I love that way of looking at it. He may say it was 16 years since they last did it but it was done once or twice on the Crush tour, and solo by Jon at a fundraiser in 02/03 (Can someone confirm the date? It may have actually been a little later than that), and rehearsed last tour. I firmly believe this is one of those songs that Jon is proud of. I think you got it absolutely right, that's why he knew the words so well.