With or Without You

The music is credited to U2 and the lyrics to Bono. Lanois and Eno produced, and Lillywhite mixed. A demo dates from late 1985, and the Edge played his part on the Infinite Guitar, a prototype from Michael Brook, in two takes. Bono said the song is about the struggle between married life and being a musician.

Released on 16 March 1987, with US radio getting it on 4 March, it spent three weeks at number one on the Hot 100 in May 1987, the band's first US number one. It also reached 4 in the United Kingdom and number one in Ireland and Canada. Two videos were shot in Dublin in February 1987 by Meiert Avis and Matt Mahurin, with the dancer Morleigh Steinberg.

Live

It was first played on 4 April 1987 and appeared at every PopMart and U2 360 show. It was also part of the Sphere residency in Las Vegas in 2023 and 2024.