Background
Warning: this song contains seven atomic F-bombs, and I don't want to dismantle them.
Most of the songs that I've parodied were released in the 70s and 80s, so I've been trying to parody some newer songs. This song isn't exactly "new" – it was released in 2000, 23 year ago at this point – but it's only the second song from the 2000s that I've finished. I also like to cross off the "big bands" from my list when I can, and U2 has been one of the biggest musical acts around during my lifetime.
When I go through lists of popular post-1999 songs, the first battle for me is finding something that I recognize. Within that much smaller list of songs, I then have to decide which songs seem potentially parodiable, and then let them marinate in my brain for a bit.
What clicked for me with this song was the titular line, "It's a beautiful day". The song is about remaining positive in the face of adversity and has a very positive tone, so, naturally, my instinct was to pervert that message entirely. My lyrics were going to be about how humans took something positive and turned it to shit. Once I came up with the concept, it didn't take too long to fit everything in place.
Enjoy!
Lyrics
The economy booms Propped up by stuff underground Our cities are tombs Only human life abounds All for a buck And our leaders just don't seem to care The bunch of fucks We've got one Earth and there's no spare This place was a paradise And yet we fucked it all up Forget the fucking "market price" It was the perfect setup And we threw it away Some trees would be nice But we threw it away We've somehow gone astray We've lost our hope Thanks to a lack of imagination We avert our eyes 'Cause we fall for disinformation We're melting down Everything is coming due Our time is over And it's all because of you Yes we threw it away We're heading to doomsday Oh we threw it away (Oooh, ooh) Fuck me I wish there was another place Fuck us all Our species is a hopeless case See the world in red and black See the rich enjoy their cognac See the angry rioting crowds See the ominous gathering thunderclouds See the last trees all ignite See humanity exit stage right See the planet dead and burnt-out After we're gone maybe plants will sprout Oh we threw it away We've let our world decay Threw it away Fuck me You know there is no other place Fuck us all Our species is a basket case If we don't change, we should just say ciao If we don't act, might as well take our bows If we don't change, we should just say ciao Should just say ciao 'Cause we threw it away