Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: U2 — “With Or Without You”
Music video for “With Or Without You” by U2, Courtesy of Island Records
While U2 saw their first 12 studio albums get certified platinum or above in the United States, it was their fifth album that cemented them as global superstars. 1987’s The Joshua Tree achieved Diamond status in the U.S. and Canada and sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. The album won Album of the Year honors at the Grammy Awards, beating out albums by legends Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Prince. The Joshua Tree’s first two singles, “With Or Without You” (featured above) and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” topped the charts in the U.S. and the band‘s native Ireland.
Should He Stay Or Should He Go?
Today, we focus on “With Or Without You,” the album’s lead single. Everyone assumes that the song is about a man’s struggle with the love of his life. However, in the band’s book “U2 by U2,” lead singer Bono stated that, while most interpret it that way, the song to him was about a different struggle. For him, the song was more about him being stuck between two lives–the life of a loving husband and the life of a touring musician.
Bono explained that there is a force that pulls a man to his family, but another that pulls a musician to life on the road. His worry was that if he gave in to either force, it would necessitate leaving the other–sacrifice his career for his family or his family for his career. He stated that it is this tension between opposing forces that makes him what he is as an artist. It seems to have worked out for him so far. He has been married to his wife for 43 years, and his band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
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