Now this is a lead single.
Edge's "full metal jacket" riff is a blast, the chorus is catchier than shit, it's campy, concise, punchy, direct, and a hell of a lot of fun.
Plus, it's single-handedly provided more fodder for these discussion boards than any U2 song since the dawn of the internet (perhaps Mercy is a challenger, but I digress). In terms of hardcore U2 fandom, has there been a more iconic track than this in the last 10 years?
- Turn it up loud, captain!
- UNO, DOS, TRES, CATORCE!
- The iPod commercial
- Hello Hello (hola!)
- Vertigo x2 in the set lists (AHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!)
- Bono's weird near-skullet hair in the music video and ensuing tour
Would "Native Son" have been this big of a hit, and generated this much discussion? Or been this fun? Hell no. How would the Native Son! world tour have gone down? U2 made the right move for them at the time and, in my opinion, it's not even fucking close. Bono wanted something he could sing on stage every night for the rest of his career, and he got it. Most of all...they wanted another hit, and they got it.
Native Son doesn't have anything even remotely approaching the "HELLO HELLO" hook in this song's chorus.
Now, on the other side, it can be argued that this song's success eventually turned into a bit of a curse for the band...because they tried to make THE EXACT SAME SONG four years later and it turned into the shit-stained taint that is "Get On Your Boots." Ugh.
"Hey, let's put out another song that sounds like Vertigo for the lead single! It'll be great!"
No. That was a mistake. Oh, well. At least they got it right this one time. I can still hear the dozens of freshly baptized U2 fans walking out of the United Center in 2005, after the show, gleefully screaming this chorus at the top of their lungs.