Mhm... well from the comments on this page, it is rather ambiguous what U2 actually wanted to convey with this, or if they wanted to convey any specific thing. There have been comments claiming it is about heroin addiction , a tribute to soldiers in the US army , about God and sin , or about Bono's own childhood. zfeesh1 also had some interesting notes gathered up.
To summarize: I believe that the story presented in the song is that of a drug addict. There are themes in the song such as falling to temptation, and struggles with sin and with being human. A theme that also comes to light is the close relation of the addict; the boyfriend or parent who tries to get her out, and a few small hints at the kinds of choices he’s faced with.
Mhm... well from the comments on this page, it is rather ambiguous what U2 actually wanted to convey with this, or if they wanted to convey any specific thing. There have been comments claiming it is about heroin addiction , a tribute to soldiers in the US army , about God and sin , or about Bono's own childhood. zfeesh1 also had some interesting notes gathered up.
My post got rather meaty so I decided to post it on my blog instead. You can read it here: http://thirteenthverse.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/analysis-of-running-to-stand-still-by-u2/
To summarize: I believe that the story presented in the song is that of a drug addict. There are themes in the song such as falling to temptation, and struggles with sin and with being human. A theme that also comes to light is the close relation of the addict; the boyfriend or parent who tries to get her out, and a few small hints at the kinds of choices he’s faced with.