"In a Little While" 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 sixth track on their 10th studio album, ''

All That You Can't Leave Behind ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' is the tenth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and was released on 30October 2000 through Island Records worldwide and through Interscope Records in the Unit ...

'' (2000). Although it was not released as a single from the album, it became a hit on

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

radio in the United States, reaching number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Triple-A chart for a single week in March 2002.

Writing and recording

The title "In a Little While" originated as a line that co-producer

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

had been toying with but not found a use for before giving it to U2.Stokes (2005), p. 154 The vocals of lead singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

were quickly developed in a couple of improvised

take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

s after he arrived at the studio hungover and with very little voice after a "very big night out on the town" and only two hours of sleep. Guitarist

the Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

said that Bono sang "this incredible improvised lyric and melody", while Bono described his voice as one "that was up all night".McCormick (2006), pp. 294, 299 The Edge achieved a clean guitar tone from plugging his 1950s

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

directly into a

Fender Bassman The Fender Bassman is a series of bass amplifiers introduced by Fender during 1952. Initially intended to amplify bass guitars, musicians used the 5B6 Bassman to amplify other instruments, including electric guitars, harmonicas, and pedal steel ...

amplifier. After the band was done with the track, the Edge said they found it too traditional and not unique enough. As a result, they took it to

Windmill Lane Studios Windmill Lane Recording Studios (earlier Windmill Lane Studios) is a recording studio in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1978 by Brian Masterson and James Morris on Windmill Lane, and it subsequently relocated in ...

for Richard Stannard to work on. Stannard stripped the song down from its layers, found a section of the rhythm track that he liked, and added it as a loop over drummer

Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Mullen's distinctive ...

's drums. The change solidified the song and validated the band's revamped songwriting approach of "build ngup the material organically, and then add ngmore modern elements on top of it", rather than building songs from electronics. The lyrics are addressed to Bono's wife,

Ali Hewson Alison Hewson (née Stewart; born 23 March 1961) is an Irish activist and businesswoman. She is married to singer and musician Paul Hewson, known as Bono, from the rock group U2. Raised in Raheny, she met her future husband at age 12 at Mou ...

. Bono said that when they were younger, people at school used to call him a "baby-snatcher" for dating a girl a year younger than him. She is referenced in the lines "A little girl with Spanish eyes, when I saw her first in a pram they pushed her by / Oh my, my how you've grown". Bono said that his idea for the song was "the temporal nature of being", but that setting it during a hangover added "comedy and earthiness that balances the philosophical pretensions". Midway through the song is a lyrical tangent that includes the lines "A man dreams one day to fly / A man takes a rocket ship into the sky". The section was informed by Bono reminiscing at the turn of the millennium about the awe he felt over technological marvels such as man landing on the Moon as well as his frustration with the lack of progress in solving world problems like poverty and disease.

Live performances

The song was played at over half of the shows on the

Elevation Tour The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish Rock music, rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2000 album ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', the tour visited arenas across North America and Europe in 2001. Contrasting w ...

. It was played for most of the first leg, about half of the second leg, and not at all on the third leg. On the live concert film, '' Elevation 2001: Live from Boston'', Bono introduces the song by explaining it was the last song

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone. His ...

heard on his deathbed. He notes his honour of having one of his favorite musicians loving a song of his. Bono said that it became a

gospel song Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compos ...

after he heard about Ramone, and U2 subsequently dedicated the song to him for the rest of the tour.McCormick (2006), p. 305

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

' frontman

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers, which he formed with Dave Ke ...

performed the song as a duet with Bono in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 2006 on the

Vertigo Tour The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2004 album '' How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'', the tour visited arenas and stadiums between March 2005 and December 2006. The Vertigo To ...

. This was one of only two performances of the song on the Vertigo Tour. However, it was snippeted almost forty times during performances of "

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album '' The Joshua Tree'' and was released as the album's second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the band ...

". The song was also played several times during 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 ...

. During the

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live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

concert from the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

, released on the 2010 ''

U2360° at the Rose Bowl ''U2360° at the Rose Bowl'' is a 2010 concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was shot on 25 October 2009 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, during the band's U2 360° Tour. The Rose Bowl concert featured a sold-out crowd of 97,014 peop ...

'' concert video, lyrics from "In a Little While" were read by Belgian astronaut Frank DeWinne from the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References