If we are talking about The Hands that Built America from Gangs of New York:

The song was written specifcally for a film about working class Irish immigrants in New York. The narrative voice in the lyric resonates with the perspective of the Irish and Irish-Americans (as I have observed it): affection for, pride in, and ownership of the land that promises liberty.

This is not patriotic pandering or corporate kowtowing. It's consistent with the theme and subject matter of the film.

On the other hand, the film company could be called on the carpet for failing to commission a song from Shane McGowan. U2's lyrics cannot approach the personal intensity and precision imagery Shane penned into Thousands Are Sailing and Fairy Tale of New York.

Judge for yourself: which of these descriptions of New York evokes a stronger personal involvement with its author?

U2: steel and glass canyons

Shane: Manhattan's desert twilight in the dead of afternoon

If U2 is guilty of anything here, it's lyrical laziness, or concession to the cliche'