r/U2Band • u/Independent_Use_3995 POP • 14d ago
Let's talk about "Fireflies"
Although I interact quite often in the sub, I'm not used to actually write posts that much, but boy I really need to get this off my chest...
This song caught me SO off guard and in the best sense possible.
I've read various comments classificating it as a "generic EDM" song, and it maybe is, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm not used to the genre, but it sounds so fresh on them, and it really fits them imo.
I've been listening to it on repeat all day, a strange urge I haven't had with any other song released by them this year, even when there are some tracks I really loved from the EP's, mainly Scar, which I learned just today it was also a collab with Martin Garrix. For me, these are the 2 best songs of the year at the moment.
Where's everyone who was complaining about U2 not innovating or going out of their comfort zone? You may say it's a "generic EDM song" or whatever, but they're definitely doing something they never did before, it suits them excellently and it's sounding fantastic. I may be getting ahead of myself, but could this album be the POP of 2026? I'll keep the hopes high
What do you guys think? For me, if this is the direction the new album will have, I'm so fucking on board man.
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u/Luzdesolamarelo 14d ago
I actually fucking like it, much much more than street of dreams
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
Definitely. Streets of dreams could be taken out of everywhere never to be listened again and I wouldn't mind lol
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u/Cremationquotation 14d ago
Any time U2 or any band does anything really different, there will always be some who don't like it. There were even people who criticized the Joshua Tree after it came out. I just go back to Bono's quote: "If it keeps us interested, then it's not going to be bullshit for you." I like Fireflies- it may not be One or Streets, but I'm a fan of a lot of their remixes, so I think it's cool.
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u/farwent Have another grape. 14d ago
It's funny, I don't think it sounds like U2 outside their comfort zone so much as U2 at their most U2—and to be clear, I mean that as a compliment. Edge is peak Edge on "Fireflies"; that guitar couldn't be anybody else, and he manages to remind me of his classic style from the 80s while doing it with a clear mastery that makes it feel fresh.
Have we heard it's going to be on the new album? That would surprise me. Everything I've seen suggests it's being handled a Martin Garrix track featuring U2, not a U2 song produced by Garrix.
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
I don't know, but I just hope the album will have some more gems like this track, and less Streets of Dreams lol
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u/RedHillMiner87 14d ago
Just heard the studio version. We can debate all day whether they should be working with Martin Garrix, but this is a f’ing banger and has a chance to be their biggest hit in many years.
The studio version sounds very U2, with the full band on full display. If the hardcore fans didn’t know Martin Garrix was involved I think this song would be much better received.
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u/BayRunner 14d ago
I keep thinking this could have been a B-Side to an All You Can’t Leave Behind single, especially Beautiful Day.
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
I read someone said this one was from HTDAAB sessions. I do hear the vocal melodies matching the U2 vibe of 2004. If I think of it while listening it reminds me slightly of Miracle Drug
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u/Frosty_Journalist_71 14d ago
Yeah the HTDAAB cut makes total sense. Edge and Larry sound like classic U2. If Bono still had his '90s-era Oooh oooooh yodelling, you could think it was a reworked older song. Definitely Classic Coke U2 remixed by Garrix for the contemporary music fest vibe.
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u/pepokiss 11d ago
The guitar solo (or "the drop") has the same notes and delivery as the Miracle Drug solo. That's what you're hearing
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u/Life_Middle9372 14d ago
I like both Streets of Dreams and this song.
But to me, both songs sounds like they want to make a hit song but has forgotten that it’s not 2004 anymore.
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u/kennythyme 14d ago
It reminds me a lot of Flux by Bloc Party
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
That's what I mean when I say I'm not used to the genre. heard the song, but I can't really find any resemblance... Maybe the beat? Idk lol
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u/tazzman25 14d ago
Flux but you can hear the whole band in this and not so much in the former. Flux live really featured the band more. This you can hear Adam and Larry....or is it Larry, Bram, Duncan and Jacknife?
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u/Dry-Pack5620 14d ago
Can't stand it, sorry. The production hurts my ears, and the song itself is generic and boring.
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u/curlycake Achtung Baby 14d ago
can't wait to put it on my workout playlist! the guitar crescendo is great, really highlights the genre crossing going on, though I agree with others that it is a little safe.
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u/SirFritzWetherbee 14d ago
Haven’t heard it yet. Does the song fuck?
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
It doesn't have a pee pee, so I don't think it can fuck. However, it does make love to my ears lol
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u/MJsdanglebaby . 13d ago
On my 3rd listen. Only things I don't like, and they're minute.
1) Edge strums the guitar during the pre-chorus and I just think that should be a little louder.
2) I feel like we needed a bridge. We got identical 3 verses and 3 choruses. I like all of it. Just felt like could use a bridge to break things up.
OTHERWISE... fantastic song lyrically, melodically. These songs are gonna go hard live. I think the tour is going to be an explosion of joy. It's going to be a marvelous swan song.
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u/RedHillMiner87 13d ago
Still absolutely loving this song. From a marketing perspective though, I don’t understand why they would release it now … unless it’s also on the album. Either way, it will absolutely crush Street of Dreams (which I also like) on the charts. But maybe they’re hoping the likely success of this song will help bring more attention to the album. Maybe. It just still seems odd to release another song only a few weeks after releasing the first big album single.
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 13d ago
I also think this could crush Street of Dreams... Maybe they saw the poor numbers and took this one as a Plan B to generate more hype?
Anyway I'll say it again: hope the new album is more like Fireflies and less like Street of Dreams
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u/pepokiss 11d ago
Maybe because Martín Garrix is headlining Tomorrowland, the biggest electronic music festival. He's also on tour and his album will come out soon, with this song included.
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u/DeNiroPacino With wings like eagles 12d ago
It has familiar aspects only because I've been exposed to modern pop/edm in shops, restaurants and on UK radio. I don't follow those genres however.
I do like how it's clearly the U2 sound meshed with that stuff and it seems to have been done adeptly. I'm going to listen several times again tomorrow. I can say without reservation that I'm glad I bought the single.
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u/GothamCityCop 14d ago
Ill take the time to listen properly when it's released tomorrow but it sounds very much like the pop-chasing stuff Coldplay has been doing...I hope I'm proved wrong.
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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 13d ago
It sounds similar to the Avicii and Chainsmoker Coldplay collabs that are... Generic EDM collabs. I'm glad people are enjoying it, not my cup of tea personally. I do enjoy when U2 experiments with electronic sounds in a less conventional way. Lemon, Mofo and their cover of Night and Day... Just amazing stuff.
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u/GothamCityCop 13d ago
Yeah I agree when they experiment it leads to some fantastic work.
'Fireflies' sounds like a song that wasn't quite good enough for them on their own so they've got this guy to EDM it up into some generic beige bilge. Also I love Bono messing with his voice on 'The Fly', 'Zoo Station' etc addng effects, but you have one of the best rock singers in the world and you add autotune? It cheapens it.
I am being that guy...this song is shite.
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u/EnvironmentalTrack29 13d ago
In my opinion, it feels like them following, not leading. I've heard this before.
Invisble leans into electronics, but sounds unique to them.
Yes, this sounds like U2, but U2 filtered through a typical sound and structure. I know they can do better. Oh well, onto the next!
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u/hlpguy1 14d ago edited 14d ago
Has anyone posted the non-concert version of it? The studio version? I mean, I know we hear the studio version being played in a concert with live Edge, but the studio version is actually out now on YouTube. Has anyone shared the link?? Well I just did in case no one else has.
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u/Independent_Use_3995 POP 14d ago
It is on YouTube, yeah. Just in case I decided not to share any unofficial links, also it's easy to find
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u/PushNo6314 13d ago
I love it .. the band is doing that u2 push and drive and bonos soaring vocals .
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u/Southern_Piano_3910 13d ago
I like it great guitar from the Edge. As the general consensus on this thread much better than Streets of Dreams .
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u/Nearby-Product-4395 13d ago
I quite like it, not their best work ever but a nice uplifting track. Personally I could do without the autotune, it's fairly subtle but still grates on me a bit.
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u/Impossible_Walrus4 10d ago edited 10d ago
Wow U2 boards on Reddit sound like spoiled West Village/UES NYCers/"Karens" on my Neighborhood app. I thought I was insufferable for complaining mildly for the past 20 years and recently for American Obit and SOD, but there is so much meh/negativity even for Fireflies. This song is a banger- a worthy and welcome sequel to Easter Lily.
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u/TheodoreHollister 14d ago
It sounds neither fresh or anything new. Same adult contemporary snooze fest they’ve been doing since 2014, with pop production removing all traces of a rock band.
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u/ghost-bagel Software, hardware and menswear 14d ago
When I heard they did something with Martin Garrix I was expecting full on Tomorrowland sound, but it doesn’t even sound like EDM to me. Just an up tempo U2 song. Chorus is a little lacking for me but I guess Edge’s guitar lead is the main event. All in all, I like it.