U2 and Green Day combine The Saints Are Coming

U2 and Green Day worked together to provide a cover version of The Skids‘ 1978 track, “The Saints Are Coming’. The music video combines footage from Abbey Road studio sessions, performance at the NFL Kick-off pre-show at the New Orleans Superdome, and fictional news headlines and footage from an ‘if only’ version of the news.

The two bands came up with the collaboration concept as they dined together on the eve of the Grammys in February. They were both billed to play before the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome on September 25. Together they recorded a studio version of “Saints Are Coming” for the benefit of “Music Rising“, a charity established by The Edge to raise funds for replacing lost musical instruments in New Orleans.

The music video, directed by Chris Milk, was released on YouTube on October 27.

Click on the image below to play the video.

Fictional Headlines

US Iraq Troops Redeployed to New Orleans. Thounads of Troops Flood New Orleans with Relief. Navy joins effort to dam levels. US Army Assists Red Cross. Air Force Launches Aid Drops. Thousands Receive Desperately Needed Food and Water. Troops Greeted as Liberators. The final shot has a placard, “Not As Seen on TV”.

Credits

The “Saints Are Coming” music video was directed by Chris Milk via Radical Media Music.

Editing was done at Final Cut, Los Angeles, by editor Livio Sanchez, assistant editor Logan Hefflefinger, and executive producer Saima Awan. Stock footage was provided by Getty, CNN, BBC, Corbis, ITN, Global Imageworks, BNVB, Sony, Storm Video, NBC, ABC.

Visual effects were developed at Sway Studio, including the CGI aircraft, tanks, water wakes, parachutes and confetti.

Lyrics for Saints Are Coming

There is a house in New Orleans, (Billie Joe Armstrong)
They call The Rising Sun
It’s been the ruin of many a poor boy,
and God, I know I’m one of them.

Verse 1: (Bono)
I cried to my daddy on the telephone,
how long now?
Until the clouds unroll and you come down,
the line went.
But the shadows still remain since your descent,
your descent.

Verse 2: (Billie Joe Armstrong)
I cried to my daddy on the telephone,
how long now?
Until the clouds unroll and you come home,
the line went.
But the shadows still remain since your descent,
your descent.

Chorus 1:
The saints are coming, the saints are coming.
I say no matter how I try, I realize that there’s no reply.
The saints are coming, the saints are coming.
I say no matter how I try, I realize that there’s no reply.

Verse 3:
A drowning sorrow floods the deepest grief,
how long now?
Until the weather change condemns belief,
how long now?
When the night watchman lets in the thief
Whats wrong now?

Chorus 2:
The saints are coming, the saints are coming
I say no matter how I try, I realize that there’s no reply
The saints are coming, the saints are coming
I say no matter how I try, I realize there’s no reply
I say no matter how I try, I realize there’s no reply
I say no matter how I try, I realize there’s no reply