MINNEAPOLIS — U2, the Irish rockers who have never been shy about commenting about America, have released a new song, “American Obituary,” about Renee Good and Minneapolis.

“Renee Good born to die free,” Bono blares. “American mother of three / Seventh day January / A bullet for each child, you see / The color of her eye / 930 Minneapolis / To desecrate domestic bliss / Three bullets blast three babies kissed / Renee the domestic terrorist???”

Good, a Minneapolis poet and married mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7 on Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis.

U2 are the latest artists to release a song about the impact of ICE’s operation in Minnesota, notably following Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” and Jesse Welles’ “Good vs. I.C.E.”

The four-and-a-half-minute tune is part of a new EP “Days of Ash: Six Postcards from the Present … Wish We Weren’t Here,” released on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18.

On Wednesday afternoon, Good’s family responded to “American Obituary.”

“She valued people, community and connection,” Becca Good, Renee’s wife, said in a statement. “She would be deeply moved by this tribute from U2, and would hope it makes a difference in the world.”

Good’s parents and siblings also released a statement: “It is an incredible honor to have the talent and impact of U2 spreading a message of peace in Renee’s name. We certainly feel the urgency of the country’s situation reflected in the band’s powerful call for change and coming together.”

While “American Obituary” may recall U2’s classic “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in its virulent commentary, it’s more of a punk rocker with slashing guitars, and Bono delivering words with a hip-hop cadence almost as if to channel a modern-day Bob Dylan protest song.

U2 explained that they are recording a new album, but these particular songs felt urgent. So the band decided to release them as an EP.

“They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation,” Bono said in a statement. “Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now … because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing 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. And each other.

“If you have a chance to hope it’s a duty,” he continued. “A laugh would be nice too. Thank you.”

U2’s other songs on the EP — “The Tears of Things,” “Song of the Future,”, “Wildpeace,” “One Life at a Time” and “Yours Eternally” (featuring Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia) — are also an instant response to current events. Four songs are about people — a mother, a father, a teenage girl, a soldier — whose lives were tragically cut short.

These songs are consistent with how U2 has rolled for nearly 50 years.

“Going way back to our earliest days, working with Amnesty or Greenpeace, we’ve never shied away from taking a position and sometimes that can get a bit messy, there’s always some sort of blowback,” drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said in a statement," but it’s a big side of who we are and why we still exist.”

Lyrics to “American Obituary”

You have the right to remain silent or not…

God above a mother’s love

A guiding hand to pick you up

To crush her like a coffee cup

Why?

Crossing guard or yellow bus

Our children teach us who to trust

The worst can’t kill what’s best in us

But they can try

America will rise

Against the people of the lie

I love you more

Than hate loves war

I love you more

Than hate loves wear

(War, war)

We love you more than hate loves war

Renee Good born to die free

American mother of three

Seventh day January

A bullet for each child, you see

The color of her eye

930 Minneapolis

To desecrate domestic bliss

Three bullets blast, three babies kissed

Renee the domestic terrorist???

What you can’t kill can’t die

America will rise

Against the people of the lie

I love you more

Than hate loves war

I love you more

Than hate loves war

(War, war)

We love you more than hate loves war

I am not mad at you, Lord

You’re the reason I was there

Could you stop a heart from breaking

By having it not care?

Could you stop a bullet in midair?

She says…

The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power

The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power

The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power

In the streets with children playing

In churches where they’re praying

School teachers are explaining

America, America

The power of the people!

We love you more (we say, we say) than hate loves war

I love you more (I say, I say) than hate loves war

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