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If God Will Send His Angels

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"If God Will Send His Angels"
Song

"If God Will Send His Angels" was the fifth single from U2's Pop album. It was also featured on the City of Angels soundtrack.

Track listings

For the "If God Will Send His Angels" single, released simultaneously with "MOFO" on December 8 and 9, 1997:

Version 1

  1. "If God Will Send His Angels" (single version) (4:32)
  2. "Slow Dancing" (with Willie Nelson) (4:00)
  3. "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad" (4:12)
  4. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (live from Sarajevo) (3:49)

This version was released on CD in Europe and the United States.

Version 2

  1. "If God Will Send His Angels" (single version) (4:32)
  2. "MOFO" (Romin Remix) (5:50)

This version was released on audio cassette in the UK and US and as a compact disc in the UK and Australia.

B-sides

The "If God Will Send His Angels" singles were backed with the following B-sides:

Slow Dancing

"Slow Dancing" is a country song written by Bono for Willie Nelson in 1989. It was played at a few live shows during the Lovetown Tour. A studio version of the song, recorded with only Bono and the Edge, appeared on the "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" single in 1993 (coincidentally, both singles also prominently involve Frank Sinatra).

In 1997, U2 had the opportunity to record it with Nelson. This version features the entire band, in addition to vocals by Nelson and harmonica by Mickey Raphael. Bono and Brian Eno provide backing vocals.

Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad

This song was written by Bono for Frank Sinatra in 1992. It is a jazzy lounge song written in the style of Sinatra's music. This performance was recorded live by Bono and the Edge in a London studio for Sinatra's 80th birthday. It was played for Sinatra in the United States at a televised birthday tribute on November 19, 1995 and was likely recorded a few days earlier. It has a string arrangement by Craig Armstrong.

Although Frank Sinatra never got a chance to record it himself, his daughter, Nancy Sinatra, cut a version for her 2004 album Nancy Sinatra. U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. play bass and drums respectively for the track (interestingly, they did not appear on the original recording). Sinatra changes the pronouns in the lyrics from a first-person perspective to a third-person, presumably to refer to her father.

Sunday Bloody Sunday (live from Sarajevo)

The performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was recorded live at the band's Popmart show at Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 23, 1997. Because Bono lost his voice early in the show, guitarist the Edge sang the song, accompanied only by his guitar. It is a quiet, pensive performance of the song, a stark contrast from the fiery original on War.

This was the first time the song was performed this way, replacing Edge's nightly karaoke song in the set (with the exception of the Tel Aviv, Israel show the night after, this setlist change would continue until the end of the Popmart tour).

Mofo (Romin Mix)

This version of the song was remixed by Johnny Moy.

Alternate versions

There are three versions of this song:

  • The album version, which appears on Pop. This is the original and the longest version of the song.
  • The single version, which appears on the single, the City of Angels soundtrack, and the music video. Its choruses are arranged in the opposite order (moving the climax nearer to the end of the song), and it has a different ending (with actual lyrics replacing the scat singing of the original), shortening the track by about a minute.
  • The Big Yam Mix (also known as the Grand Jury Mix), a remix of the song that appears on the "MOFO" single as well as the B-sides disc of The Best of 1990-2000.

Video

The song was promoted with a music video directed by Phil Joanou. The video takes place in a restaurant. The screen is split horizontally, showing Bono in the top half and the person sitting across from him in the bottom half. The lighting brightly lits up each person's face (in contrast to the dim backgrounds). As Bono sings the song, numerous different people sit down at his table, talk for a while, and leave (including the three other members of the band at one point).

The video was filmed at a slower speed and sped up; thus, Bono had to learn how to sing the song slowly in order to properly synchronize with the song. The other people in the video spoke and moved at regular speed, so they appear sped up in the video.

The video appears on the DVD for The Best of 1990-2000, along with director's commentary.

An alternate cut of the video, in which scenes from the movie City of Angels are interspliced, was also released.

See also

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