With or Without You

"With or Without You"
Artwork variant for 7-inch release
Single by U2
from the album The Joshua Tree
B-side	"Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)" "Walk to the Water"
Released	16 March 1987[1]
Recorded	1986
Studio	Danesmoate House (Dublin)
Genre	Rock
Length	4:56
Label	Island
Composer(s)	U2
Lyricist(s)	Bono
Producer(s)	Daniel Lanois Brian Eno
U2 singles chronology
"The Unforgettable Fire" (1985) "With or Without You" (1987) "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (1987)
Audio sample
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Music video
Official Video on YouTube Alternate Video on YouTube

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

"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 rock ballad^[2][3] originated from a demo recorded in late 1985 that the group continued to work on throughout The Joshua Tree sessions. Ostensibly a song about troubled love, the track's lyrics were inspired by Bono's conflicting feelings about the lives he led as a musician and domestic man.

Critics praised the song upon its release. It is frequently performed on the band's tours, and it has appeared on many of their compilation albums and concert films. "With or Without You" is U2's second most frequently covered song.^[4] In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 131st on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".