I’m not much of a fan of American football. In fact, I can count on two fingers the number of times I’ve watched the sport in my adult life, and both of those times were due to the involvement of my favorite band. The first was back in 2002 when U2 played the Super Bowl half-time show. The second came just last year when U2 had an advert scheduled to air during the game, and the subject of that commercial is what I want to talk about today.

It wasn’t that long ago – I’m sure that most if not all of you remember that that was the day that U2 premiered their song “Invisible”. The song was already available when I got out of bed that day (I’m kind of a late sleeper) and the literal very first thing I did – before going to the bathroom or brushing my teeth or having breakfast or anything else – was to rush into the computer room to find and download and hear the new U2 song. My wife, who was sitting at her computer doing the same thing as I was at mine, actually had success before I did, and she started playing the song before I knew that it was coming. I remember thinking at first that what I was hearing was an advertisement for some other artist, because surely it wasn’t the new song from U2 – it sounded so different! Not too long into it, though, Edge’s recognizable guitar playing appeared and it became clear that, if this one track was any indication, U2 had found great success at updating their sound for a new generation while retaining the classic staples that made U2 identifiable as U2. Time would tell that “Invisible” wasn’t really that indicative of the whole of what U2 had been up to in the studio, as it sounds quite a bit different from the rest of Songs of Innocence, which represents an entirely different “new” sound for U2. After the initial listen, though, the more I listened to “Invisible” (which was a lot), the more attention I paid to the lyrics, and I have to say today that I think that the words to “Invisible” are among the best that Bono and Edge have ever written.

There’s definitely a strong reference to the band’s early days in the lyrics, but I think that there might be a bit of a modern-day perspective in there too. First of all, it’s easy to hear late teenaged Bono, desperate for his band to receive the attention he felt they deserved, in lines like “you don’t see me, but you will”, and I think that some of the song’s lyrics are even directed at Bono’s dad, especially in lines like “I’m more than you let me be”. Beyond that, though, I think that Bono was thinking of the perceived failure of No Line on the Horizon, and the fan-base’s sometimes harsh view of the band, when he was writing these words. Bono has said before that he doesn’t like to look at the band’s fan-sites because (and I’m paraphrasing here) “They don’t like anything we do”, and it’s no secret that he went through a crisis of confidence before the band started work on Songs of Innocence. I think that, just as much as the lyrics to “Invisible” were written looking back at U2’s early days, they were written with the modern U2 “fan” in mind.

You know the kind of person I’m talking about – we’ve all seen them on the forums and chat-rooms – the “fan” who are just as hard on the band (if not moreso) as some of those U2-haters who speak so loudly. I’m not here to call anyone out or to criticize anyone – those fans are welcome to their opinions just like everyone else is – but I can imagine that it’s a little exasperating for the members of U2, especially those who, by their own admission, crave the adulation of the masses.  I think that “Invisible” was released in advance of the album for a reason – it’s kind of a mission statement for the “new” U2, announcing their plans to not only win over the unabashed U2 hater, but also those who claim to like the band but who aren’t happy with anything U2 does. The line “I didn’t even want the heart you broke. It’s yours to keep, you just might need one.” takes on a new poignance when one considers that the line might be directed at the band’s fan-base.

Unlike some of the other material from Songs of Innocence, “Invisible” has already enjoyed its live debut, on the first episode of Jimmy Fallon’s tenure as host of the Tonight Show. The song was well-received, and I think that it’s pretty certain that Invisible will make regular appearances on the upcoming Innocence + Experience tour.