"A Day Without Me" is a song by Irish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band U2, and the eighth track on their debut album ''

Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

''. It was released as the album's lead single in August 1980, and was their first release to be produced by

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...

Theme

The song's lyrics refer to the removal of someone from their habitual social circle, and reflecting on what the world would be like without their presence. At the time of the single's release, an

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

press officer was notifying enquirers who were corresponding with the record label about the band that the song's lyrics were written about the death of

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...

, the frontman/vocalist of the band

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

. However, this information was erroneous as the band performed the song in Dublin in February 1980, musically and lyrically unaltered from its release format, a few months before Curtis's death.

Production

The single release was produced by

, and was the first time that he recorded with U2. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

is an instrumental song called "Things to Make and Do".

Cover art

The image on the single's cover, photographed by Susan Byrne, is of a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

at Booterstown railway station in

South Dublin South Dublin () is a county in Ireland, within the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin Cou ...

. The image echoes the Joy Division photoshoot on the Epping Walk Bridge in

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, that featured in an article of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' in January 1979.

Live performances

"A Day Without Me" was played live during the first half of the 1980s. On the

Boy Tour ''Boy'' is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite and was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records. ''Boy'' contains songs from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including two tracks th ...

, it did not have a firmly defined set list position, initially appearing in the main set before moving to the encore. It did not appear on the

October Tour The October Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2 that took place in 1981 and 1982 to support the band's second studio album, ''October'', which was released in October 1981. Itinerary The tour followed a similar pattern to the pr ...

until November 1981, when it was paired with "I Threw a Brick Through a Window", a song from the newly released ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

'' album. The two songs were linked by a drum segue leading from the end of "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" into "A Day Without Me", and this pairing lasted until April 1985. Since then, neither song has been played live, although snippets of "A Day Without Me" have been played on rare occasions. A live performance of the song from

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the Western United States, western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the c ...

appears on the concert film '' U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky''. "Things to Make and Do" was the only instrumental played live by U2 until the

U2 360° Tour The U2 360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2009 album ''No Line on the Horizon'', the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band pla ...

("Return of the Stingray Guitar"), and it regularly followed " The Electric Co." on the Boy Tour. It has only been played once since the end of that tour, at an early date of the October Tour on 31 August 1981.

Track listing

References

External links

"A Day Without Me" Lyrics
from U2.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Day Without Me, A 1980 singles Joy Division U2 songs Columbia Records singles Island Records singles Songs about suicide Songs written by Bono Songs written by the Edge Songs written by Adam Clayton Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr. Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite 1980 songs