Some of the lyrics in Breathe are less-than-stellar, and Bono's overuse of the word "sing" (as well as "song" and "sound") is as bad as "heart", "kneel", and "soul" if you've been paying attention, but at least the rapid-fire delivery was outside the norm for him. Nothing wrong with shaking things up and I think much of it is refreshing and has some character. Some find a bit like "ju ju man" embarrassing but I find it amusingly charming, and there's some actual humor in following it with "Doc says you're fine, or dying". That's very Bob Dylan.
The chorus is rote, but it's sung with conviction. And I do think there's one legit gem of a line in "the roar that lies on the other side of silence".
Musically, at least it has a pulse and the guitar solo is probably underrated at this point, just as good if not better than the one on Unknown Caller.
