With or Without You

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"Notes actually do mean something. They have power. I think of notes as being expensive. You don't just throw them around. I find the ones that do the best job and that's what I use. I suppose I'm a minimalist instinctively. I don't like to be inefficient if I can get away with it. Like on the end of 'With or Without You'. My instinct was to go with something very simple [...]. I still think it's sort of brave, because the end of "With or Without You" could have been so much bigger, so much more of a climax, but there's this power to it which I think is even more potent because it's held back."

The Edge, on the song's concluding guitar figure [16]

Bono's vocals enter at 0:28 in a low register, a stark contrast from Bono's typical singing style to that point in the group's career. [9] He stays below the middle C for the first two and a half stanzas, centering his melody on the mediant F. At the end of each of the first two stanzas, his vocals drop an octave, from A to A. Author Susan Fast called Bono's vocals on "With or Without You" the first occasion on which he "extended his vocal range downward in an appreciable way". [17] At 0:58, an additional sustained guitar part joins the mix. [9] The drums increase in intensity at 1:45, before The Edge begins playing the song's signature guitar riff at 1:53. The riff, a perfect fifth opening to a sixth, features a prominent use of delay. [9] When the riff is played, it is answered by Bono singing "And you give yourself away", a line on which backing vocals appear at 2:06 and 2:32. [9]

A stanza begins in which Bono sings the song's title in a high, passionate voice as the drums get heavier. [9] At 3:03, the song bursts out in emotion as Bono begins open-throated "Oh-oh-oh-ohh" vocals, which are double-tracked, and the rhythm increases to play sixteenth notes on the guitar, cymbals, and tambourine. [9] After another stanza of Bono repeating the song's title, the music dies down at 3:38 to a similar state as it was at the beginning of the song. [9] Ten seconds later, Bono sings in a falsetto while a bass synthesiser doubles the bass guitar. [9] After the vocals complete, The Edge begins a simple guitar figure. He explained that its understated nature was meant to resist the temptation to play an intricate guitar solo as an ending. [16] The second time the figure is played, the signature guitar riff from earlier re-appears and the song regains some of its intensity. [9] The song concludes with a fade-out.

The lyrics ostensibly describe a troubled relationship between two lovers, although the lyrics have been interpreted in religious contexts. The Washington Post interpreted the song as both an acerbic love song and a tune lamenting the moral contradictions one faces with their religious faith. [18] Toby Creswell echoed these sentiments, saying it "can be read as a song about either marital romance or spiritual need". [19] Bono explained that the lyrics had romantic intentions, saying, "there's nothing more revolutionary than two people loving each other. One, 'cause it's so uncommon these days, and two, 'cause it's so difficult to do." [19] In 1987, Bono explained that "And you give yourself away" lyric refers to how he sometimes feels exposed being in U2, and that his openness, both to the public and music press, can do damage to the group. Author Niall Stokes interpreted the line as encompassing the theme of "surrendering the ego" to one's love and spiritual faith. [20] According to Bono, the song was heavily influenced by Scott Walker's album Climate of Hunter. [4]

Release and chart performance

The band's manager Paul McGuinness was resistant to U2 releasing "With or Without You" as a single, as he thought it was too sonically unusual for release. Gavin Friday, having helped the band complete the track, disagreed and thought it would be a "certain No. 1". [6] The song was selected as the lead single from The Joshua Tree. United States radio stations were allowed to play the song at 11:30 a.m. on 4 March 1987, with strong warnings by Island Records against playing it earlier. [21] The single was released on 16 March 1987, two weeks after the album was released. [21] [22] It was the group's first single to be widely issued on compact disc. [4] Clayton referred to the song's nature as a challenge to radio, saying, "You don't expect it there [on radio]. In church perhaps." [20]

"With or Without You" debuted at number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, [21] and on 16 May 1987, [23] it topped the chart to become U2's first number-one single in the US, proving Friday's prediction true. [6] The song spent three weeks atop the chart, [24] and 18 weeks in total on the Hot 100. [23] The song also topped Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart, [25] Canada's RPM Top 100, [26] and the Irish Singles Chart. [27] According to Billboard, the song was the group's breakthrough with American audiences. [24] The single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, spending 11 weeks in the top 75 of the chart. The single also peaked at number two on the Dutch MegaCharts Top 40. [28] In 2009, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 43 on the week ending 31 May, based on download sales due to Shaun Smith's performance of the song in the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent . [29]

Two videos were shot in Dublin in February 1987 and were co-directed by Meiert Avis and Matt Mahurin. The first includes abstracts shots of dancer (and Edge's future wife) Morleigh Steinberg edited in between shots of the band playing the song. A second alternative version can be found in the Super Deluxe version of the album. [30]

Live performances

Lighting effects during a performance of "With or Without You" on the U2 360deg Tour. With or Without You 23 Sep 2009.jpg
Lighting effects during a performance of "With or Without You" on the U2 360° Tour.

"With or Without You" was first played live at the second show on the Joshua Tree Tour on 4 April 1987, and was a regular for the rest of that tour. It was played at most shows on 1989's Lovetown Tour. During these tours, two extensions to the song not present on the studio version were played: an extra verse with lyrics that typically read "We'll shine like stars in the summer night/We'll shine like stars in the winter light/One heart, one hope, one love" or modifications thereof, [31] which appears on the Rattle and Hum movie; and a snippet of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (along with the "shine like stars" lyrics) which can be heard in the live album and concert film Live from Paris . Since the PopMart Tour, it has been more common for Bono to repeat the "Ohh" at the climax of the song, with the "shine like stars" verse sung rarely.

"With or Without You" was played at most Zoo TV Tour concerts and every concert on the PopMart Tour. It was dropped from the set list during the third leg of the Elevation Tour. It was initially a rare inclusion during the Vertigo Tour - over the two months of the tour's first leg, it was only played four times. [32] It became a regular concert inclusion during stadium concerts on the second leg in Europe and remained in the set list for the third leg. It has been played on every night of the U2 360° Tour, occasionally with the "shine like stars" coda. [33] The song regularly closed out the main set on the Innocence + Experience Tour, again occasionally with the "shine like stars" coda.

Live performances of the song also appear in the group's concert films Zoo TV: Live from Sydney , PopMart: Live from Mexico City , Elevation 2001: Live from Boston , U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle , Vertigo 05: Live from Milan , U2 3D , and U2 360° at the Rose Bowl .

Reception

The song received universal acclaim from critics. Rolling Stone called it an "inventively arranged tune... that builds from a soothing beginning to a resounding climax". [34] Bill Graham of Hot Press praised the song, suggesting it may be Bono's "most controlled vocal, building from an almost conversational first verse over a bare rhythm section to a soul-baring confession". Graham suggested the lyric "And you give yourself away" was essential to U2's message. [35] The Sunday Independent suggested that the song was proof the band could be commercially accessible, yet not resort to rock clichés. [36] NME called it "some kind of love song" and found musical and lyrical symmetry between the song and the group's 1981 album October . [37]

Mike DeGagne of AllMusic praised the song for Eno's and Lanois' "gleaming" production work, Bono's vocals and "poetic deftness", and for The Edge's "astute but assertive" guitar playing. DeGagne described Bono's singing as "unleashing all his vocal power, moving from a soft, subtle intro and middle to an explosive burst of unyielding energy toward the end". He made religious comparisons to the musical arrangement, saying the "discerning air sounds almost church-like as it slowly unravels". [38] Tom Breihan of Stereogum described the song as a power ballad with a "beautiful" build. "It hits all the marks that power ballads are supposed to hit — the soft beginning, the slow ramp-up, the eventual catharsis — but it makes those beats feel instinctive, not cynical. Nothing about “With or Without You” feels cynical. It feels like a great unburdening, a pent-up howl at the heavens. It’s operatic nonsense, and it’s great spectacle." [39] Readers of Rolling Stone voted "With or Without You" the "Best Single" in a 1987 end-of-year poll, [4] while it finished in 15th place on the "Best Singles" list from The Village Voice 's 1987 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. [40]

Legacy

"With or Without You" has become one of U2's best-known songs, and it often appears in music critics' rankings of the best songs of all-time. In 2000, the song appeared at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Pop Songs", compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV music critics to rank songs released since The Beatles' breakthrough. [41] In 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 268 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". [42] The following year, readers of Q voted "With or Without You" the 17th-greatest song in history. [43] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed "With or Without You" as the 40th best single of the 1980s. [44] Music television network VH1 ranked the song number 13 on the "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" countdown in its series The Greatest . [45] In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the song at number 131 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; [46] the song was re-ranked to 132nd on the magazine's 2010 version of the list, [47] and to 211th on the 2021 version. [48] The song appeared as one of seven U2 songs in Toby Creswell's 2006 music reference book 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories, and Secrets . [19] Creswell said the song struck a perfect balance between the "vigour and spit and attitude" of the group's teenage years and their new-found appreciation for the "power of understatement". [19] In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the song number seven on their list of the 50 greatest U2 songs, [49] and in 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number four on their list of the 40 greatest U2 songs. [50] U2 included the song on their compilation albums The Best of 1980–1990 and U218 Singles and reworked and re-recorded it for Songs of Surrender (2023). [51] In 2022, Vulture placed the song at number 12 on its ranking of all 234 U2 songs. [52]

In the NBC sitcom Friends , the song is the theme song of the relationship between Ross Geller and Rachel Green. It is first played on the episode "The One with the List", wherein Ross apologizes to Rachel for the list he made in which he described the negative attributes of Rachel. Rachel then prevents the song from continuing after ringing up the radio station, informing them about what Ross did.

The song is featured in the 1994 film Blown Away , as well as in the finale episode of The Americans .

A piano cover of the song featured in Sex Education Season 4 Episode 6.

Track listing

"With or Without You"
With or Without You vinyl single.jpg
Artwork variant for 7-inch release
Single by U2
from the album The Joshua Tree
B-side
  • "Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)"
  • "Walk to the Water"
Released16 March 1987 [1]
Recorded1986
Studio Danesmoate House (Dublin)
Genre Rock
Length4:56
Label Island
Composer(s) U2
Lyricist(s) Bono
Producer(s)
U2 singles chronology
"The Unforgettable Fire"
(1985)
"With or Without You"
(1987)
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
(1987)
Audio sample
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."With or Without You"U2Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno4:55
2."Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)"U2, Brian EnoDaniel Lanois, Brian Eno, U24:33
3."Walk to the Water"U2Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, U24:49

Personnel

U2

Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "With or Without You"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [85] Gold30,000*
Canada (Music Canada) [86] Gold50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [87] Platinum90,000
France (SNEP) [88] Platinum200,000
Germany (BVMI) [89] Gold250,000
Italy (FIMI) [90] 2× Platinum140,000
Portugal (AFP) [91] Platinum40,000
United Kingdom (BPI) [92] 2× Platinum1,200,000

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

Footnotes

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