Oliviaka

There's nothing that directly correlates to suicide, I personally interpreted it as Isobel running away from a relationship, maybe an abusive one (Dido doesn't know because sometimes the abuser is so manipulative everyone around him believes him) so Isobel runs away or goes missing

I don't have a clue what happened to Isobel, but it's still a great song. One of my favorites of Dido's.

I think that the part about her (Isobel) not knowing whether "he" would be stronger than his father speaks of an abusive relationship. Maybe he attacked her and she killed him and ran. Maybe she will have to pay for her crime. Possibly Isobel's relationship was with a boy they grew up with who they all knew and they knew his father was an abusive alcoholic and they all thought "he" would be stronger. Then again maybe they planned for Isobel to come see Dido and something happened...a fight and Dido's afraid that Isobel is hurt or hurt herself...but leaving was right....sorry for all the running on, I ran out of breath typing.

You know... I always thought that the way she phrased two of the lines was interesting.

"By the tree in Ennis where we used to hang around"

The word 'hang' has a kind of ominous meaning to me. Like, maybe there's a reason that specific word was chosen instead of something else. Maybe it has a double meaning & Isobel hung herself? Just my two cents.

Don't think this song is that deep. Pretty self-explanatary.

It's a grower and a good tune but it did have me worried as to the direction the phonics were going. But new album is back to form :)

Excellent song - Simple and direct.

The "You Gotta Go There To Come Back" Album was their finest work... LSVO is a pile of bollocks & although Pull The Pin was a slight improvement, they just don't compare to the outstanding first four albums.

I hope they return to more mellow work at some stage in the future.

Note: Frances Lay is a misspelling of Francis Day (the publishing company Francis, Day & Hunter) and is not the real songwriter, as credited on many releases of Ricky's 1991 self-titled album.

Note: Frances Lay is a misspelling of Francis Day (the publishing company Francis, Day & Hunter) and is not the real songwriter, as credited on many releases of Ricky's 1991 self-titled album.

Did the Irish singer really record this first (but not released) before it became a hit in 2002, or was it originally performed by Girls Aloud before she did her version?

Did the Irish singer really record this first (but not released) before it became a hit in 2002, or was it originally performed by Girls Aloud before she did her version?

Distinguished and tortured baritone, with irresistible and elegant tones. Cole has talent maybe though fell back to oblivion. Really? I recognize his voice is just jaded from smoking and alcohol... After his first solo album anyways, but yeah, that is quite obvious. I don't really like Cole but I listened to this single on the radio and it is God tier!

The singer's voice/look in the video, the forest fire in Greece last summer and the "your favourite song by..." remind me of a musician/singer/cartomancer friend, later nicknamed The Mystery Man, Théo, whom I met in 2002 : it is his favourite Cole song, and Greece is his favourite holiday destination. He is a baritone and plays guitar too, no doubt he jaded his voice from cigarettes and cocktails too (as a tourist, he said), though with enough ability to imitate other singers of this style (both of us like imitating singers but I'm more versatile vocally speaking). That's what I realised when Théo and I reconnected evenly in late 2014 after a few years of absence (he is now a father of one, a son). I can't remember the first time I listened to it, but I remember listening to it on the radio in 2004, which was also my last year of post-breakup depression. Though I'm much cleaner than my friend, I closely associate this song to Théo.

This is about being in an unstable relationships. The narrator gets home by the subway after a stressful day, she is worn out and realises her man isn't home yet. She wishes he was there, crying lemon tears, feeling he would be offensed by her description of that tiring day. She feels helpless and needs him/his eyes/his arms to comfort her at night, even thanking him for his gratitude as she anticipates the scene.

This is about being in an unstable relationships. The narrator gets home by the subway after a stressful day, she is worn out and realises her man isn't home yet. She wishes he was there, crying lemon tears, feeling he would be offensed by her description of that tiring day. She feels helpless and needs him/his eyes/his arms to comfort her at night, even thanking him for his gratitude as she anticipates the scene.

This song always stuck in my head since it was released. If Bono says it's about addiction then so be it. To me it always had something else to it though.

If you take away the detail of drugs you get a broader picture of the character of "the woman".

One day she wakes up and realises life can't go on the way it has.  She has to do something, but her ideas are dreamy and inadequate.  She wants to take a trip on a steam train into a romantic version of the past, a train that hadn't existed for some years if this song was made in 1987. She wants to get away from the crappy weather, but it's not really the weather that's upsetting her. 

The tone of the song changes and the tempo increases as she considers how she's been living, using anything with a temporary high: "Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth" afterwards. Temporary fixes are no longer any good. She sees what lies in her future if she stays, and the option of the "seven towers" will send her into total despair.  She has one way out, and names it with a riddle:

You got to talk without speaking Cry without weeping Scream without raising your voice

How do you do those things? You have to connect with a genuine centre in yourself so your intent is clear without all the cultural noise and affectation people usually attach. This is like the saying, "If looks could kill".  You can tell what someone is feeling or thinking, without them saying, because their actions and responses are totally genuine. 

It doesn't say what exactly she applies that genuine intent to, but it could be an art form. She might be a musician, for example.  To become completely genuine isn't going to be easy. She has to break all connection with everything that holds her in her current reality:

"I took the poison, from the poison stream, and I floated out of here..."

and then she's free of it, delirious and floating with the sense of shock and new loss and endings, but moving forward nonetheless. But hang on, how exactly did she do it?

The answer is in how the song changes into something intensely desperate and real.    She commits a metaphorical "crime against herself" in order to cross that final boundary. 

She "runs through the streets", unable to wait any longer because old things are pursuing her, old cycles won't let go.  She wasn't planning on going at that time, but something really bad and unexpected happened and she just grabbed what she could and ran.  She accelerates the process of escape by using what she does know about life (pearls of wisdom), and something about her current identity (white gold), and uses it to transform some other part of herself in a less than ideal and temporary way (eyes painted red), and she knows it'll come at a cost to her later, but she's desperate, and angry at having to do it, and raging at the unfairness and hopelessness of it all. She steps through the final doorway feeling almost as destroyed as she imagined she'd be if she had stayed in her old life. She made it, but there's now no way back.

She's willing to suffer the piercing "needle-like coldness" of being nobody in the wide open World, of not knowing anyone, being loved by no one, having no protection from anything, no home, no history, an unimaginable future, no way back, just so she can be something free and of herself - she's running to stand still.

The song tells the story of a drug addicted couple living in Dublin but lyrically I was always drawn into singular lines and how they describe the struggle or the idea of being alone while being lost in a crowd. The words often contradict each other “lying still” and “where we’re going”, “7 towers only one way out”. All of these contradictions hit their peak in the second verse where Bono increases the intensity while feeding them one after the other. The song builds so well with the drums coming in half way, I don’t think Larry has ever played a straight beat in his life, his drum beats often create a hidden layer to a lot of their songs and strangely it is the simplicity of the bass playing that holds it all together. The vocal slowly build to return to point where they start with the final word of “Still”. The edge usually uses multiple effects to create the sound behind U2 songs but there was no need for crazy guitar sounds on this song, his piano playing is probably more evident here. He is no master on the keyboard, but he definitely has a great understanding about what a song needs, and he uses his ability on the piano perfectly. U2 don’t really do solos, it’s easy to forget how creative they once were, instead they choose to showcase Bono’s vocals, it fits the song beautifully. The song finishes with a lonely harmonica which always felt like the drugs were losing their effect and the characters are slowly coming down.

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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.

Of course there's only one level of meaning to this song... not, so fast. ;-)

Sweet the sin Bitter, the taste in my mouth I see seven towers But I only see one way out You got to cry without weeping Talk without speaking Scream without raising your voice You know I took the poison from the poison stream Then I floated out of here...

Addiction is being caught, having been lured by a bait, whatever that was, but leading to being hooked. The needle chill likened to the barb of a hook that prevents escape. The sin goes in sweetly (the bait), but bitter when the barb takes hold in the mouth. This hearkens back to the original sin... the lure of the attractive fruit, appealing to the woman, to her eyes, to her taste, to her pride... the bait. The fruit is sweet sin, but there is bitterness in the mouth.

Seven towers reminds me of the curse of Cain, who departed from God, who then had to build cities, and whose offspring came up with musical instruments and industry... symbolic of man's attempts struggle to fill an empty soul... that is at the heart of all addictions.

But there is only one way out... crying out without weeping, which is the cry of the spirit that's bound, the cry to God... prayer. Psalm 107 is all about man's desperation in this world, the souls bound in chains in darkness, lost in a desert looking for a city of refuge, lost in a stormy sea, with but one possible way out...

27 They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end.

28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

You know I took the poison from the poison stream... the original sin was to be bitten by the viper, the serpent, and whose venom was the bitterness of the sweet sin... the needles are the fangs of the viper, and the heroin or addiction the viper's poison. But Jesus crushed the viper's head when he was on the cross; so just before he died Jesus cried out... "It is finished", meaning there was a way out, the only way out. Jesus took the poison out of the stream of mankind;

Then I floated out of here... then Jesus rose above this world and it's bitterness, providing a way for all who had ears to hear to follow him out.

Do you have to do something about where you are going? Run from the darkness in the night... Singing ha la la la de day Ha la la la de day Ha la la de day

28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

Praise God who offers us these white pearls stolen from the raging sea.

Christ, this song is hardly ambiguous is it? It's about two people's struggle with heroin addiction. There is no hidden meaning behind the words, they are so obvious.

Verse one deals with:

And so she woke up Woke up from where she was lying still Said I gotta do something about where we're going Step on a steam train Step out of the driving rain Maybe run from the darkness in the night Singing ha, ah la la la de day Ah la la la de day Ah la la de day

She's come round after another heroin binge and done exactly what most addicts do after a session, feel complete guilt and want to stop the thing that makes them happy but is ultimitely killing them. Told from the man's point of view. darkness and driving rain are bad things and the steam train is a metaphorical vehicle to take her away from it all, to make her ultimately happy.

Verse two:

Sweet the sin Bitter, the taste in my mouth I see seven towers But I only see one way out You got to cry without weeping Talk without speaking Scream without raising your voice You know I took the poison from the poison stream Then I floated out of here Singing ha la la la de day Ha la la la de day Ha la la de day

Oooooh...

So this says that the sweet feeling of heroin is actually the only escape from the deprivation and the cirle of poverty and deciet they have got themselves in. Everytime she want's to break the addiction the reality of her life comes crashing back down and she knows that there is no way out and the only thing that makes life better is the heroin.

Verse three:

She runs through the streets with her eyes painted red Under a black belly of cloud in the rain In through a doorway She brings me white gold and pearls Stolen from the sea she is raging, she is raging And the storm blows up in her eyes She will suffer the needle chill She's running to stand still

The addiction requires going out to find more drugs. Anyone who knows an addict will see how animated they become when scoring more. She is desperate and finds what she needs,brings it to him who needs it too, desperate, desperate, until she injects and heroin washes the pain and fear away, destroys the cravings. The ultimate line "running to a standstill" is simplistic. Despite her efforts to escape, her need to escape, she is going nowhere, trapped in the cyle. Trapped forever by the heroin.

There are no hidden meanings in this song. It's a simple paneon to the perils of drug addiction in a run down area of the city and the effect it has on young peopl's lives.

I would argue that this song is specifically about a boyfriend (at the end of his rope with the bitter cycle of heroin addiction in this relationship) and coming to the ultimate conclusion that he (and more importantly his girlfriend who seems to be dangerously addicted) must detox NOW and suffer the painful chills of detox... The setting and inspiration is Dublin's Seven Towers...

Bono (Vertigo 2005 tour / Chicago) dedicates this song to our US troops and adding (at the end of the song) a prayer "Alleluia" for anyone WHO KNOWS SOMEONE WHO IS IN DANGER (including our US troops or say someone who is dangerously addicted to heroin...)...

watching his girlfriend wake up - the boyfriend realizes that this addictive cycle cannot go on he gets up and out - takes the train - to get away from his hell hole - to think this heroin trip has been bitter sweet he concludes there is only one thing to do - sober up - they must both detox he knows that she is going to resist detox because she is in deep (dangerously addicted) his responses to her will need to be measured he will have to minimize the crying, talking, & screaming at her - or she will run away to the heroin eventually he returns to their residence waiting for her to return home it has been a cloudy/rainy day she arrives home with more heroin (poppy straw) for another dark night floating on heroin trips she has obtained/stolen the heroin from the sea of the drug trade in/around the Seven Towers area the drug trade is raging outside and he can see in her eyes that she is desperately addicted **and at this moment he realizes that she must endure detox or die (knowing full well that he will not leave her but will suffer the same fate if necessary)...

I'm only going to say this. If the song isn't about heroin, why does Bono perform an interpretive "dance" of shooting up his arm then dying when U2 plays this song live?

another song about addiction...particulary heroin addiction

The song is I feel about drug addiction. In the first verse, the women protagonist wakes up and wishes that she could escape her situation "step on a steam train...". In the second verse she actually succumbs to her addiction - "sweet the sin. bitter the taste in my mouth.." As she gets the initial hit, she feels waves of hopelessness - " you've got to cry without weeping" etc. In this verse she takes the drug because it says - "You know I took the poison from the poison stream...Then I floated out of here". In the final verse it goes on to talk about the horrible effects of the heroin - she runs through the streets with eyes painted red, under a black belly of cloud in the rain". She obviously 'scores ' some more drugs which is the reference to the pearls and gold. And so cycle begins again. The hopelessness seems to build in the song until all she does is run to stand still. Just my humble opinions - great song whatever the meaning.

Since 1987, I've listened to "The Joshua Tree", probably more than any other one album (CD, MP3's, etc.) and "Running to Stand Still" remains my favorite of many great U2 songs. I just read the entire list of comments and interpretations offered here and am quite moved (but not surprised) by the impact this seemingly obscure (compared to general popularity and airplay of the other hits) song has had on listeners. That being said, here are a few more observations:

• this song is still generating significant interest and comment as late as 2009;
• despite the obvious drug content, many people find several other layers of meaning, as did I, thinking that the essence of the song was about hopelessness and ultimately suicide attempt via drug OD;
• despite notable diversity of interpretations of the song as a whole, the verse "You got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice." seems most poignant and impactful to a great number people, and has an existence outside of the rest of the song (see fan with tatoo);
• drug experience or not, those with burdensome life experience(s) seem to truly appreciate the song;
• compared to this song, recent U2 offerings have seemed more formulaic;
• there is a particular congruence between the music, Bono's singing, and the lyrics (despite the breadth of interpretation), each with haunting yet beautiful qualities;
• speaking of Bono's singing, there seems to be a special, perhaps personal, emotionality involved;
• a special, moving song, that despite this list of commentaries, remains under-appreciated;

On Tuesday, my cousin OD'd on suboxone-he was using it to treat an addiction to hydrocodone. I'm not going to lie and say he and I were ever close-in fact, we fought like cats and dogs growing up and have never been close. Bottom line is, flawed though he may be, he is still a part of my family. I think this song perfectly addresses not only the addict herself, but also the anger and helplessness those around her feel, watching her spiral into addiction and eventual death. I'm angry at my cousin for doing this stupid, selfish thing, but more than that I'm just very sad for his family-his parents who have to make the choice to pull their only son off of life support or bankrupt themselves to keep his shell of a body here on earth, his sister who tried to warn their mother of his addiction and is now wracked with guilt that she should have done more (when in fact, nothing she did was going to stop this), and his little girl who had to watch her daddy being life-flighted to the hospital after his heart had not beaten for twenty minutes and he was, for all intents and purposes, gone. The lyric 'scream without raising your voice' perfectly sums up the roller coaster of emotions I've been on for the past few days.

Might I add, that Bono's also pointed out that the "7 towers" refer to 7 skyscrapers around Dublin. and during zootv, Bono, in over-the-top fashion, dramatically pretends to inject himself with a syringe near the end of the song.

Bono has said it's about a couple struggling with heroin addiction... Which makes perfect sense when you analyze the lyrics. It also features the same chords as the Velvet underground song "heroin".

"And so she woke up Woke up from where she was lying still Said I gotta do something about where we're going"

This woman came to a realization that she has to change her life.

"Step on a steam train Step out of the driving rain Maybe run from the darkness in the night"

The night is dark. Dark is bad. Running from it is getting away from the bad. Again, realizing she has to change her life.

"Sweet the sin Bitter, the taste in my mouth"

What we think is good (sweet), sometimes is not so good and may leave a bad taste in our mouth (bitter).

"I see seven towers But I only see one way out"

Here's where she lives. Common knowledge. But killing herself is not what is meant by one way out. She realizes that she has to leave. Maybe simply moving/leaving is the one way out?

"You got to cry without weeping Talk without speaking Scream without raising your voice"

Notice how Bono raises his voice in the "scream without raising your voice" line?? A little sarcasm, maybe. Possibly implying how we can't really cry without weeping, talk without speaking and of course scream without raising our voices.

"You know I took the poison from the poison stream Then I floated out of here"

Could be that she is acknowledging her addiction. Or alternatively she is simply taking herself out of a bad situation.

"She runs through the streets with her eyes painted red" She's crying.

"Under a black belly of cloud in the rain" Rain, dark, cloud = despair. The atmosphere at the time.

"In through a doorway She brings me white gold and pearls" Maybe she's going to a pawn shop to sell some valuables to get the money to leave?

"Stolen from the sea she is raging, she is raging And the storm blows up in her eyes" Not sure about this... But some people refer to the sea (ocean) as a she. A raging sea could represent a storm. And the "storm blows up in her eyes" represents that things have finally reached the turning point.

"She will suffer the needle chill" I see this as her getting off the drugs. The suffering of the chill is the after-effects of getting off the drugs. People who quit drugs "cold turkey" get "the shakes" and "chills".

"She's running to stand still" Someone else mentioned that this could mean just keeping up. I agree. Making a move, quitting drugs, suffering from the after-effects, etc. are a lot to handle, just to be "normal" - Running to stand still.

Ok.. now it is completely cleared up.. from Bono's own words:

Bono reveals that Running to Stand Still is inspired by the view from his childhood home in Cedarwood Road, as lush fields gradually gave way to the Ballymun flat complexes. Having seen struggles in places as far away as Ethiopia and El Salavador, the memory of witnessing drug addiction at first hand meant his mind would always return to the flats. “Sweet the sin/ But bitter the taste in my mouth/ I see seven towers/ But I only see one way out.”

http://thedubliner.typepad.com/the_dubliner_magazine/2007/04/a_social_histor.html

April 20th, 1991

The song was written about Patricia, the mother of two of my children. She's a sweetheart and is still alive and has not lived in Ballymun for over twenty years. She got out, finally.

check out the following: search "Behind The Song: U2 - Running To Stand Still" on youtube - you'll find a very interesting little video documentation about that song, where The Edge, Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno & Bono himself discuss how this song came to life ; )

ok I may be able to settle this. I live in Dublin and 7 years ago had a girlfriend who was the elder daughter of a famous Irish film director. Some of you may be able to work out who it was. Anyway - and this is 100% true - I met Bono on approx 15 occasions. I did ask him about many U2 songs, being a huge fan, and most of which he didnt really share anything about but he did about Running to stand Still and a few others. He said, and I swear I do not lie, it is about drug addiction in the Ballymun flats (the seven towers). It is a song about despair and the drug addiction that gripped Ireland in the 1980's. Just thought I would settle this with admittedly off the cuff remarks from the horses mouth.

I heard its about to be about billie holdays addiction to heroin but it could be about any but if it is about her that's why he sings hol le le day put it all together and u get holliday

i have found this song to be one of the most powerful songs u2 has recorded. it is a despiration that is wispered, almost like a dying word. something about the song is felt and not said. obviously it is about heroin : " she will suffer the needles' chill", but like many great songs, it has many meanings, and i think is should mean what the listener hears in it.

I think "She will suffer the needle chill" maybe means that she suffers the icy cold needle to get what she needs- she'll go through pain just to feel better for however long the drugs last, but in the end it's the drugs and the addiction that's causing the pain.

um, i hate to sound kinda stupid and naive, but what is needle chill?

i mean, i get the drug reference, i'm just wondering.

This song is definitley about heroin use, and I agree with eirenightshade when they said that it was also about this woman's environment, but I believe the lines "Then I floated out of here" means that the drugs have sunk in and he's become the person the heroin makes him. I think this song's about a woman trying to escape from her life: the place, the people, the habits ie; heroin use, but she fails. This song is about a woman and someone else, a partner say, because the lyrics are in the third person and the third person. So I think it's about pressure, this woman tries to escape but hasn't got any support and goes back to the life she hates but relies on. Sorry this comment is so long... I love U2!!!!!! This is an amazing song.

I think this song is about being addicted...to drugs...food...sex...whatever. Pick your evil :)

"See 7 Towers, but only see one way out" The 7 Towers are Ballymun Flats in north dublin named after 1916 Rising heroes Pearse,Clarke,McDermott,McDonagh,Ceannt,Plunkett and James Connolly, not far from Ceaderwood Rd where Bono grew up, 'the one way out ' refers to the woman commiting suicide jumping from the balcony.. as you can c from my previous entry's my favourite piece is " Cry without weeping, Talk witout sleeping, scream witout raising your voice, youknow i took the poison from the poison stream and i floated out of here" the poison being Heroin. Hearing them sing it in Croke Park, Dublin was spine tingling!

While salvation through jesus maybe a part of the theme, I don't think this song is about that. The song clearly references addiction.

One of their quite under-rated songs IMHO.

Until about two minutes ago, this song had an entirely different meaning to me. It wasn't until someone on this board pointed out one line in particular that I realized I may have had it wrong all these years.

Originally, I thought this song was about a woman's addiction to drugs, but now I'm thinking this isn't about recreational drugs at all. This might be a bit far-fetched, but hear me out.

All throughout "RTSS" there is a theme that keeps popping up: area. The lyrics seem to portray not the darkness of someone's life, but instead the darkness of the city itself. The lyrics tell of a desperate need to flee from this place. "Out of the darkness in the night". I think the woman in the story is a victim. How, as long as she's in this place, she will be terrorized and victimized unless she finds some way out...but it seems to this woman that there is no way out of this horrible place.

There is definately a drug-related significance though. One thing is hazy. I don't know if she takes the drugs to numb herself (or kill herself) from the horrors she lives, or if the drug is symbolic, symbolizing the way the place she lives will end up destroying her if she doesn't find a way out.

Either way, the aura darkness in this song is definately revolving around the area in which she lives. An area in which this woman has to suffer in silence.

"Then I floated out of here" must directly refer to either drugs or some sort of madness encountered from living in such a horrible place.

For me it is both of it. About Drugs and without Drugs this song gives a sense to me. You can, if you don´t take the word like they are written, do your own interpretation. Because today there are more "Drugs" that should come out.......... "You got to cry without weeping Talk without speaking Scream without raising your voice" means to me that there are people suffering in silence but we should hear them. We have to hear them. After i realized that this sond is about drugs I can´t hear it anymore. A friend died of that...

Take care.

This one's about drugs. When they perform it live, he mimes the act of shooting up. Plus there's all the biographical stuff mentioned above about the housing projects in Dublin, heroin in the city, etc. etc. etc. The metaphor for quitting drugs could apply to extricating yourself from any unhealthy situation in your life and making a new start. But in the strictest sense, this is a song about heroin addiction.

Definitely a song about addiction. I always saw the line "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" as being about suicide/overdose.

In the Vertigo DVD Bono rolls up his sleeves and shows his lower arm when he sings the poison line. Quite obvious what he's hinting there I think. I like the live version of this song so much better then the studio version, much more alive. Edge plays the piano so beautifully!

This song is definately about drug addiction Bono came from an area called cedarwood which is in ballymun(well now its addressed glasnevin). in the 1980's dublin saw a flood of herion through out the city and many people where manipulated by drug pushers and fell into this addiction. one of the badly hit areas of dublin in the 1980's was ballymun. I believe this song is not just about herion addiction it is about Bonos acctual experience living so close to these people and how they lived.its a song about a community torn by drugs. Ballymun Towers and the ballymun area is now under redevelopment and there are only 3 towers left of the seven and soon will be none

As a young person who has witnessed the Ballymun towers in the distance, this song is a great insight to social problems, reminds me of the Irish jounalist, Veronica Guerin and the movie loosely based on her life. (She tryed to take on Drug Pushers, publishing names, but got herself a death sentence for her work. Her death caused an outrage and revolt against Drug culture which unfortunately is still very prevalent in Ireland today.) Why didn't Bono play this at Croke Park? You used to able to see Ballymun Towers from Croke Park.

I didn't realize this song was about drugs until a few years ago, and needless to say it ruined my vision of it. But it is still one of the best U2 songs, and my most listened to on The Joshua Tree.

The song takes place in Dublin, with the reference to the 7 towers.

the only other thing u can cling to is that it is about addiction itself- not necessarily heroine. bono vox says we are all addicted to something. "In an interview, Bono talks about this song and how it is about a woman who lived in the Ballymena Seven Towers, an area in Dublin which is like the projects in the states. I see seven towers/but I only see one way out The drug use there is very widespread, and the one way out which he speaks of could be canning the habit, stopping the heroin, which the woman he sings about could not do." (Annie D mrs_chanandler_bong@hotmail.com 2001 07 03)

For me it means my spirit cries out. My home was abusive and I couldn't cry. But inside, I sure was crying. That's what cry without weeping, talk without speaking means to me as well as scream without raising your voice. It can mean different things to different people. Sometimes the tower locking us in is our own home. I think that God got me through all that and he was the one who heard my screaming. I was suicidal and he kept me going. And Bono is right, each person is addicted to something.

These sensitively written lyrics are about the observance of a junkie; also, about her environment, which creates a social commentary as secondary to the primary subject of heroin addiciton. "You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice" - this is what addiction is...it's crying without weeping, talking without speaking, and screaming without raising your voice. Being a junkie is such a quiet thing. And addiction, especially to heroin, which is a repetitive, consistent addiction, is "running to stand still".