"Stay (Faraway, So Close)" (U2)

I've never been a huge fan of U2.  That's not to say I don't like a lot of their music or think they're talented tunesmiths.  It's just that I don't belong to the Saint Bono of Hewson fan club like some people do.  I think that the boys veer into territory that feels a little too self important, too bombastic at times to swallow the communion wafer whole.
Other times, though, they come up with something that is just so unique or so beautiful that it can't be denied.
"Stay (Faraway, So Close)" from the underrated Zooropa (1993) is one of those compositions.  It feels like it wasn't written for shouting throngs, packed into a stadium built for World Cup finals.  Instead, it feels like something improvised in a smoky club late at night with only three, down-on-their-luck barflies listening.
The Edge (see what I mean about bombast?) plays a riff that doesn't so much rely on heavy amounts of reverb and effects.  It's a very clean 1960s sound.  In fact, it is almost reminiscent of something George Harrison or John Lennon might have played on Rubber Soul; it has an "In My Life" kind of folk-rock feel.  
Bono's vocal delivery also is much more nuanced than usual.  For once, he's not crying like a man in the wilderness the entire track.  He only lets loose on the chorus, which makes the sense of longing in the verses that much more poignant.  Dare I say, it's almost more of a Frank Sinatra or Mel Torme kind of delivery.  Just listen to the line where he sings Miami...Newwww Orleeeeans... and tell me that there's not a jazz influence there.  (Apparently, when they began writing the song during the Achtung Baby sessions, they had used the working title "Sinatra," because they had set out to create a track that had the feel and chord progression of classic Frank Sinatra songs!)