Bono, lead singer of U2, has been wallowing in anguish. In 1981, while the band was partying with a group of flirtatious women backstage at a now-defunct Portland nightclub, giddy with the success of their debut album Boy, he suffered a writer's greatest nightmare: he lost his words.

A briefcase full of notes and lyrics for their next album, October, had gone missing.

Songwriting is a subtle art of delicate nuance, and rewriting lyrics from memory, as Bono painfully did in the studio, is never as satisfying or as complete a process. Band members called it their worst recording experience. October didn't turn out quite the U2 album it was meant to be.

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Now, 23 years later, Bono has been returned the bag containing months of work in Portland, given to him by Cindy Harris, a 44-year-old housewife who discovered it in the attic of a rental home in 1981.

Harris was not aware the notes had been stolen until many years later, and then was not aware how to establish contact with the Irish band. Her friend Danielle Rheaume spent the better part of last year trying to reach U2's management.

Every time since that night in 1981, whenever the band has performed in Portland, Bono has pleaded for information regarding the lost briefcase. In Portland this week to speak to the World Affairs Council of Oregon, he said the return of the notes was "an act of grace".

Exultant war-whoops can already be heard around the world, courtesy its massive U2 audience. Fans are doubtless dreaming wistfully of the glorious possibilities: a sequel album, an October as it should be, an unplugged session with special guests, reworking of the music. It seems too good to be true.

The Olympian, local Washington paper, reported a grateful Bono gladly meeting the women, signing autographs, and posed for pictures.

"He wrote on my CD, 'I want to thank you, Cindy, for watching my back', said a gleeful Cindy Harris.

A thanks echoed by millions.