I think they had played Blue Monday right before it. The kids were going wild. I remember watching this dude dance, wishing I was as cool as him. That song stuck with me. I suggested it to Trent as a possible cover thinking he would hate it as an obvious choice. He loved the idea and started working on the music immediately. The only music I added to his composition ( aside from my O O O O Ode to Beyonce.....just kidding) was the 808s. What's the use of a hip hop head covering a famous rock song without using 808s?"
Trent Reznor on "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"We were halfway through the mix when I realized I was caught up with my duties in the second room. We discussed playing around with some covers and threw some ideas around. We did two - you've heard one. Saul suggested SBS and I spent about a week wrestling around with the right way to pull it off. It probably sounds more like a NIN arrangement than I would allow NIN to sound these days, but in this context I felt it was the right thing to do.
A record as sonically and lyrically complex and challenging as this one needs moments of accessibility to anchor things together and I think this performs that function well."
Song Credits
- Music: Adam Clayton, David Evans, Paul Hewson, Laurence Mullen (Universal Polygram International/ASCAP)
- Lyrics: Adam Clayton, David Evans, Paul Hewson, Laurence Mullen (Universal Polygram International/ASCAP)
- New arrangement by Trent Reznor
- Add. Programing by Saul Williams
- Vox: Saul Williams
Appearances
Other
Versions
Sunday Bloody Sunday
This version is heard on The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust!.
Music Video
On 01/15/08 the song's music video was added to the NiggyTardust player and Yahoo! music. The video opens with the credits: "Karmageddon and the Tar Spangled Banner present Saul Williams in Sunday Bloody Sunday". The video shows Saul Williams both as a homeless man and as NiggyTardust. The video was directed by Jordan M. Albert and James Mathers. At the end of the video the web address KarmageddonMovie.com appears.
Lyrics
I can’t believe the news today. I can’t close my eyes and make it go away.
How long? How long must we sing this song? How long? How long?
‘Cause tonight we can be as one. Tonight.
Broken bottles under children’s feet. Bodies strewn across a dead end street.
But I won’t heed the battle call. It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall.
Sunday Bloody Sunday. Sunday Bloody Sunday.
And the battle's just begun. There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trench is dug within our hearts. Mothers, children, brothers, sisters, torn apart.
Sunday Bloody Sunday. Sunday Bloody Sunday.
How long? How long must we sing this song? How long? How long?
‘Cause tonight we can be as one. Tonight. Tonight. Tonight. Tonight.
Sunday Bloody Sunday. Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Wipe your tears away. Wipe your tears away. Wipe your tears away. Wipe your tears away.
And it’s true we are immune. When fact is fiction and TV: reality. And today the millions cry.
We eat and drink while tomorrow, they die.
And the real battles just begun to claim the victory Jesus won on Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Sunday Bloody Sunday