Bono has never been shy about admitting his admiration for and love of John Lennon. The connection makes sense if you think about it. John Lennon, especially in his post-Beatles life, was an artist who really put his money where his mouth was regarding world affairs, much as Bono is. Songs like “All You Need is Love”, “Imagine”, and “Give Peace a Chance” spoke to that generation with a message of tolerance and understanding that is often missing from today’s pop music, and it’s clear that Bono and the other members of U2 took inspiration from the playbook that Lennon was working from. Musically, John was adventurous and, much like U2, dedicated to constant change. From his early days writing number one singles for the Beatles to his time with avant garde artist Yoko Ono John never was never one to sit still artistically, and I don’t think I’m overstating the case to call him one of the most influential artists of all time, to all artists, not just our favorite band from Ireland.

It should come as no surprise, then, that U2 have recorded their own personal tribute to Lennon, in the form of their cover of John’s classic  “Instant Karma”. U2’s relationship with this song first began toward the end of 2005’s Vertigo Tour. The band performed the song eight times over the course of the last month of their North American tour, starting in New York, where the song was performed as a duet with Patti Smith (who I wrote about previously, here). A little over a year later, this studio version surfaced as part of an Amnesty International album titled Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, the proceeds from which went toward AI’s attempt to solve the crisis in Darfur. Larry co-produced the single with Israeli record producer Tal Herzberg, and what resulted was, like the live preview that we got in 2005, a fairly straight-forward cover with just a hint of reggae spice and a great uplifting chorus that sounds like it was written by U2. U2’s version of this song is full of Edge’s signature, chiming, repeating guitar, Adam’s solid bass foundation, lots of great percussion from Larry, and soaring vocals from Bono – all the things that make up U2’s signature sound – yet the song retains recognizable from the very first note, and that’s what makes this such a wonderful example of how to do a great cover. U2 make the song their own while retaining everything that makes the song a classic in the first place.

This cover kind of flew under the radar a little bit, so it’s not one that fans are clamoring to hear. Therefore, I’d be surprised if the biggest band in the world ever perform this cover live again, but the sheer rightness of U2 covering one of their own heroes is something that I will forever cherish. The fact that they did such a bang-up job on the piece is just the icing on the cake.