The lyrics refer to the movement for solidarity lead by Lech Walesa in Poland. After this was recorded, Poland announced they would abolish martial law, coincidentally on New Year's Day, 1983.
"New Year's Day" was the first single from U2's third album, War. Their first three albums were all produced by Steve Lillywhite, who helped translate the energy of their live shows onto tape. The band was slowly building an international following, but War got them into the slipstream to stardom, which they were better prepared for than most thanks to years of touring and a band dynamic that worked very well (it helps when your lead singer oozes charisma and is willing to share songwriting credits equally). "New Year's Day" was the first U2 song to chart in America, where it reached #53, but the song got a lot of exposure on MTV and attracted the kind of fans that tell their friends. In the UK, it was their first Top 10 hit, reaching #10.
This almost didn't make the album because Bono was having fits writing the lyrics. At least he didn't lose them like he did when working on their previous album, October.
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