With Or Without You

[seankirkland]

I listened to WOWY for the first time in some time on Friday. It's still my favorite song of all time. After one time through, I repeated it. I love the build of the song, the pace. The Edge's guitar work on that song is brilliant.

As for the meaning of the song, after hearing it again and listening closely (for about the 1,000th time), I still believe it's from God's perspective. I thought this 12 years ago and it still fits. It's a very tender and heartwrenching cry from the heart of God, with God aching for relationship and communion with us, but being seperated.

"And you give yourself away...." speaks of how we give ourselves away to anything and everything BUT Him. He longs to be in conversation and relationship with us and for us to know who He is, but we seek out other means to be completed. When Bono literally screams/sings, it's so affecting. That's a cry from God.

"You got me with....nothing left to lose" is where God makes provision for us by sending Jesus to be our sacrifice so that we can enter into relationship once again.

The song could also be between God the Father and Jesus the Son, with God talking to Jesus as He's on the cross, taking on all the sin of the world, and thus making them seperate for a time. The pain that would be caused by this split would explain the deep pain contained in the song's emotional makeup.

A beautiful song.

Blessings!
Sean K.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I love to hear what other people take or interpret from certain lyrics, and this one being one of the most beautiful songs they've written is no different! Its cool to get another perspective and when listening to it again, look at it a different way. Very cool.

 

[~*Buffalo*~]

I love WOWY!

It's an especially good song to listen to other people's perspectives on because it is so mysterious (which is one reason I like it so much). I do like your reasoning and it does seem to fit well.

Ahhh I must listen to it soon ... I've had a bit of a JT drought recently

 

[seankirkland]

One other thing I thought today in church about this song.....

If it is from God's point of view as He's talking to Jesus on the cross, there is an added layer of depth to the lyrics. Because the Father and Son were separated while the Son was on the cross, the pain in the song is between them. But, because Jesus was here as one of us, God is talking to us just the same. Jesus was taking on our sin, therefore taking our place. So, God is singing the song to His Son, but also singing it to us and the pain is for both Jesus and us!

I think this adds more power to the song if this is the case.

Just thinking.....

Sean

 

[tatechesley]

I love the way how it just builds and builds then Bono goes into his "Ohhh Ohhhh" You know what I mean. I just love how the bass comes in. Bono at his finest

 

[Danospano]

I don't automatically think of God and Christ when I read the lyrics. Even with what I know about the band's religious beliefs I tend to see the song about two people in a typical love-hate relationship.

Every opinion is fine. This is mine.

By the way, it's also my favorite U2 song.

 

[Like O2]

Or you could see these lyrics from a parent/child relationship perspective. But that's probably more difficult until you're a parent yourself and realize first hand how much of yourself you give away. And I don't mean that in a bad sense...just the reality of it.

 

[seankirkland]

The main reason I took the "religious" meaning of it, as I did, was that I read a quote from Adam C. that said (speaking of WOWY), "This is a song that should be played in a church."

 

[Like O2]

The main reason I took the "religious" meaning of it, as I did, was that I read a quote from Adam C. that said (speaking of WOWY), "This is a song that should be played in a church."

I'm sure you're right about WOWY being a religious song. The beauty of U2 lyrics is that they can be applied to so many situations!!

 

[Bono's shades]

You want to hear something crazy? Not long after The Joshua Tree came out, I was attending a church service. I think the church windows must have been open because in the middle of the service I could hear WOWY coming in from somewhere outside - probably from a stereo in the house next door, which was probably divided up into apartments for college students (the church was just off campus). Despite the religous imagery in the song, I hadn't really interpreted it as being about God - at least not at that point - and yet it seemed so right and natural to hear it in the middle of a church service.

What makes this story even more amazing is I believe the service I was attending was a Good Friday service. It would have been the right time of year, and I seem to remember it being held in the afternoon.

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

I read somewhere sometime ago that Edge said you couldn't understand WOWY without hearing Walk to the Water... they're complement songs that brings the meaning together.

 

[steak]

I have a feeling that it was Bono who actually said that...