"Breathe" | ||||||||
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Song by U2 from the album No Line on the Horizon | ||||||||
Released | 27 February 2009 | |||||||
Genre | Rock | |||||||
Length | 5:00 | |||||||
Label | Island | |||||||
Writer(s) | U2 (music), Bono (lyrics) | |||||||
Producer(s) | Steve Lillywhite, with additional production by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno | |||||||
No Line on the Horizon track listing | ||||||||
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"Breathe" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the tenth track on their 2009 album No Line on the Horizon. The lyrics detail an outburst from the song's narrator. The song was developed primarily by guitarist the Edge, with musical influences from Jimmy Page and Jack White. The track was mixed numerous times before the band decided to rewrite it.
The song was initially developed by the Edge, with co-writer and producer Daniel Lanois noting "he had that pretty intact without our involvement." Several of the guitar riffs were influenced by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jack White of The White Stripes, who the Edge collaborated with in the 2009 film It Might Get Loud. The band worked on one version of the song with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois for a long time before the band scrapped and recreated it. Eno had referred to the demo version as one of his favorite U2 songs of all time. After rewriting the song, U2 asked Steve Lillywhite to mix it. Eno estimated that the song was remixed 80 times during the album sessions. Two sets of lyrics were worked on during the song's many various incarnations. The first version was about Nelson Mandela, and the second was "more surreal and personal". The band eventually decided on using the latter for the song.
"Breathe" was one of five songs, along with "Magnificent", "Get on Your Boots", "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", and "Unknown Caller" recorded by a fan outside of Bono's house during the No Line on the Horizon sessions. The clips were subsequently uploaded to YouTube, but removed at the request of Universal Music.