anonymous August 31st, 2005 02:21PM  
The seven towers relate to the failed housing project called Ballymun in North Dublin. There were seven high rise buildings that became known for drugs and violence.

Omiya November 1st, 2005 02:11PM  
On the Joshua Tree tour, Bono dedicated this to his friend "Whose girlfriend gave him for his 21st birthday just enough heroine to kill himself - and he did." Title itself was inspired by Bono's brother who once described his then financial woes, trying to keep up with his bills, etc, as "running just in order to stand still."

siobhan77 December 14th, 2005 04:56PM  
When Bono dedicated this song to the troops abroad, he said that it was for all people that were in a situation that they really had no great extent of control over. It had nothing to do with drugs in the army. I think that in the song the girl/woman is in a situation where the most accesible "escape" (getting high again or suicide) is not in her best interests.

anonymous September 6th, 2006 09:54AM  
When I saw u2 in dublin on the vertigo tour bono and edge did a fantastic version of this with just keyboard and vocals.

Bono dedicated it to the life of mother theresa, and how gracefully she conducted herself despite all she was faced with.

That plus the lyrics do back up some of the early theories about subtle change.

anonymous September 18th, 2006 06:10PM  
It is about drugs.... I've heard it dedicated to a few other people like the us military and anne san su chi (sp??) which has nothing to do with drugs... But there are so many drug references.
The tower block thing is right, and the 'but I only see one way out' line is that the woman in the song sees the only way out as jumping off the top of one of the buildings to kill herself. Clever line :d
the 'darkness in the night' I think has to do with being a prostitute (woman of the night) to pay for drugs.
'sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth' - taking drugs, fairly basic there.
'poison from the poison stream... Floated out of here' hallucinating from drug use.
The colours in the 3rd verse I think also emphasise the imagery of hallucination
'eyes painted red' - bloodshot eyes
'she will suffer the needle chill' injecting drugs

hope you like it! Awesome song

anonymous February 24th, 2007 04:11AM  
Definitely about drugs, but I think it's a rather universal term (running to stand still).

It's applicable to the times in our life when you are facing such overwhelming circumstances and you feel like you can barely keep up... you are running to stand still.

One of U2's most brilliant songs of the 80's!

anonymous May 27th, 2007 01:56PM  
The song is about drug use...specifically in Dublin. The acoustic aspect of the song is beautiful. The vocal content of the song is real, difficult and depressing. This relationship between acoustic beauty and the song's vocals, mirrors that of the ecstasy of drug use but the brutally sad reality that comes with it. A song crafted with passion, empathy and heart - a masterpiece.

anironjosh June 14th, 2007 10:59AM  
There's actually a real drug addict in Dublin that this song was directed to. Bono said he got inspiration from seeing this woman that was known pretty much all over town. And so he wrote about her brokeness relating it back to her life and the drugs she used to hide pain...etc.

anonymous June 19th, 2007 01:30AM  
OK, some of you may think this is crazy, but the song has many meaning in my view. I can understand how there is a connection to drugs and feeling trapped in a vicious cycle of drug abuse. This song shows comparisons to social, political and religious confinements. During 9/11 "Stuck in a moment you can't get out of," was played during the initial shock in a media release. This underlying theme is in Running to stand still. About a woman struggling with her life, yes. But within a more global context, the song asks us to continue to question those institutional paradigms that shut down or abilities to think critically of how society at large attempts to steal away our identities. An identity is only fully actualized when we continue to question and challenge norms in our culture, and in so doing, we make decisions that work in balance with who we really are as individuals.

anonymous November 16th, 2008 07:56PM  
Joshua Tree was a concept album based about America. U2 seemed to have the insight as to the great symbolism that America represented. The resources, the freedom and the indulgance tied to it's roots of God. Crooked Crosses say a lot about the old west and ties to God. Black belly of a cloud is what you see in western states before a storm. The lady was symbolic of the blight of indulgance that had taken over America. Her need to have her Heroin fix came at no cost. Gold, and pearls stolen from the sea (America's lack of ecological care) to trade in for just one more needle.