Red Light (U2 song)

"Red Light" is a song by rock band U2. It is the eighth track from their 1983 album War.

Writing and recording

Taking advantage of American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts being in Dublin, U2 invited the trumpet player to work in "Red Light", thinking that it would freshen up the sound of the band. Three singers joined as well. Bono said, "We had the studio lit red for effect, and one Coconut took her top off and sang in what looked like a ballerina's bra. The boys from Ireland had difficulty breathing."^[1]

Reception

Sid Smith of the BBC wrote of the song, “[U2’s] palette broadens on “Red Light” with backing vocals from Kid Creole’s Coconuts no less, and some equally superfluous trumpet – the latter making a tokenistic jazz noise atop the impervious surface of the band’s default setting, that only loosens up enough to work effectively by the time the track is fading-out.”^[2] More positive was Sputnikmusic contributor John Cruz's take on the song: "The album's mood becomes looser, with Bono chasing hopeless love and the band locking into a mid-tempo urban style funk groove."^[3]

References