U2 gives Pop some love on Facebook

“It arrived after 'Discothèque' and before 'Last Night On Earth'. The b-side featured 'North and South of the River' and 'Your Blue Room'.  It was the second single from the album Pop, and was released this week in 1997.
#U2 #Pop #StaringAtTheSun“

I seem to recall U2 considered at the time Staring at the Sun was their new One.  I didn't quite take off, though musically and lyrically it's an interesting song.

Yeah Adam said he was surprised it wasn’t a hit like One, he highly rated it. The song has an unconventional tempo too, tripped them up playing it live.

It's better than One,  not sure if it was a "hit" or not,  but i do remember it got a ton of airplay on the radio back in 1997.  Granted I was overseas at the time but listened to armed forces radio and they played this and Discotheque quite a bit.  I know on the weekends they would play those top 40 countdowns or whatever they were called,  seems like this was on there. 

Just a really good 90's song imho,  it fit nicely in the album and kept the mystique of u2 alive in the heat of the summer when it seems like the whole world might have been racing towards some kind of fitting end within a couple of years;  giant spaceships were already blowing up the White House in the theater,  soon it would be insane martians and eventually an Armageddon sized asteroid,  and hold this for a second while i go take a piss - but the turn of the century was even going to shut down all of our computers. 

Looking back on some of that now,  it seems a bit silly compared to a few of the real crises that we have experienced since that time - but enough on that - you cannot see the eyes of the demon until him comes a callin',  but it's interesting to speculate.