A decade ago, Glen Hansard started a Christmas tradition: busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street on Christmas Eve in order to raise money for homeless charities in town. It’s become a tradition, and plenty of other Irish musicians have joined in over the years. For the second year in a row, they couldn’t do the usual Grafton Street hang due to COVID restrictions. Instead, they put together a series of performances from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, with all proceeds going to Dublin’s Simon Community.

Over the course of the night, Hansard and Damien Rice and a host of other musicians performed; Shane McGowan made a rare public appearance to sing “Dirty Old Town.” Through the years, Bono has also been a recurring participant in the Christmas Eve busk. That was no different for 2021. He appeared in the middle of the broadcast, speaking about the importance of this sort of charity. He also performed a moving rendition of “Running To Stand Still.”

One of the night’s fuller performances — backed by many of the musicians there, including Hansard and Rice — this version of “Running To Stand Still” had the familiar, lonesome harmonica peals but also a hallelujah chant running through it. You could imagine Bono wanting to turn the old tale of those struggling with life on the streets in Dublin into a new prayer for this context. And, if that was his aim, it worked pretty well. You can watch it below.