U2
You’re the Best Thing About Me

And here we are with the new single from U2, a preview of the upcoming album "Songs of Experience," the countless praises of it by the press, and, above all, the comments of the "dereviewers" historically in love with the Irish band.

Apart from this last lie, undoubtedly every time the four Dubliners release something new, my question as a long-time fan, but with an increasingly detached view of their more recent production, is: "Is it really necessary to continue? Do they still have something to tell us?"

Everything in the single is objectively unassailable: alternation of verses and chorus, singability by the second listen, duration of 4 radio-perfect minutes, all the sounds you'd expect from The Edge, and the classic U2 song with the theme of love, in this case filial, sung passionately by Bono... but what doesn't work? I like the song, I'll probably soon learn it on my guitar and it will last a few weeks on my digital setlist, but then it will progressively and inexorably disappear like all the songs, even the good ones, from their previous "Songs of Innocence" and "No Line on the Horizon" lacking that unforgettable fire sincere and pulsating from many years ago.

It's a difficult admission for someone who listened to them so much from the 80s to the early 2000s, indifferent to others' criticisms and the fact that they had transformed into false media prophets, simultaneously representing the most bigoted part of the jet set. Today they brighten some moments of my life but disappear quickly, like any "ex great band" that hasn't yet decided to call it a day. My wife was telling me the other night that they are increasingly resembling the "Pooh" and, looking at them, I admit there is something sadly true in that joke. It's my personal view, those who appreciate this song, don't be mad at me, it's simply looking in the mirror honestly and admitting that they don't tell me anything anymore.

The Police were great also because they decided to break up at their creative peak, still very young. David Bowie produced one of his best albums on the verge of 70. U2 can still be in the middle of these choices, but I believe they need to make one soon, deciding whether to belong to the category of rock dinosaurs or no longer lose a piece of their artistic dignity with every new record release.