A Sort of Homecoming

"A Sort of Homecoming" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the opening track on their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. A live version of the track is found on 1985's four-track EP, Wide Awake in America. Composition As the opening track on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming" epitomises the new direction U2 had taken. A far more atmospheric album than the previous overt-rock of War, the album has a rich and orchestrated sound. Like much of the album, the song replaces the hard-hitting martial drum sound of War with a subtler polyrhythmic shuffle, and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix. On the War Tour and leading up to recording The Unforgettable Fire, U2 lead singer and lyricist, Bono, had become a voracious reader. He read fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song-writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poetic one. He read works of poet Paul Celan, whose line "poetry is a sort of homecoming" inspired not just the song's title but the song itself. Celan's profound spiritual doubt contrasts with U2 members' previous religious certainties. The song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band had become more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and religious beliefs in comparison to during the October-War period. The phrase, "poetry is a sort of homecoming" had additional significance for Bono as a singer who was constantly away from home and travelling. According to bassist Adam Clayton, Bono's vocals for the song were re-recorded at the last minute. The band had worked overnight to finish The Unforgettable Fire by 8 a.m. on the final day of the recording sessions so producer Daniel Lanois could deliver the tapes for mastering. As they listened back to the song, Bono said that he wanted to record another take of his vocals. With his taxi to the airport waiting outside, Lanois relented and cued up the tapes, allowing Bono one final take. Lanois told the band that he would mix it at the mastering studio in London and then departed.