Bono kept talking about that place where he can't live. Have you been there?

In his essay “Specialization of Poetry,” poet Wendell Berry wrote:
“there is, in reality, no such choice as “Yeats’s Perfection of the life, or of the work…” 
It is a necessary tension.

Hence this song, “With or Without You” by U2. It’s probably the most played single from the band that's been covered by so many artists.

 

In one interview in the late ‘80s, U2 lead vocalist Bono talked about what inspired the song. Bono wrote the lyrics while struggling to reconcile responsibilities, both as a married man and musician. He realized that neither facet of his life defined him, but rather the tension between the two.

 Now that’s a lived song.


 Unless you’d rather see this explained in diagram form.