Why can't bono write lyrics like these anymore?

Simple, flawed, but perfect for what he was trying to convey... I love it

Starting a landslide in my ego
Look from the outside
To the world I left behind

Shed a tear, and then let go...

"I was born to sing for you, I didn't have a choice but to lift you up, and sing whatever song you wanted me to."

"Walk out into the street, with arms out, got a love you can't defeat, neither down nor out, there's nothing you have that I need, I can breathe."

"A speeding head, a speeding heart...I'm being born, a bleeding start.....the engines roar, blood curdling wail.....Head first, then foot, then heart sets sail."

"The best of us are genuises of compression, the worst of us are a drawn out confession."

I read somewhere that the song is Bono writing about becoming famous long before he did.
"look from the out side to the world i've left behind"
"What are the feelings
You left behind"

the "you left behind" referes to another band who did not "make it"
 " a day with out me" i think, means a day with out me around because im in a famous rock band.

let me know what ya think!

I read somewhere that the song is Bono writing about becoming famous long before he did.
"look from the out side to the world i've left behind"
"What are the feelings
You left behind"

the "you left behind" referes to another band who did not "make it"
 " a day with out me" i think, means a day with out me around because im in a famous rock band.

let me know what ya think!

it's already pretty well known as a song about ian curtis or suicide in general, I thought... that's all I've ever read about it. so nice try kid, but no cigar.

I've never thought about the lyrics as referencing Bono himself. After all, Out of Control contains the line "One day I'll die/The choice will not be mine" and it would be strange to have Bono jumping back and forth within a couple of songs.

I always assumed it was written from the viewpoint of someone contemplating it, simliar to the characters that Bono wrote about for NLOTH.

This is supposed to be a song about Ian Curtis from Joy Division, who did commit suicide. Right?

I have my doubts about this.

The single was released in August 1980 and the cover image is a bridge in Manchester that Joy Division/ Curtis used for photo shoots - perhaps used as a tribute to Curtis and Martin Hannett (who was scheduled to produce Boy but dropped out after the suicide).

But the song was being played live by U2 before Curtis's suicide in May 1980. Not sure if the lyrics were altered much (if at all) prior to recording, but it does pre-date the suicide.

This is supposed to be a song about Ian Curtis from Joy Division, who did commit suicide. Right?

Yeah, this song is definitely about Ian Curtis and some other artist who had committed suicide.  I don't think Bono is talking about himself, because I read in an interview with him following Michael Hutchence's death that he has had some pretty low points in his life, but he has never gotten so far that he thought he could never get out like Michael thought.  Ian Curtis did commit suicide by hanging himself from the pot rack in his kitchen.  If you want to get depressed, learn about Ian Curtis.  He was in an unhappy marriage, was cheating on his wife, but always felt bad about it, he was epileptic and he was on drugs because of his epilepsy.  DE-PRESSING.

yeah, if you haven't seen Anton Corbijn's "Control", the biopic about Curtis, it's well worth a watch, and quite accurate too as far as I can tell... it's not exactly a feel good movie, though!

it's an unfortunately morbid subject, but on reflection Bono talked about being "deathly depressed" after the Live Aid incident before learning that it was a success. I never thought he was the kinda guy who'd be selfish enough to take his own life and I'd rather not think about it, but I assume that's one of the big low points he's had.

I always looked at "A Day Without Me" as being about trying to get outside yourself, moving past your selfishness to really understand another's point of view... as much as that's possible.  I can see how it could be talking about suicide too, though. 
Wasn't "Stuck In A Moment" written for/to another musician who committed suicide?  In that one at least, Bono says that "this to shall pass"... maybe that's what got him through his  (hypothetical) contemplation of suicide as a younger man.

Wasn't "Stuck In A Moment" written for/to another musician who committed suicide?  In that one at least, Bono says that "this to shall pass"... maybe that's what got him through his  (hypothetical) contemplation of suicide as a younger man.

yep, Michael Hutchence of INXS. he and Bono seem to have been pretty close friends.