U2’s Bono + The Edge Discuss ‘Cedarwood Road’ on ‘Song Exploder’ Podcast

Beyond the publicly lambasted release of U2's latest album, 2014's Songs of Innocence, for which every iTunes user was gifted a copy of the record, there is an album of songs there, most of which are actually solid tunes. U2's Bono and The Edge recently appeared on the Song Exploder podcast to talk about one of those tracks, "Cedarwood Road." Listen to the episode below or at the podcast's website.

The track is named after the street on which Bono grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and the singer opens the discussion by talking about the rough nature of the area during his childhood, saying:

With U2, sometimes I write lyrics, and then we try to find the music to express those lyrics, but most of the time, it's about finding a feeling first, and then trying to express that feeling. So Edge had this big blues riff, powerful and full of rage. It was a natural fit for me to talk about my own rage.

The Edge also spoke about the songwriting process of the song:

U2 songs can start from any kind of beginning: A guitar part, a drum part, anything really that excites us and inspires us. So "Cedarwood Road" actually started with a guitar riff that I played at home. I thought it was pretty exciting, so I got a couple of hours free one morning and I started to try and see where this riff could go, but the problem when you've got a riff like that is, "OK, great, how does it become a song?" I just thought, the only thing to do is just make a scene change, to get away from the riff completely.

There are a lot more behind-the-scenes nuggets packed into the 16-minute episode, so check it out below, and also make sure to listen to "Cedarwood Road" beneath the podcast. U2 are on the road supporting their latest album, so check out their complete itinerary at their website.