Check out the backdrop for Obama's weekly radio-and-internet address (this one promising a vast public works program). In yet another symbolic break with the outgoing administration, this president-elect speaks to the nation from a skyscraper, the glow of the evening city receding behind him.

It reminds that, from Iowa onward, one of the most consistent songs to be played at Obama campaign events was U2's City of Blinding Lights, which is in part a love-letter to the urban. Its lyrics can be read slightly differently now:

They're advertising in the skies
For people like us...

For several weeks, Obama has been toying with his weekly address backdrops: wood-paneled office, morning light, dawn in the city. This latest backdrop is the one he should stick with—floating above the chaotic metropolis (which looks so tame from on high), tucking the nation in, welcoming the night with a plan for tomorrow.