Bono addresses the controversy in a Facebook chat with fans.

The reaction to the surprise release of U2’s Songs of Innocence was so negative that Apple had to set up a special site to remove the tunes from iTunes.

Now, in a Facebook chat with fans, Bono has addressed the controversy head-on, responding to, “Can you please never release an album on iTunes that automatically downloads to people’s playlists ever again? It’s really rude.” Here’s his contrite response:

“Oops… I’m sorry about that. I had this beautiful idea … might have gotten carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that thing. A drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity, a dash of self-promotion, and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn’t be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess, we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.”

Watch the full chat below and pray that U2 and Apple drop that digital format that can’t be pirated.