On June 18, 2026, U2 performed “City of Blinding Lights” at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The song has long been a favorite of President Obama, who used the song as his entrance theme when he announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2007, before his acceptace speech at the 2008 Democtratic Convention, and at other events. The performance at the center this week put a bow on the history of the song and its connection to the Obamas, including a subtle rebuttal of a recent hateful comment at a Trump White House event.
U2 released the song from How to Dismantale An Atomic Bomb as a single in 2005. But Bono and the band had been working on the song since 1997. Eventually, part of the inspiration for the song came when U2 was playing in the United States following the September 11 attacks in 2001. Perhaps because of the long writing process, though, one may take different things out of the song, such as the inspiration found by former President Obama.
I’ve seen you walk unafraid;
I’ve seen you in the clothes you made;
Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?
And I miss you when you’re not around;
I’m getting ready to leave the ground.
Oh, you look so beautiful tonight,
In the city of blinding lights.
Time, time, time, time, time;
Won’t leave me as I am;
But time won’t take the boy out of this man.
The U2 performance this week at the Obama Prsidential Center added a new layer to the song. As the song ended, Bono added lines acknowledging the presence of four former presidents as well as a faith in democracy. In closing, without mentioning the current president — or the recent event held at the White House where one of the president’s guests insulted the former first lady — Bono rebutted the hate with a lovely tribute to Michelle Obama, ending with the chorus of the Beatle’s “Michelle” (with Barack Obama mouthing the words too).
“In the company of Jackknife Lee, 46, 42 and 43. Civility. Hold tight to Democracy, community. Isn’t she lovely, 44 and the family. . . . Michelle My Belle.”
It was a stark reminder of what civility and love looks like.
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