'Magical' Moment

27 Nov 200928
'The most magical experience I've ever had in a studio'.

Not long after the album came out earlier this year, producer Brian Eno spoke to us about one of his 'No Line' highlights - Moment of Surrender.

PCIRELAND
Great song
Great album, Great song, possibly as good as ONE.
mike_walsh
Wow
Far and away my favourite track on the album
ROCKER70
Powerful
I have followed the boys from Dublin since Boy... have a home studio... write my own stuff now.. but would give just about everything I own to be in the room for a momment like this. There is an extrodinary feeling when my music arrives... from thin air... something that didn't exist momments prior... but this Mr Eno... well lets just say I think God was smiling on you that day. What a powerful song - and on a single take?? From the millions of us who can only dream of such an experience... what a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it! Michael in Orlando, Fl
breatheU2
Indescribable Moment
I loved this song from the moment I heard the first note. Everything about it is amazing - and Eno's story just elevates it more. It is something I can't explain. Maybe it's Bono's voice or the lyrics or beat ......whatever the reason, this song makes you feel something...and it's different for everyone. Part of me wants it to be a single but part of me wants to keep it tucked away and hidden from everyone else.
blondax
Breathe, Groove, Energize...
When the Spirit moves, don't get out of the way ... jump in and get soaked, then share the blessing. This song is pure joy, and living, pulsating proof that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Thanks, Eno, for elaborating and giving voice to what happens in 'those' moments. Well said. It's a haunting and powerful piece. Cheers.
Garfeimao
Magical Moment
MOS is my favorite song too, one that I often put on repeat mode when I'm driving. I really enjoyed hearing Eno's description of the way this song came about, makes me appreciate this song even more. And I agree with others that this song is the best thing they've done since One was released. It's truly a gem on an already great album, and truly amazing live. In fact the song itself reminds me of a description of what seeing U2 live was like for one reviewer back in the early 1980's. They said that the band's music creates an emotional bond with the audience and that Bono is the master who expertly surfs the emotional tide given back by the audience.
jbyronartist
On Eno's Word
I am a terrible writer yet now I realize now how great songs are truly written. BYRON
Marleenie
MOS and Muses
I kept reading the acronym "MOS" and thinking what the heck that must be some music lingo for which I am unfamiliar. Then I realized it was the song title and it made me smile. Not sure that I would make for the ideal muse, but I do muse about a lot of things and I did recently paint a horse drawn carriage with a rickety wheel. For what it's worth I always paint to music and am grateful for the creativity of others.
mon3
A true moment of Surrender!
Who else could have created something this perfect... this moving... and unique at first cut? Who else could have surrendered themselves individually to whatever music they were hearing and yet together as a band have create something so harmonic? This is what makes this band the best in the business. Love the song love the album... can't wait to hear more!
Lyndasoleil
amazing album
great job guys greetings from montreal quebec we love you
blue_eyed_boy
Needed work
Don't get me wrong: I like Moment of Surrender, but this is a song that, despite the warm feelings in the studio after the first take, needed some more work. This song could have been great if it was worked on a little bit more. It needed a guitar hook, a crescendo part added somewhere, and some better lyrics. A song is like a piece of coal when first found. Musicians use their instruments to brush away the coverings. When you find a gem in the stone, don't leave it un-carved; chisel away till the true beauty is shown. It’s sad, but the true beauty of MOS was never revealed.
validation for one of best songs in rec
Eno to the rescue; point being record has great songs, new, refreshing, soulful; on the latter, Unknown Caller, my favorite song (it'll be nice to see/hear something from Lanois). As Eno says, glad U2 took this direction. Neither a fan on GOYB on this record, amazing-magnificent otherwise. Enjoyed this clip very much.
MaSanYa
Dear Mr. Eno
Thank you very much for bringing this beautiful explanation abaut making of MOS.
BOYNAMEDJOSHUA
Magical 'Surrender'
Brian Eno nailed it for sure as this song should have been the first single, probably the most important single for U2 since Achtung Baby was released with 'One' on that record. 'Moment', the more I listen to it, the deep emotion this song stirs inside me, is without any doubt possibly one of U2's most influential and greatest songs ever. It must have been amazing to witness the band that day playing it only once and the silence in the room afterwards, pure magic.. WoW!
Yogic
LITTLE DITTY
Awesome little ditty became the immaculate conception...Love Tweed and U2... Thanks Eno for sharing Your Moment of Surrender... : ). Very Cool
Moment Of Grace
U2 always had a lot of soul , but they've reached a new height with this song. There is something greater than songwriting here,bigger,...you know when songs really seem like living entities? well,this one is alive for sure...made of human flesh,blood,hurt,and bliss. A moment of surrender...to grace. www.myspace.com/stephaneleclair (a U2 cover & a Cohen cover are coming soon on my player) Peace & buy RED products this xmas. SLC
evanescenthaze
the music plays the man
its like the "40" of No Line on the Horizon. it just sort of shows up. its such an amazing song, and Eno articulated every single thing i have ever felt when i hear this song. Bono often says that he is just an instrument, that the music is playing him, not the other way around, and it is in those songs that i find myself so deeply in love with U2, and i find it absolutely amazing. I have never loved a band, nor a group of songs by the same artist quite as much as i love U2 and their music...it is profound. I am truly amazed by that song, and i doubt ill ever be able to hear it the same again. im very glad i tuned into this video.
hapy
Magnificent !
It is not whether Larry is a great drummer, it is not whether Edge is a great guitar player, it is not whether Adam is a great bass player, it is not whether Bono is a great singer. It is about whether U2 has a team-spirit ; a team that works hard to give us a magnificent moment; The U2-team spirit ist wunderbar!
muddyholly
Astonishingly powerful
I have read where Bono says that people like U2 songs tomorrow. Sometimes that's true -- they're demanding songs that make you think. But sometimes the songs come surging straight out from a naked, authentic emotional truth and your brain only gets in the way. So it is with Moment of Surrender. It's such an astonishingly powerful song...the first listen brought tears to my eyes. I've lived through that moment and it takes me back every time I hear it.
rllanos
allowing for beautiful vulnerability
Being an artist myself (a visual one), images come sometimes in the form of a flash, in the form of something I really did see (witness), in the form of a text that I read, inspired by something I read, or even more importantly: A feeling I get, and then the feeling becomes an image in my mind's eye. Not all pieces of art (just as I'm sure in music and all of the different art forms) develops in the same way. Hearing Brian Eno candidly speak about his role in creating this song is, from the standpoint of an artist myself, highly appreciated. It's always quite fascinating to hear the creative process that artists go through when they are coming up with a song, poem or a piece of art, The creative process can be something quite sacred, depending on who's doing the creating and what's being created. In ancient Greece, the Muses were thought to be the source of inspiration for all of the arts. As artists, our job is to have our antennas quite high, metaphorically speaking, in order for the Muses to send us the messages for us to convey. In a way, artists are like Oracles or mediums. An artist friend of mine once told me something quite sublime. He said "we did'nt choose art. Art chose us". Thanks to Brian for allowing his creative muse speak through him.
downbeat
Ripped and then gripped
The song is moving and the explanation of how it arose is moving. An unrehearsed piece about an unrehearsed piece. Brian Eno mentions channeling as if the Moment came from another place which was created at that moment by musicians who could not help themselves. From my first intense experience with listening to the album as a whole, I felt it had channeled another era in music and life.
Abbi
Great song! Great album!
It's a great song, in a great album. Bono, don't worry about selling. It's a great record! very intimate! The only problem was the first single "boots" really scarce. Except for "boots" all the other songs on the record is very deep and poetic. It's the most similar album to "The Unforgettable Fire" you did in 25 years. Sorry for my english Ciao Andrea (from Italy)
electricco
Moment Of Surrender . . .
Is the PERFECT closing Song . . . Whaouh ! its THE 40 of the 2009s . . . Wish I Could Hear It Again & Again & Again Live . . . Next Year. Release MOS as a Single, But UnKnown Caller too !
clorinszky
magic
... and it also brings magics to the stadiums: good one :)
MikeTighe
He's right
eno is sooooooo right about releasing MOS over GOYB first...may have even made album more commericially successful, ironically
blackandblue
Well, Well, Well
Well done Eno! MOS is an exceptional beautiful song.
xalira
MOS as 4th single!
We know you were thinking about it... So please, release Moment of surrender as 4th single! Not to help the album, but just to share this piece of beautiful music (and give Eno the consolation he deserves ;) )
teresa_88
Brilliant!
I wish I was there when all this happened, Moment of Surrender is my favourite song on the record - though the choice is not an easy one - I love the intensity of Bono's voice... the whole song seems to come directly from the soul. A mesterpiece among masterpieces..! Look forward to hearing it live again in 2010!!
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