page_title: City of Blinding Lights
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: City of Blinding Lights / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Barack Obama speaking at a campaign rally in Abington, PA
context_page_description: "City of Blinding Lights" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and was released as the album's fourth single on 6 June 2005. The song reached number one in Spain, and peaked in the top ten in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. The music video was shot at the General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
  The earliest incarnation of the song was developed during sessions for the band's 1997 album, Pop. The lyrics were written by the band's lead vocalist Bono, taking partial inspiration from his recollection of his first trip to London, and from the band's experience playing in New York City in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks during their Elevation Tour in 2001. Other lyrics refer to Bono's relationship with his wife Ali. The song's underlying theme reflects lost innocence and was inspired by an image Bono saw of himself from the early 1980s. The sound has been compared to the tone of U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire and their 1987 single "Where the Streets Have No Name."
context_section_description: The song featured in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada during the scene where Andy arrives in Paris. Director David Frankel first used the song in a montage of pre-production scenes he shot on location in the city; the song fit the images so well that he decided to include it in the film. The film's use of the song was parodied in the 2009 The Simpsons episode "The Devil Wears Nada"; "City of Blinding Lights" is played briefly as Homer and Carl arrive in Paris. The song was featured in "I Love You Too," a 2005 episode of the HBO series Entourage. In the sequence, U2 performs the song at a concert and Bono wishes a happy birthday to Johnny Chase. American sports network ESPN used "City of Blinding Lights" in their 2006 FIFA World Cup television commercials; the piece, titled "Anthem," featured narration about the sport by Bono, which was set against a montage of children playing football across the globe and video of the band in concert. ESPN used the track for a second time in January 2010 in commercials for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, causing weekly online sales of the track to double from the month prior. In 2008, NASA used "City of Blinding Lights" for the fourth wake up call of STS-126. The song was played for Mission Specialist Shane Kimbrough. The song was used again on 3 March 2011 for the eighth wake up call of STS-133; it was played for all of the crew members.
  The track was used by Barack Obama as the entrance theme for his presidential candidacy announcement in Springfield, Illinois, on 10 February 2007, and it was played before his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Obama frequently used it as the lead-in as he took the stage for campaign events during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, a spectacle that even convinced one student to vote for him, and played it on primary night rallies with supporters. In August 2008, Obama listed "City of Blinding Lights" as one of his ten favourite songs. In his dissertation, music student Jacob Charron speculated that the music used by Obama on the campaign trail was selected because it would not upset the older voters and would be recognizable to the younger voters. The song was also valuable for its global image, ringing guitar line, and suggestions of awakening.
  U2 performed the song, along with "Pride (In the Name of Love)," to upwards of 400,000 people on 18 January 2009 at the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the upcoming inauguration of Obama. Introducing "City of Blinding Lights," which the band were asked to play, Bono spoke directly to Obama, saying, "What a thrill for four Irish boys from the northside of Dublin to honour you, sir, the next President of the United States, Barack Obama, for choosing this song to be part of the soundtrack of your campaign, and more besides." Bono modified the first verse to reference the surroundings, singing "America, let your road rise / Under Lincoln's unblinking eyes" in place of "Neon hearts, dayglo eyes / A city lit by fireflies," gave a shout-out to vice presidential inauguree Joe Biden at the end of the verse, and changed a part of the chorus to proclaim "America's getting ready to leave the ground."
caption: Barack Obama often used "City of Blinding Lights" as a lead-in for campaign events.
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