5 Feet of Fury

U2’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ iTunes ad accidentally invites unflattering comparisons

As you can see, the copyright holders don’t want you to hear the music that goes with this ad without their permission.

That’s cool, except that the whole concept behind this U2 song, and the commercial, are not exactly pro-copyright.

I thought the album was free (whether you wanted it or not)?

So confusing…

U2 thinks they’re being clever, “humbly” acknowledging their affectionate debt to artists that came before them, like The Clash, Patty Smith and The Ramones.

But am I the only one who saw this on TV last night and thought, “Hey, I haven’t listened to Horses in a while…” and not “Wow, better grab that new U2 album”?

Plus I remembered that there are even a few much more affecting “Punk rock changed my life” songs out there already: