The song also became one of U2’s concert rituals. For years, the band used it to end shows, leaving the stage one member at a time while the audience continued singing: “How long to sing this song?” That shared refrain helped turn “40” from an album closer into a fan favourite.
“40” by U2: Song Lyrics, Psalm Meaning, Themes and Live Legacy
I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song
He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see
Many will see and hear
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song
“40” at a glance
- Album: War
- Released: 1983
- Producer: Steve Lillywhite
- Biblical source: Psalm 40
- Single release: German 7-inch, backed with “Two Hearts Beat as One”
- Live role: Concert closer and audience singalong
Psalm 40 and the Meaning of the Lyrics
The opening lines adapt the first verses of Psalm 40. The speaker waits for God, cries from a pit and is placed on firm ground. U2 retain the Psalm’s sequence: distress, appeal, rescue and testimony.
“I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry”
The waiting is not resignation. It is faith under pressure. The speaker cannot escape the pit through force, yet continues to call for help. The response comes through the image of being lifted from “miry clay” and placed upon rock.
The pit represents fear, conflict, sin or despair. The clay suggests a condition in which each attempt to move can lead to further entrapment. The rock gives the speaker footing. It represents a basis for action after a period of instability.
This use of biblical language connects “40” with U2’s earlier work on October, including “Gloria,” “Tomorrow” and “With a Shout.” U2’s faith is seldom presented as certainty without conflict. It appears through questions, doubt, surrender and the need to keep searching.
For more examples, see Bible references in U2 song lyrics and this discussion of Christianity and spiritual belief in U2’s work.
“I Will Sing a New Song”
The phrase “I will sing, sing a new song” can suggest rebirth, but its biblical meaning is more specific. In Psalm 40, the new song is a response to deliverance. The speaker has been rescued and now gives public testimony.
The movement is therefore from private suffering to shared witness. Pain produces a song that others can hear and join. This process also describes what happened to “40” in concert: words drawn from one person’s prayer became the voice of an arena.
The repetition of “sing a new song” matters because the song itself changes function. It begins as a statement from Bono and ends as something held by the audience.
Why “How Long?” Matters on War
The refrain “How long to sing this song?” is U2’s addition to the text adapted from Psalm 40. It also returns to the question heard in “Sunday Bloody Sunday”: “How long must we sing this song?”
This connection gives War a circular structure. The album begins with a protest against recurring violence and ends with the same question in the form of prayer.
“Sunday Bloody Sunday” demands an end to division. “40” accepts that the wait may continue, but refuses silence. The repeated question has no stated answer. Singing becomes an act of persistence until change comes.
This is why “40” is not a retreat from the politics of War. It provides the spiritual language through which the album’s conflicts can be endured.
The Last-Minute Recording of “40”
“40” was the final song recorded for War. The sessions at Windmill Lane Studios had reached their end, and another band was waiting to use the room. Producer Steve Lillywhite recalled Bono recording the vocal while the team worked to finish the mix.
Bono later said the song was written in about 40 minutes. He opened the Bible to Psalm 40 and used its opening verses as the basis for the lyric. The title therefore refers to the Psalm, while the recording time became part of U2 lore.
Adam Clayton had left the studio before the track was completed, so the Edge played the bass part on the recording. That circumstance later became part of the song’s stage presentation: during many performances of “40,” the Edge played bass while Clayton played guitar.
Another biblical link on War
“Drowning Man” draws on Isaiah 40:31 through its references to rising on wings like eagles and running without growing weary. “40” is therefore not the album’s only song shaped by a chapter numbered 40.
How “40” Became a U2 Fan Favourite
“40” made its live debut during the opening show of the War Tour in Dundee on February 26, 1983. It soon became the standard closing song.
The performance developed a set pattern. Bono left first. The other members followed one at a time, with the drummer maintaining the beat until the stage was almost empty. The crowd then continued the refrain without the band.
This ending removed the usual boundary between performer and audience. U2 did not give the crowd a final statement. They gave it a line to carry out of the venue.
The concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky helped establish this image of the band. The white flags, the open-air setting and the closing chant made “40” part of the mythology surrounding U2’s rise during the 1980s.
Audience accounts often describe the refrain continuing through venue corridors and into car parks after the show. The song became a fan favourite because participation was part of the performance. Hearing it was not enough; the audience completed it.
U2gigs records 411 full performances of “40” and 522 appearances when snippets are included. Those figures place it among U2’s most-used concert songs.
The German “40” Single
“40” also received a commercial single release in Germany under the title “40 (How Long).” The 7-inch followed U2’s appearance at the Loreley Festival in August 1983 and was issued for the German market.
The B-side was the album version of “Two Hearts Beat as One.” This corrects the common impression that “40” was issued as the B-side of “Two Hearts Beat as One.” On the German release, “40” was the featured track.
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