Cedars of Lebanon (song)

2009 song by U2

"Cedars of Lebanon"

Song by U2
from the album  No Line on the Horizon
Released| 27 February 2009
Genre| Soft rock
Length| 4:13
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.

## Reception

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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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U2[6]

* Bono – lead vocals, guitar
* The Edge – guitar, backing vocals, piano
* Adam Clayton – bass guitar
* Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion

Technical[6]

* Production – Daniel Lanois
* Engineering – Tony Mangurian
* Additional engineering – Declan Gaffney, Richard Rainey
* Mixing – Lanois, Gaffney

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## References

[edit]

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. ^ a b Owens, Catherine (2009). No Line on the Horizon (Box format hardback book). U2. Interscope Records. B0012638-00.

Bibliography

* Kootnikoff, David (2010). U2: A Musical Biography. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-36523-2.

## External links

[edit]

* Lyrics at U2.com

* v
* t
* e

No Line on the Horizon track listing

* "No Line on the Horizon"
* "Magnificent"
* "Moment of Surrender"
* "Unknown Caller"
* "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
* "Get On Your Boots"
* "Stand Up Comedy"
* "Fez – Being Born"
* "White as Snow"
* "Breathe"
* "Cedars of Lebanon"

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Songs of Innocence

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U2 songs

* Discography
* Covers

1970s|

* "Out of Control"

1980s|

* "Another Day"
* "11 O'Clock Tick Tock"
* "A Day Without Me"
* "I Will Follow"
* "An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart"
* "The Electric Co."
* "Fire"
* "Gloria"
* "October"
* "A Celebration"
* "New Year's Day"
* "Two Hearts Beat as One"
* "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
* "Seconds"
* "Red Light"
* "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
* "The Unforgettable Fire"
* "A Sort of Homecoming"
* "4th of July"
* "Bad"
* "Elvis Presley and America"
* "MLK"
* "With or Without You"
* "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
* "Where the Streets Have No Name"
* "In God's Country"
* "One Tree Hill"
* "Bullet the Blue Sky"
* "Running to Stand Still"
* "Red Hill Mining Town"
* "Trip Through Your Wires"
* "Exit"
* "Mothers of the Disappeared"
* "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
* "Desire"
* "Angel of Harlem"
* "When Love Comes to Town"
* "All I Want Is You"
* "Hawkmoon 269"
* "Heartland"
* "God Part II"

1990s|

* "Night and Day"
* "The Fly"
* "Mysterious Ways"
* "One"
* "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
* "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
* "Zoo Station"
* "Until the End of the World"
* "So Cruel"
* "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"
* "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"
* "Acrobat"
* "Love Is Blindness"
* "Numb"
* "Lemon"
* "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"
* "Zooropa"
* "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car"
* "Dirty Day"
* "The Wanderer"
* "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"
* "Miss Sarajevo"
* "Slug"
* "Your Blue Room"
* "Discothèque"
* "Staring at the Sun"
* "Last Night on Earth"
* "Please"
* "If God Will Send His Angels"
* "Mofo"
* "Gone"
* "Sweetest Thing"

2000s|

* "The Ground Beneath Her Feet"
* "Beautiful Day"
* "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
* "Elevation"
* "Walk On"
* "Kite"
* "In a Little While"
* "Wild Honey"
* "Peace on Earth"
* "When I Look at the World"
* "New York"
* "Electrical Storm"
* "The Hands That Built America"
* "Take Me to the Clouds Above"
* "Vertigo"
* "All Because of You"
* "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
* "City of Blinding Lights"
* "Miracle Drug"
* "A Man and a Woman"
* "One Step Closer"
* "Original of the Species"
* "Yahweh"
* "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
* "The Saints Are Coming"
* "Window in the Skies"
* "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew"
* "Get On Your Boots"
* "Magnificent"
* "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
* "No Line on the Horizon"
* "Moment of Surrender"
* "Unknown Caller"
* "Stand Up Comedy"
* "Fez – Being Born"
* "White as Snow"
* "Breathe"
* "Cedars of Lebanon"
* "Winter"

2010s|

* "Ordinary Love"
* "Invisible"
* "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)"
* "Every Breaking Wave"
* "Song for Someone"
* "You're the Best Thing About Me"
* "Get Out of Your Own Way"
* "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way"
* "XXX"

2020s|

* "Your Song Saved My Life"
* "Atomic City"

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