Throughout its live history, "Running to Stand Still" has nearly always followed "Bullet the Blue Sky", matching the order they appear on the album, as well. It was first played live on the Joshua Tree Tour, with The Edge playing keyboards and Bono playing guitar, usually acoustic. It was played this way until the Zoo TV Tour, when it was significantly altered. In these shows, The Edge played guitar on his Fender Stratocaster while Bono sang the song on the B-stage with a headset microphone, acting like a heroin addict. It was not played on the PopMart Tour or Elevation Tour, but it returned to U2 concerts in the 2005 Vertigo Tour, with the original combination of Edge on keyboards and Bono on guitar. During most of its performance on the Vertigo Tour, it was followed by a reading of some of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; after July 2005, it was replaced in that role by "Miss Sarajevo." Concert performances of "Running to Stand Still" are found on the Live from Paris bonus DVD from the re-release of The Joshua Tree, as well as the motion picture Rattle and Hum, and the concert films Zoo TV: Live from Sydney and Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago.
Running to Stand Still
U2 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah da da da de day
Ah la la de day
Sweet the sin
Bitter than 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
She runs through the streets
With 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
"Running to Stand Still," by U2, is a reflective, melancholy ballad that delves into the life of addiction, poverty, and desperation during the 1980s in Dublin, Ireland. Bono, the lead singer, tells the story of a young couple, probably heroin addicts, who are trying to escape their troubled lives. The first verse begins with the woman waking up from where she was lying still, indicating that she is probably homeless. She realizes that something needs to be done about their situation, which is where the title comes from- they are running, but they cannot escape their circumstances. They can only stand still.
The woman is compared to a train, a metaphor for a drug and a suggestion that their addiction is driving them. The darkness in the night that they are running from is also a metaphor for their addiction, and the refrain "ha, ah la la la de day" indicates the meaningless escapism that they seek. Meanwhile, the second verse shows the bitter consequences of this lifestyle. The sweet sin and stolen pearls no longer seem as valuable, and the seven towers, possibly a reference to the Seven Deadly Sins, only lead to one way out- death. The woman also runs through the streets in desperation, with red eyes and a raging mind, and yet she is running to stand still- she cannot change their status.
Line by Line Meaning
And so she woke up
She finally realized something
Woke up from where she was
She changed her perspective
Lying still
She was stuck in a rut
Said I gotta do something
She became determined to make a change
About where we're going
About the direction of her life
Step on a steam train
Take a chance on something new
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Leave behind the hardships of life
Run from the darkness in the night
Escape the negative aspects of her life
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Finding joy in the journey, despite the difficulties
Ah da da da de day
Ah la la de day
Sweet the sin
The temptation is alluring
Bitter than taste in my mouth
The results of giving in are unpleasant
I see seven towers
There are many paths she could take
But I only see one way out
There is only one true path to follow
You got to cry without weeping
Expressing emotion is important
Talk without speaking
Communication isn't always verbal
Scream without raising your voice
Making a point doesn't require aggression
You know I took the poison
She took a risk
From the poison stream
From a potentially harmful source
Then I floated out of here
She felt liberated
Singing ha la la la de day
Finding joy in the journey, despite the difficulties
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day
She runs through the streets
She is seeking something
With eyes painted red
She is determined
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
Facing dark times
In through a doorway she brings me
Leading to a new perspective
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
The treasures she has found
She is raging
She is empowered
And the storm blows up in her eyes
Her determination is fierce
She will suffer the needle chill
She will face the consequences of her choices
She's running to stand still
She's working hard but not making any real progress
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADAM CLAYTON, DAVE EVANS, LARRY MULLEN, PAUL HEWSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
A me
on eleven o' clock tick tock
And girls can make children but not like this one...so will just have to walk around with a painted face then...
LMewdowlark
on One
Baby, baby, baby, I know I'm not alone
Ha, ha, ha
Oh, it's not a hill it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
Let's shout into the darkness, squeeze out sparks of light
You know we're gonna go crazy, you know we'll go crazy
You know we'll go crazy, if we don't go crazy tonight
Oh, slowly
Oh
Hold me slow
Again, these are the wrong lyrics. They are not the lyrics for 'One' but a different song. I pasted the correct lyrics in my other comment.
LMewdowlark
on One
And there's a part of you that wants me to riot
Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit
Every sweet-tooth needs just a little hit
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
Oh, change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
Do you believe me or are you doubting?
We're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won't listen to you boys and girls
Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard?
Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?
The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear
Oh, but change of heart comes slow
It's not a hill, it's a mountain
As you start out the climb
You see, for me, I've been shouting
But we're gonna make it all the way to the light
But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight
Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now
You got someone to blame?
You say, one love, one life
When it's one need in the night
One love, we get to share it
Leaves you, baby, if you don't care for it
Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well, it's too late tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much? More than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got
We're one but we're not the same
Well, we hurt each other then we do it again
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holdin' on to what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters, brothers
One life but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
One