{"id":305564,"date":"2026-02-19T05:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305564\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T05:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:45:09","slug":"u2-song-protests-killing-of-renee-good-by-us-ice-agent-in-politically-charged-new-release-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305564\/","title":{"rendered":"U2 song protests killing of Ren\u00e9e Good by US Ice agent in politically charged new release \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The killing of Ren\u00e9e Good<\/a> by a US immigration agent in Minnesota last month and the fatal beating of an Iran schoolgirl by the country\u2019s security forces in 2022 are among subjects tackled on a new politically-charged EP by U2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Days of Ash, which features five new songs and a poem, is billed by its producers as an \u201cimmediate response\u201d to current events, inspired by the \u201cmany extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the front lines of freedom\u201d. <\/p>\n

It is the first record produced by the Irish band since March 2023 and its first collection of original material in nearly nine years. Lead singer Bono<\/a> said the band would put out a more celebratory album later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese EP tracks couldn\u2019t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwfulness\u201d is being normalised daily on TV, he said, but there is \u201cnothing normal about these mad and maddening times, and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future\u201d.<\/p>\n

Four of the five songs on the 2026 EP tell of people whose lives were \u201cbrutally cut short\u201d, while the fifth is about a Ukrainian soldier who is ready to die for freedom, the band said.<\/p>\n

The EP was released today, Ash Wednesday, with a short documentary film accompanying the song \u201cYours Eternally\u201d due to be released on February 24th, the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is not the group\u2019s only release to feature heavily politicised lyrics. The rock band\u2019s third studio album War, released in 1983, features Sunday Bloody Sunday about the 1972 killing of 14 civilians in Derry by British soldiers and New Year\u2019s Day, which was inspired by the Polish solidarity movement formed in 1980.<\/p>\n

\"U2U2 Days of Ash EP cover art <\/p>\n

The 2026 EP opens with American Obituary, which tells the story of the fatal shooting of Good (37) by a US<\/a> Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agent on January 7th last. <\/p>\n

\u201cA bullet for each child … Three bullets blast, three babies kissed, Ren\u00e9e the domestic terrorist,\u201d sings frontman Bono.<\/p>\n

The lyrics are a reference to the mother of three being shot in her forearm, breast and head before being labelled, without evidence, a domestic terrorist by officials in US president Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica will rise against the people of the lie\u201d and \u201chate loves war\u201d are among the track\u2019s refrains.<\/p>\n

Ren\u00e9e Good\u2019s partner Becca Good said, in a statement issued by lawyers on behalf of the family, \u201cRen\u00e9e didn\u2019t just believe in kindness; she lived it, fully and fiercely … She would be deeply moved by this tribute from U2, and would hope it makes a difference in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Song of the Future tells the story of 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh<\/a> who, according to Amnesty International, was killed when Iranian security forces beat her with batons amid nationwide protests by women and girls against religious rule.<\/p>\n

On this Ash Wednesday, Days Of Ash is released as a self-contained collection of five new songs and a selected poem – American Obituary, The Tears Of Things, Song Of The Future, Wildpeace, One Life At A Time and Yours Eternally (ft. Ed Sheeran & Taras Topolia). This new EP is a\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/iagPGWRLEB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 U2 (@U2) February 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier Taras Topolia and British singer Ed Sheeran contribute vocals to the EP\u2019s final song, Yours Eternally. The track, inspired by Toplia, is written in the form of a letter from a soldier on active duty in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

Bono met first Topolia in a Kyiv metro station when he and The Edge performed there in May 2022, a few months after the invasion.<\/p>\n

The album also features a poem by Israeli<\/a> writer Yehuda Amichai and a song written for Palestinian<\/a> teacher and activist Awdah Hathaleen, a father of three, who was killed by an Israeli settler in the West Bank last July.<\/p>\n