| "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by U2 | ||||
| from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind | ||||
| B-side | "Big Girls are Best" | |||
| Released | 29 January 2001 | |||
| Format | CD, cassette | |||
| Recorded | HQ in Dublin, Ireland | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:32 (Album Version) 3:42 (Radio Edit) |
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| Label | Island / Interscope | |||
| Producer | Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno | |||
| U2 singles chronology | ||||
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"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" is the second single from U2's 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind. The song, characterised by gospel-tinged melodies and saccharine lead guitar part, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2002. Bono has said the song was inspired by a fictional conversation with his late friend Michael Hutchence about suicide.
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U2's lead singer Bono wrote the song about the suicide of his close friend Michael Hutchence, the late lead singer of the band INXS. The song is written in the form of an argument about suicide in which Bono tries to convince Hutchence of the act's foolishness.[1]
The song structure is reminiscent of "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. Bono characterized the song as a fight between friends, which he felt guilty for never having with Hutchence. As Bono said in 2005, "It's a row between mates. You're kinda trying to wake them up out of an idea. In my case it's a row I didn't have while he was alive. I feel the biggest respect I could pay to him was not to write some stupid soppy fucking song, so I wrote a really tough, nasty little number, slapping him around the head. And I'm sorry, but that's how it came out of me."[2]
Mick Jagger and his daughter Elizabeth recorded backing vocals for the song, although these did not make the final mix.[3]
Two music videos were filmed for the song.
One is directed by Joseph Kahn, features an American football game between the "Flys" [sic] and the "Lemons" filmed at the Houston Astrodome, and contains various inside jokes and references to the band's past, such as the team names themselves - which were the titles of two U2 singles released in the '90s. The video features a brief cameo in the beginning from John Madden, whose lines also feature several U2 references. The main part of the video shows a place kicker named Paul Hewson—Bono's real name—forced to re-live a field goal he missed that cost his team the game.
The other video, directed by Kevin Godley, shows Bono being thrown out of a van several times, as if "stuck in a moment". At the end of the video, the rest of the band helps him up.
Somalian-Canadian rapper K'naan performed the song live in July 2010 for iheartradio.[4]
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" was released on 29 January 2001 in the UK, on 12 February 2001 in Australia, on 27 March in France, and on 30 October 2001 in Canada.
The Australian edition included "Beautiful Day" (The Perfecto Mix).
The Australian edition included "Beautiful Day" (David Holmes Remix).
Only available in France.
Released only in Japan, featuring most B-sides from both regular CD releases.
A Canada-only release on late October 2001, also available on CD.
The "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" singles were backed with the following B-sides:
There are three versions of this song:
During the U2 360° Tour show at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN on 23 July 2011 Bono and The Edge performed an acoustic version of the song. Bono introduced the song as being written for his late friend Michael Hutchence, but dedicated the performance to the late Amy Winehouse who had passed away only hours earlier that day.
| Chart (2001) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart[5] | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart[6] | 2 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 52 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 35 |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 35 |
| US Adult Top 40 | 9 |
| US Top 40 Mainstream | 27 |
| US Top 40 Tracks | 27 |
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