U2: With Or Without You Meaning
Song Released: 1987
With Or Without You Lyrics
see the thorn twist in your side
i wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you
Through the storm we...
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I think that it is about a man in love with a married woman. That she is torn between the two but is still with her husband and he waits. He can't live with a married woman and can't live with out her. She gives herself away to her husband, yet comes to him as he waits on a bed of nails.
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I don't think the song is very complicated to interpretate. It's about the complex of love. The problem of having a woman you neither can life with og without.
"you give yourself away". You sacrifice and give yourself away, but don't get anything back = you can't live with a woman like that, but at the same time you love her to much to live without her. So what can you do? -
This one is pretty obvious! Anyone who says it isn't about Christ is way off! This is a song of struggle:
"See the stone set in your eyes, see the torn twist in your side"--Christ dying on the cross
"Sleight of hand and twist of fate on a bed of nails she makes me wait" -- the deceiver, the tempter torturing
You is Christ/God
She is Temptation/Sin/Satan
"Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I want more" -- Christ in the boat-sea of a galilea, "we" the song writer puts himself in the place of the disciples who were in the boat with Christ
"She's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose" --desperation, the end point of sin--death
"With or without you, I can't live with or without you" - The idea that a Christian dies to himself and is made alive in Christ means that we can't live with him, we die and he lives in us. The idea that sin is death means that we can't live "without" him he saves us from death. The struggle is that we are stuck in the flesh and are waiting for Christ to free us -- thus the repeated theme of waiting. Waiting for Christ's return.
"You give yourself away" --Christ died for us, "gave it all"
At one point in the lyrics "yourself" is replaced with "yourselves" a possible reference to the trinity.
Anyway, I wish I had the lyrics in front of me this is from memory, there could be a lot more in there! I think it is pretty straight forward, mind you when I first heard it at 13, I didn't really care what he was saying! -
This one is pretty obvious! Anyone who says it isn't about Christ is way off! This is a song of struggle:
"See the stone set in your eyes, see the torn twist in your side"--Christ dying on the cross
"Sleight of hand and twist of fate on a bed of nails she makes me wait" -- the deceiver, the tempter torturing
You is Christ/God
She is Temptation/Sin/Satan
"Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I want more" -- Christ in the boat-sea of a galilea, "we" the song writer puts himself in the place of the disciples who were in the boat with Christ
"She's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose" --desperation, the end point of sin--death
"With or without you, I can't live with or without you" - The idea that a Christian dies to himself and is made alive in Christ means that we can't live with him, we die and he lives in us. The idea that sin is death means that we can't live "without" him he saves us from death. The struggle is that we are stuck in the flesh and are waiting for Christ to free us -- thus the repeated theme of waiting. Waiting for Christ's return.
"You give yourself away" --Christ died for us, "gave it all"
At one point in the lyrics "yourself" is replaced with "yourselves" a possible reference to the trinity.
Anyway, I wish I had the lyrics in front of me this is from memory, there could be a lot more in there! I think it is pretty straight forward, mind you when I first heard it at 13, I didn't really care what he was saying! -
full lyrics is: (performed live several times)
Yeah, we'll shine like stars in the summer night
We'll shine like stars in the winter night
Oh, in the winter night...
We'll shine like stars in the summer night
We'll shine like stars in the winter night
Love, love will tear us apart...again
Love, love will tear us apart...again
Love, love will tear us apart...again
Love, love will tear us apart...again
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you -
It's all about deception. He has to wait for her on a bed of nails and a storm but he doesn't see the shore. (the end of it). She gives herself away. His hands are tied and his body bruised, nothing to win nothing left to lose. He can't live without her. Infidelity on the works. He's left with with just hope. With or without you. He screams at the end for not knowing if he wants to be with or without her. Deal with that or else I will.
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I think it's about a relationship - a man who's been betrayed by the woman he loves. Almost as if she has lead him to the slaughter (in terms of 'slaughter' being heartbreak, literal pain, humiliation, etc.). There's quite a lot of evidence if you look carefully:
"See the stone set in your eyes,
see the thorn twist in your side,"
(suggests the 'stone' is the look of dread in her eyes, the coldness, the sudden disconnection between them as he realises she has lead him on...the thorn in her side is the pain twisting on her face. She can't help but feel something as she delivers the painful moment to him.)
"Sleight of hand and twist of fate" (fairly self explanatory; her 'sleight' of hand relates to her beauty or the way she has seduced/fooled him, and the 'twist' is the irony of this situation. Also it is repetition of the line of the thorn before which is often used in poems/songs for effect)
"On a bed of nails she makes me wait" (again, pain on his side, is waiting for her to tell him it is all a lie,a dream, she loves him really)
"Through the storm we reach the shore" (Now, this is interesting, because we do not know whether the shore is necessarily a better place. The storm might relate to the "bed of nails", the agony of before, but now he has ridden through the moment where she breaks him up and is left with the reality of the moment; the shore. He is grounded, but empty. His ship has sank, but he is alive (metaphorically, obviously).
"You give it all, but I want more"
(obviously, he still loves her. This unrequited love will continue, he hints with this - she has given him all she has, it hasn't worked, but he is still empty from it all, and wants more; if only to fill the hole she has torn in him. He realises she has never loved him as much as he has loved her.)
"You give yourself away"
(I think this relates to the way he sees her now - she 'gives herself away' freely to other men, he still thinks it is superficial, she has to feel something, even when he knows she doesn't. Or it could simply mean she has just straight out left, not even kept her mark on anything, just vanished from his life)
"My hands are tied, my body's bruised,
she's got me with,
nothing to win and nothing left to lose"
(Here it just concludes his feelings. She is gone, he loves her unrequitedly and as a resulted his body (heart) is "bruised" and his "hands" are "tied" (or he is bound to her in love and will not look at another woman). Nothing to win, nothing to lose....just conclusive again.
But yeah...I reckon it could be about anything, just depends on how you look at it/how you (individually) hear it, etc.... -
I think this song is about being betrayed by a loved one.
"See the stone set in your eyes" refers to the love once in the womans eyes has turned to stone.
"See the thorn twist in your side" refers to the person showing signs of being upset or twisted inside ... like the upset stomach when a relationship is over.
"Sleight of hand and twist of fate" ... Sleight of hand is a term for essentially being tricked or deceived. The twist of fate is pretty straight forward ... Someones destiny has been changed. Put these 2 ideas together and you have a deception has changed a person or relationships destiny.
"Through the storm we reach the shore" could easily refer to, through arguments two people have reached a resolution or understanding of the situation.
"My hands are tied" ... The cheating happened and there is no way to undo what has been done. "My body bruised" ... He is in pain. "She's got me with nothing to win and nothing to lose" ... a person who finds they have been cheated on is normally stuck because they still love the person that has done this to them. In this case he still loves her but how can he live with her and take her back, but at the same time letting the person you love go is a kind of death as well.
This full idea is completed by the words "With or Without you, I can't live".
I think that it is no coincidence that some of the references can be found in the bible, but I think that is just because it is in his vocabulary. I also don't think that every song a writer writes has to be exactly about their self. That said, maybe Bono did have a brush with trouble in his marriage or when he was dating. Sweetest Thing refers has some negativity while being about love, and So Cruel describes being in love with the wrong person.
Leave those for another day. :-) -
I agree with many of the interpretations, but I have one question.. what do they mean with with or without you? if it's about living with a partner, perhaps bono's wife, why does he sing "I can't live with or without you"... why can't he live with her...?
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First off U2 is my favorite band. There isn't a single album of theirs I don't own, there isn't a single song I don't know lyric for lyric.
Although many of these interpretations are insightful and could be seen that way for each individual here is what Bono claims is the raw meaning of the song. "...the lyric is pure torment. One of the things that was happening at that time was the collision in my own mind between being faithful to your art or being faithful to your lover. What if the two are at odds? Your gift versus domestic responsibilty?"............."so that song (with or without you) is about torment, sexual but also pyschological, about how repressing desires makes them stronger. The most important line is probably 'and you give yourself away.' It just flipped it and it releases all the mental tension, which is when the 'aah-aah' comes out. That is giving yourself away musically." (taken from the book U2 by U2 pg 181). So there you have it, right from the horses mouth. (Even though I love U2 I personally wouldn't recommend that as a wedding song...I noticed that some of you were thinking of having it played. U2 is a great band, but most of their songs are not appropriate for such an occassion as a wedding.) -
It's an oxymoron which means you say something and then right after you the exact opposite. I can't live with or without you. I'm only 13 years old and I love U2 they inspire me. Most of my friends don't know who they are but I always tell them to listen to them because they might be one of the best bands out there. I think this song is about LOVE which most songs are about. Whether it's love with Jesus or his wife its still about love and maybe it's love for both.
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This is the greatest song ever.
It's really open to different interpretations, depending on how you feel at the moment you listen to it. That's what makes it the best U2's song.
I first thought it was about Christ (the crucifixion viewed by Christ eyes). Then I realized it has nothing to do with Him.
There's a "You" and a "she" in the song ... and also a "we" when it says "we reach the shore"
All these make me believe it's about a relationship with a woman.
"See the stone set in your eyes" ... a precious stone, like a diamond meaning shiny eyes... or a cold stone meaning no feelings? ... "see the thorn twist in your side" means that she's in pain (not physical of course).
I think it's about a relationship that reached its ending.. "through the storm we reach the shore" means all the hard times we passed through..
"You give it all but I want more"... means he's pushing and pushing.. Trying to get her back
"You give yourself away"... This means that she's betraying herself. She does not want to do anything for the relation.
"I can't live with or without you"... He can't live without her... but he can't neither live with her in the way they are now.
My hand are tied... my body bruised... nothing to win.. nothing to lose...
He can't do anything else... He's hurt (spiritually) and does not care for anything anymore...
There's a live version from Rattle and Hum (the best version I've ever heard) that says at the end:
"we'll shine like stars in the summer night, we'll shine like stars in the winter lights, one hug, one hope, one love"
If this is not a man waiting for her lover to come back, what is it?? :) -
First, I doubt it's about his mother ("you give yourself away" to whom?)
Second, it's not _about_ his wife ("I can't live with ... you"? he's going to say to someone he's been with by that time for 15 years?).
Third, Bono said every band member knows (suggesting personally) the meaning and it had to being exposed and on the orad.
I agree it was written _for_ his wife, in more ways than one --instead of being Bono's voice, it is him speaking for his wife His wife is lamenting that she can't live with or wihout him. She can't leave him because she loves him, but she has trouble staying with him, because he's always on the road, givin himself away (to his fans or philanthropic causes), and thus always waiting for him. The refrernces that seem to relate to Jesus could even be her own attack on his self-deification persona, that helps perpetuate his own desire to be away from her. She blames fate (the "her," as fate is feminine for most authors) for the fortune of the band--and her hands are tied because he is who he is and is also doing it to be the bread winner. (in this case, the "body bruised" is just a metaphor for her feelings.) -
What I've always imagined while listening to this song is a man who has a very sexual kind of relationship with a woman. Maybe they meet a couple of times a week and go to a hotel or whatever. The man falls in love with the woman, proposes to her and all the song is about him waiting for an answer. I agree that the stone in her eyes has to be the ring, and the bruises on his body are related to the very intense sexual relation that they shared.
That's my interpretation.
Pablo, Argentina -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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