Every Breaking Wave

This was originally a soul-pop song slated for U2's abandoned project Songs of Ascent. Bono told Rolling Stone at the time that its bright synth sounds were influenced by OMD and "early electronica." "You don't hear indie bands doing blue-eyed soul [like this]," he added. A more stripped-down version was performed live by the group a few times in 2010. The version that finally appears on Songs of Innocence has been completely fleshed out with a re-written chorus and some alterations to the verses. "We had early versions of that song with other sections, and it was much more complicated and big with musical motifs," explained The Edge to American Songwriter. "In simplifying that song, just a few little changes in the chords, suddenly it comes into focus. If a song sounds writerly, you're never going to love playing it live. It's got to feel like it always was there, in its natural state. And that's what I was trying for, this timeless quality, where you're not thinking "Oh, this is clever." It's "Wow, this is reaching me."

Songs Of Innocence was released to all iTunes Store customers free of charge. However, a number of account holders were unhappy that the record appeared in their music libraries without the option to opting-out. Defending uploading the record for free to all iTunes users, Bono said at the Web Summit in Dublin. "We got people who were uninterested in U2 to be mad with U2. I would call that an improvement."

U2 released eleven videos directed by politically minded street artists to accompany the album under the title Films of Innocence. The clip for this song was filmed by South African-born Berlin based artist Robin Rhode. The filmmaker told Complex magazine that he was inspired by the social issues in his home country and by U2's close connection. "It was an inspirational project especially as I fell in love with the song," Rhodes said. "I believed whole-heartedly in the lyrics and the intentions of the band to explore new avenues of music video creation that could have a more educative and contributive effect on global viewers and listeners around the world. Music, like art, becomes the mechanism to spread consciousness."