1987 · Behind the Songs
The Joshua Tree ballad that gave them their first US No. 1.
“With or Without You” is the sound of U2 learning patience. Released as the lead single from The Joshua Tree in 1987 and produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, it builds for nearly five minutes from a whisper to a roar — and it became the band’s first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, holding the top spot for three weeks.
Bono has said the song is about the tension between his life as a traveling musician and his domestic life — the push and pull of devotion and absence. The Edge’s sustained guitar, notes ringing endlessly, gives the track its hovering, weightless quality, while Adam Clayton’s bass grounds it.
The single’s success announced The Joshua Tree as a phenomenon. It was the first of two US No. 1s from the album, followed by “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and it remains U2’s most beloved ballad — the slow build that taught arenas to hold their breath.
What to listen for: the Edge’s sustained guitar notes, the way the drums enter like a heartbeat, and Bono’s vocal climbing from murmur to cry.