The group attempted to take the song in a different direction, although Bono was reluctant. The sessions for The Joshua Tree started in earnest in 1986, and U2 were recording at the Georgian mansion Danesmoate House in Dublin. According to Clayton, these early versions of the song sounded too sentimental and 'very traditional because the chords just went round and round and round'. The track consisted of a Yamaha drum machine beat and a bass part played by bassist Adam Clayton using an Ibanez bass guitar with a short scale. Guitarist the Edge considered the song at that point to be 'awful'. The band continued to work on the song at STS Studios, creating many permutations of the track, but not making any progress. During this time, a rough demo of 'With or Without You' was written, with lead vocalist Bono composing the song's chord sequence.

bought to review material the group had written during The Unforgettable Fire Tour. In late 1985, U2 convened at a house that drummer Larry Mullen Jr. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 131st on its list of ' The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'. 'With or Without You' is U2's second most frequently covered song. It is frequently performed on the band's tours, and it has appeared on many of their compilation albums and concert films. Ostensibly a troubled love song, the track's lyrics were inspired by Bono's conflicting feelings about the lives he led as a musician and domestic man.Ĭritics praised the song upon its release. The song originated from a demo recorded in late 1985 that the group continued to work on throughout The Joshua Tree sessions. 'With or Without You' features sustained guitar parts played by guitarist the Edge with a prototype of the Infinite Guitar, along with vocals by lead singer Bono and a bassline by bassist Adam Clayton. The song was the group's most successful single at the time, becoming their first number-one hit in both the United States and Canada by topping the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and the RPM national singles chart for one week, with a further three weeks at number two. It is the third track on their fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree (1987), and was released as the album's lead single on 16 March 1987.

' With or Without You' is a song by Irish rock band U2.

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