Dirty Day

"Dirty Day" is a song by Irish alternative rock band U2. It is the penultimate track on their 1993 studio album Zooropa. The music was written by the band as a whole, while the lyrics were written by Bono and the Edge. The song, along with "Numb", marks the Edge's first lyrical contributions to a U2 song since "Van Dieman's Land" on 1988's Rattle and Hum and indicated his growing presence as a second lyricist in the band; he would go on to contribute lyrics to every track on the band's next album, Pop.

"Dirty Day"
Song by U2
from the album Zooropa
Released5 July 1993
GenreAlternative rock
Length5:24
LabelIsland
Composer(s)U2
Lyricist(s)
Producer(s)

Two alternate mixes of "Dirty Day", subtitled "Junk Day" and "Bitter Kiss" appeared on the Please single, with the former also appearing on the second disc of The Best of 1990-2000 & B-Sides. A re-recorded version of "Dirty Day" appeared on the band's album Songs of Surrender; it is one of two tracks from Zooropa, the other being "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)".[1]

Background

"Dirty Day" is in the key of D♭ and is played in common time at a tempo of 103 BPM.[2] It is one of four songs on Zooropa mixed by Robbie Adams, alongside "Numb", "Some Days are Better than Others", and "The Wanderer".[3] Bono alternates between his standard vocal range and a falsetto range during the verses and bridge. Layers of synthesizer play a sustained high A♭ note throughout the song, alongside a repeating unison guitar/bass riff by the Edge and Adam Clayton underpinning the song. The song was born out of jam sessions occurring during the album's creation.[4]

Described by Bono as a "father and son song",[5] the lyrics depict a father returning home to his abandoned son only to find that he is not recognized.[6] The title of the song was inspired by a phrase commonly used by Bono's father, who was known to refer to bad days as a "dirty day".[7] Other phrases appearing in the song, including "I don't know you and you don't know the half of it" and "no blood is thicker than ink" were also phrases commonly used by his father.[4] The lyric "these days, days, days, run away like horses over the hill", repeated during the fade out, is a reference to The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hill, a collection of poetry by writer Charles Bukowski.[7]

Reception

"Dirty Day" has garnered a generally positive reception from critics. Caryn Rose of Vulture placed the song at number 83 in her ranking of all 234 U2 songs, praising its "mix of contrasts", including the changes in dynamics between the intro and climax of the song and Bono's vocal performance.[8] In their review of Zooropa, The Austin Chronicle felt the song, along with "Numb", saw the band "strik[e] an almost perfect balance between the avant-garde and tried and true."[9]

Live performances

After being performed during the 1993 "Zoomerang/New Zooland" leg of the Zoo TV tour, "Dirty Day" remained absent from setlists for 25 years before returning for three shows on the Experience + Innocence tour in 2018.[10][11] During the performance, Bono spoke to the crowd about the band members' relationships with their fathers while growing up in Dublin; he then called out their names as they were shown on the stage's screen.[12]

A performance of the song from Sydney, Australia appears on the video Zoo TV: Live from Sydney (1993).[13]

Personnel

References
  1. Kaufman, Gil (11 January 2023). "U2 to Revisit 40 Classic Tracks on 'Songs of Surrender' Collection". Billboard. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  2. "U2 - "Dirty Day" sheet music". Musicroom. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  3. Tingen, Paul (March 1994). "Robbie Adams: Recording U2's Achtung Baby & Zooropa". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. McCormick (2006), p. 249.
  5. Banas, Erica (18 November 2022). "U2: Their 50 Best Songs, Ranked". 93.3 WMMR Rocks!. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  6. Leas, Ryan (3 July 2013). "Zooropa Turns 20". Stereogum. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  7. Whatley, Jack (16 August 2022). "The six best songs inspired by Charles Bukowski". Far Out. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. Rose, Caryn (26 October 2022). "The Best U2 Songs: All 234 Songs Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  9. Gray, Christopher (30 March 2001). "Review: U2 - Zooropa". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  10. Greene, Andy (10 November 2018). "Watch U2 Play 'Dirty Day' for First Time In 25 Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  11. Greene, Andy (14 November 2018). "U2's Experience + Innocence Tour: 10 Stunning Live Rarities". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  12. Skinner, Tom (10 November 2018). "Watch U2 Perform 'Dirty Day' for the First Time in a Quarter-Century". NME. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  13. Simon, Brent (26 October 2006). "Zoo TV: Live from Sydney". IGN. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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