Cedars of Lebanon (song)

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"Cedars of Lebanon"
Song by U2
from the album No Line on the Horizon
Released27 February 2009
Genre Soft rock
Length4:13
Label Island
Composer(s) U2, Brian Eno, and Daniel Lanois
Lyricist(s) Bono
Producer(s) Lanois, Eno

"Cedars of Lebanon" is a song by Irish rock band U2, featured as the eleventh and final track on their 2009 album, No Line on the Horizon . The song is sung from the perspective of a war correspondent who is "squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline" [1] and who "observes "this shitty world" where the aroma of a rose "lingers and then it just goes". [2] Additionally, the song samples "Against the Sky," a collaboration between producer Brian Eno and Harold Budd, originally featured on the 1984 album The Pearl .

Contents

Reception

In a review of the album, Jon Pareles of The New York Times characterized the song as "a somber meditation on war, separation, and enmity". [3] Comparing the song with "Moment of Surrender" on the same album, NME reviewer Ben Patashnik described "Cedars of Lebanon" as "similarly downbeat but no-less-enthralling", and said that the song "is buoyed by Larry Mullen Jr's martial drumming and a twinkling guitar". [4] The Sydney Morning Herald called the song a "masterful closer", and said that the "backing vocals, ambient noises and restraint seal a deal alongside the atmosphere of philosophical weariness." [5]

Personnel

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References

Footnotes

  1. Donovan, Patrick (27 February 2009). "No Line on the Horizon". The Age . Melbourne. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  2. Kootnikoff (2010), p. 139
  3. Pareles, Jon (2 March 2009). "Last Gang in Town". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  4. Patashnik, Ben (26 February 2009). "No Line on the Horizon". NME . Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. Zuel, Bernard (28 February 2009). "U2: No Line on the Horizon (Universal)". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 Owens, Catherine (2009). No Line on the Horizon (Box format hardback book). U2. Interscope Records. B0012638-00.

Bibliography