"Running to Stand Still" is a song by

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 it is the fifth track from their 1987 album, ''

The Joshua Tree ''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 by Island Records. In contrast to the ambient music, ambient experimentati ...

''. A slow

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

based on piano and guitar, it describes a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

-addicted couple living in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ballymun flats The Ballymun Flats referred to a number of flats—including the seven Ballymun tower blocks—in Ballymun, Dublin, Ireland. Built rapidly in the 1960s, there were 36 blocks in total, consisting of 7 fifteen-storey, 19 eight-storey, and 10 fo ...

; the towers have since become associated with the song. Though a lot of time was dedicated to the lyrics, the music was improvised with co- producer

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd ...

during a recording session for the album. The group explored American music for ''The Joshua Tree'', and as such, "Running to Stand Still" demonstrates

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

and acoustic blues influences. The song was praised by critics, many of them calling it one of the record's best tracks. It has since been included in the regular set lists of four U2 concert tours, in two different arrangements and with several possible thematic interpretations.

Background

"Running to Stand Still" was written by U2 in the context of the

heroin addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. ...

epidemic in Dublin of the 1980s, much like "

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

" (and to some extent "Wire") had been from their 1984 album ''

The Unforgettable Fire ''The Unforgettable Fire'' is the fourth studio album by Irish rock music, rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released on 1 October 1984 by Island Records. The band wanted to pursue a new musical direction followi ...

''. Bassist

Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock music, rock band U2. Born in Oxfordshire, England, he lived in County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland after his family moved to ...

has referred to the song as "Bad Part II".

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

frontman

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

's decline and death from addiction also resonated with Clayton at the time. Clarke Tower

Until their 2014 album '' Songs of Innocence'', U2 had written relatively few songs directly related to their growing up in Dublin, often giving higher priority to works about

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

or to international concerns.Rafter (2001), pp. 222–223 When they have written about Dublin, allusions to it have often been disguised.Cogan (2008), p. 90 But "Running to Stand Still" was one of those with specific Dublin connections: This lyric was a reference to the

, a group of seven local authority, high-rise residential

tower blocks A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

built in the

Ballymun Ballymun () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, at the northern edge of the city's Northside. Ballymun has several sub-districts, such as Sillogue, Coultry, Shangan and Poppintree, and is close to Dublin Airport. A metro stop on a city-to-airpo ...

neighborhood of Dublin during the 1960s. Paul Hewson (later known as U2's lead vocalist

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 ...

) had grown up on Cedarwood Road in the adjacent

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...

neighborhood, in a house across fields behind the towers, near his friends and future artists Fionán Hanvey (later known as Gavin Friday) and Derek Rowan (later known as Guggi).Flanagan (1995), pp. 151, 257 Bono had played in the towers' foundations as they were being built, then traveled in their elevators for the novel experience. Over time, poor maintenance, lack of facilities for children, transient tenancies, and other factors caused social conditions and communal ties to break down in the flats. The place began to stink of urine and vomit, and glue sniffers and used needles were common sights, as were appearances of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

. Guggi later lived in the towers during years that he was struggling personally with drugs. It was through his exposure to people without hope in the flats that Bono began to develop his

social consciousness Social consciousness (or social awareness) is collective consciousness shared by individuals within a society. Bono may have used Ballymun as the inspiration (without any explicit lyrical references to it) for the 1980 U2 song "Shadows and Tall Trees", and later likened living in the area to some of the scenes portrayed in the 1992 Mike Newell film '' Into the West''. Driving by there in 1987, Bono said, "See the seven tall buildings there? They're 'the seven towers.' They have the highest suicide rate in Ireland. After they discovered everywhere else in the world that you ''don't'' put people living on top of each other, we ''built'' them here."

Writing and recording

The song's title phrase originated from Bono asking his brother how his struggling business was going, and the brother responding, "It's like running to stand still." Bono had not heard the phrase before, and he thought it expressed what heroin addiction and the effects of the drug on the body were like; a writer later described the title as a "perfect distillation of the dynamic of feeding on addiction." Bono had heard a real story about a pair of heroin addicts, a man and a woman, who lived in the Ballymun towers. Out of money and unable to pay the rent due to their habit, the man became a heroin smuggler, operating between Dublin and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and taking enormous risks for a big payday. Bono felt the man was decent at heart but was constrained by his squalid living conditions, as well as poor choices, and Bono wanted to illustrate how these poor conditions affected their lives. The resulting lyric does not describe any of this explicitly, but instead limns the emotional atmosphere that the couple live in. In doing so, the song is not judgmental and shows sympathy for the woman. A character monologue from

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

' 1984 film ''

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

'', was also a significant influence on Bono's writing of the song. Although the lyrics of "Running to Stand Still" were worked on a great deal, the musical composition was essentially improvised by the band during the recording process. 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 ...

began playing some piano

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

during a session for another song. Producer

joined in on guitar, and the rest of the group followed. This initial improvised version incorporated all the elements of the final song structure, and the sound and feel of the group playing in a room together without

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

s contributed to the track's effectiveness.

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

's " Walk on the Wild Side" and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's "

Candle in the Wind "Candle in the Wind" is a threnody-style ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier. In 199 ...

", both of which had served as end snippets for "Bad" on

the Unforgettable Fire Tour The Unforgettable Fire Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2 that took place in 1984 and 1985 in support of the band's album ''The Unforgettable Fire''. Beginning in August 1984 with the band's first tour to Australia and New Zealan ...

, were loose inspirations. The influence of Reed's works can be felt throughout the song, as can

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

to an extent. Indeed, in a published tribute following Reed's 2013 death, Bono offered "Running to Stand Still" as "red-handed proof" of the influence that Reed and

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

had had upon U2. The Edge overdubbed the song's slide acoustic guitar, which was "amplified through a blaster", while working on guitar compositions in a lounge next to the main studio of

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 ...

. Lanois walked into the room and, impressed by the sound of the Edge's playing, wanted to record it on the spot rather than in the studio. Lanois brought the Edge headphones and plugged his guitar directly into the microphone input of the

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

to record it. The producer said: "The blaster was amplifying his slide guitar in a lovely way. He had honed in on this sound and sort of altered the EQs and controls so that it was pleasant to him".

Composition and interpretation

Much of ''The Joshua Tree'' showed the band's fascination with American culture, politics, and musical forms, and while the lyrics of "Running to Stand Still" were Irish-based, the musical arrangement for it began with touches of acoustic blues and

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

that represented an idiomatic stretch for the group. Although 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 ...

was known for introducing European textural music into U2's sound, he also had a strong fondness for folk and gospel music. Indeed, writers have seen echoes of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's stark acoustic 1982 album ''

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

'' in the song's sound. "Running to Stand Still" is a soft, piano-based

played in a key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

at a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 92 beats per minute. See piano part and leadsheet, some of which are available in preview mode. The song follows a traditional verse-chorus form. In the introduction and conclusion is a mournful slide acoustic guitar in Eno and Lanois' production that ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called both grim and dreamy. Most of the piano part alternates between the D and G chords, an example of the Edge's longtime practice of composing around two-chord progressions. The part gives the song an elegiac feel. Accompanying the piano for much of the song is Lanois' soft playing of a so-called electric "scrape guitar", which he contributed to add

texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Image texture, the spatial arrangement of color or intensities in an image * Surface texture, the smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface c ...

. Soft, echoing drums from

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 ...

, enter after the second chorus. A

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

part from Bono takes the song to its faded conclusion. Bono's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

in the song runs from A₃ to D₆. In the song, the woman's addiction and misdirected desire for transcendence are reflected in lines such as "She runs through the streets / With her eyes painted red" and "She will suffer the needle chill". Bono's lyrics evoke helplessness and frustration in the lines "You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice". The title phrase is not used until the last line of the song. This compositional technique relies upon

delayed gratification Delayed gratification, or deferred gratification, is the ability to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in favor of a more valuable and long-lasting reward later. It involves forgoing a smaller, immediate pleasure to achieve a larger o ...

and is heard in a few other popular songs, such as

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

's " Just Like Heaven" and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

's " One More Try". In the liner notes to the 20th anniversary reissue of ''The Joshua Tree'', writer Bill Flanagan stated, "'Running to Stand Still' is for anyone who feels trapped in an impossible circumstance by overwhelming responsibility." '' Uncut'' magazine writer Andrew Mueller noted that the theme was effective in depicting "the drug as another bogus escape, another fraudulent promise that there's ever any evading the truth."

Reception

"Running to Stand Still" earned critical praise upon ''The Joshua Trees release, which itself received very favourable reviews and went on to become the group's best-selling album. ''Rolling Stone'' wrote, "After the first few times through t you notice the remarkable music... It sounds like a lovely, peaceful reverie – except that this is a junkie's reverie, and when that realization hits home, the gentle acoustic lullaby acquires a corrosive power." In ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's 1987 cover story on the band,

Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College. The '' Uncut'' magazine ''Ultimate Music Guide to U2'' described the character sketch in the song as one of Bono's best. The 1991 ''Trouser Press Record Guide'', however, said that the song "has mood but no presence". "Running to Stand Still" became a Dublin anthem of sorts, immortalizing the Ballymun towers.Graham (2004), p. 33 It has been considered by pop music writer Brent Mann as one of the more powerful songs written about drug addiction, joining the likes of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

's 1967 "

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dea ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's 1972 " The Needle and the Damage Done", Martika's 1989 "

Toy Soldiers A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, American Indians, pirates, samurai, and other subjects that involve c ...

", and

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

's 1997 " Semi-Charmed Life". Irish music writer

Niall Stokes Niall Stokes (born 1951 in Dublin) is a music journalist who has served as editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine ''Hot Press'' based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977. He has been a longsta ...

considers "Running to Stand Still" to be one of the most important songs on ''The Joshua Tree'', not only on its own merits as a "mature and compelling... haunting, challenging piece of pop poetry", but also because its moral ambiguity and lack of condemnation of its characters presaged the chaotic direction the band would take a few years later with ''

Achtung Baby ''Achtung Baby'' ( ) is the seventh studio album by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 by Island Records. After criticism of their 1988 documentary film and ...

'' and the

Zoo TV Tour The Zoo TV Tour (also written as ZooTV, ZOO TV or ZOOTV) was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. Staged primarily to support their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby'' and later their 1993 album ''Zooropa'', the tour visited ...

.Stokes (2005), p. 70 ''

''s 2003 list of "

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

" – which placed ''The Joshua Tree'' at 26th – said that while the album is remembered for the Edge's trademark guitar sounds and the group's spiritual quests, "Running to Stand Still" remains one of its most moving songs. This latter sentiment was echoed by the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

''.

Live performances

Throughout its live history, "Running to Stand Still" has nearly always followed "

Bullet the Blue Sky "Bullet the Blue Sky" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the fourth track from their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a trip that lead vocalist Bono made to Nicaragua and El Salvador, where he saw firsthan ...

", matching the order in which they appear on the album. It was first played live on the

Joshua Tree Tour The Joshua Tree Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree'', it comprised 109 shows over three legs, spanning from April to December that year. The first and third legs visited N ...

, with the Edge playing keyboards and Bono playing guitar, usually acoustic. During the 27 May 1987 show at

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

's Stadio Flaminio – the opener of that tour's second leg, and the first in Europe – 35,000 people sang along to the song's "Ha la la la de day" refrain, bringing a side-of-stage Brian Eno to tears. One performance of the song was captured on the 1988 filmed documentary of the tour, ''

Rattle and Hum ''Rattle and Hum'' is a hybrid live/studio album by Irish rock band U2, and a companion rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and was released on 10 October 1988, while the film was distributed by ...

'', but was not included on the accompanying album. A different tour performance was included on both the DVD and album '' Live from Paris'', released in 2007. On the

Lovetown Tour The Lovetown Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place in late 1989 and early 1990 following the release of ''Rattle and Hum''. It was documented by noted rock film director Richard Lowenstein in the "LoveTown" doc ...

, during one Dublin show that was broadcast worldwide, the song segued into a verse of Ewan MacColl's classic ode to industrial bleakness, " Dirty Old Town"; this show was released in 2004 as '' Live from the Point Depot''. During the Zoo TV Tour, the song's performance was significantly altered. In these shows, the Edge played guitar on his

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 ...

with the band on the main stage, while Bono sang the song on the

B-stage A B-stage is a small, secondary stage, featured at pop music, pop and rock concerts held in arenas and stadium, stadia, and is usually located in the middle of the concert floor, connected to the main stage by a walkway. Origins Although its ...

with a headset microphone. Bono mimed the actions of a heroin addict, rolling up his sleeves and then pretending to spike his arm during the final lyric, after which he would sing "Hallelujah" over and over while reaching up into a pillar of white light.Brothers (1999), p. 260 Writer Robyn Brothers sees the addition of the "Hallelujah" coda as indicating that while organized religion may act in the role of a sedative, a notion akin to other Zoo TV themes, the role of personal faith may still have a "desiring, affirming, and 'deterritorializing' force." At the culmination of the "Bullet the Blue Sky" to "Running to Stand Still" sequence, red and yellow smoke flares ignited at either end of the stage (an idea of U2's security chief, who was a U.S.

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is an individual who performed active Army, ground, Navy, naval, or Air force, air service in the South Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed fo ...

),Flanagan (1995), pp. 290, 444 as the coda segued into "

Where the Streets Have No Name "Where the Streets Have No Name" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree'' and was released as the album's third single in August 1987. The song's hook is a repeating guitar arpeggio us ...

". This arrangement and performance of "Running to Stand Still" was included in the 1994 concert film '' Zoo TV: Live from Sydney''. Running to Stand Still 2005

"Running to Stand Still" was not played on the

PopMart Tour The PopMart Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 1997 album '' Pop'', the tour's concerts were performed in stadiums and parks in 1997 and 1998. Much like the band's previous Zoo TV Tour ...

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 ...

, but it returned to U2 concerts on the 2005

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 ...

, with the original combination of the Edge on keyboards and Bono on guitar. During most of its performance on the Vertigo Tour, it once again followed "Bullet the Blue Sky" and culminated with a video clip of several articles of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

being read. (After July 2005, it was replaced in that role and in the set list by "

Miss Sarajevo "Miss Sarajevo" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and British musician Brian Eno, credited to the pseudonym "Passengers". It was released on 20 November 1995 as the only single from their album '' Original Soundtracks 1''. Italian tenor Luciano ...

".) During the 19 June 2005 show on Burmese democracy leader

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

's birthday, "Running to Stand Still" included snippets of " Walk On", a song originally written for her. Author Steve Stockman felt that in this tour's uses, "Running to Stand Still" was one of the band's songs from the 1980s that had lost its original meaning and was no longer about drug-dealing in the Ballymun towers. Rather, it was now being used to develop the show's theme that a belief in faith and in human potential could overcome the bleakest and most desperate situations; in this, it fit within the Vertigo Tour's emphasis on coexistence and the

ONE Campaign ONE Campaign (styled as ONE) is an international, non-partisan, non-profit organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. The campaigning organization uses data, grassroots ac ...

.Stockman (2005), pp. 238–239 This assessment agreed to by an eFestivals review, and author John Jobling has called the new interpretation an "anti-persecution paean" that was used to remove the sting of "Bullet the Blue Sky" being used to criticize American behavior during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. In contrast, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''s veteran rock writer Edna Gundersen found the song's performance still established a "devastating" mood and the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' said that the group "thinned 'Running To Stand Still' to give it a new mourning". Two other U.S. reviewers remarked that the song was lesser known to audiences, with '' Variety'' saying its inclusion helped the band connect with the past while avoiding cliché. One tour performance of "Running to Stand Still" was included on the '' Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago'' DVD, during which Bono dedicated the Hallelujah coda to members of the American and British militaries fighting overseas. The song was not performed 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 ...

, with ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' bemoaning the absence of this "stone-cold classic of the U2 canon".

Legacy

Future music video director Dave Meyers wrote a movie script to the song while a film student at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

. The 2004 first-season episode " Running to Stand Still" of the U.S. television series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'' was named after the song. It featured the

Lynette Scavo Lynette Scavo is a fictional character from the American comedy drama television series ''Desperate Housewives'', which aired on ABC from 2004 to 2012. Developed by series creator Marc Cherry, Lynette was portrayed by Felicity Huffman. Lynette ...

character resorting to taking her children's ADD medication in order to cope with the overwhelming demands of her domestic life. A fifth-season episode of the U.S. television series '' One Tree Hill'', itself named after a U2 song, was called "Running to Stand Still". By mid-2000s, the Ballymun towers were in the process of being torn down, and the Ballymun area was the target of a €1.8 billion regeneration scheme intended to create a self-sustaining community of 30,000 people that would be more successful than the original 1960s plan.Davenport (2008), pp. 52–53 Despite their failure as housing, the towers had left a long cultural legacy, of which "Running to Stand Still" was the first and perhaps best-known exemplar; the link between the towers and the song was mentioned in some tourist books about Dublin. Former towers residents were not always happy with the song. Lynn Connolly, whose 2006 memoir ''The Mun: Growing Up in Ballymun'' detailed her raising there in the 1970s and 1980s, readily acknowledged the problems there and also wanted to get out at the time.Connolly (2006), p. 2 But she later came to realize that there had been much that was good at the towers – in terms of a collective wit among residents and a helping sense of community – which had been ignored by the media. She thus wrote, "regardless of what U2 say in their song, 'Running to Stand Still', there was ''certainly'' more than one way out." In a newspaper interview, Connolly suggested that the song might have had a deleterious effect: "It doesn't take a lot of imagination to picture an unemployed person, living alone in a flat in Ballymun, listening to that song and agreeing with what their hero was saying." She further noted that some websites erroneously state that Bono grew up in Ballymun itself, and said, "Perhaps it gave him a sort of street-cred to associate himself with the estate he could see from his bedroom window in nice, safe, respectable Cedarwood Road in Glasnevin." The Ballymun area was still so associated with "Running to Stand Still" and the drug problem of the time, that local backers of the regeneration went to pains to point out the recent progress. A Bono remark that it was dangerous to walk in Ballymun at night found a good deal of publicity. A fansite listing U2-related Dublin area sights in 2004 mentioned Ballymun's connection to the song, cautioning, "do ''not'' go here on foot – this is a bad area". U2's official website noted that the area was much changed now; Bono himself said "he's very proud to come from the Ballymun area"; the fansite subsequently modified its listing and said an on-foot visit to Ballymun was warranted.

References

Footnotes Bibliography * * * * * *
Chapter 1 available online
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Lyrics at official U2 website
{{Good article 1980s ballads 1987 songs U2 songs Folk ballads Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Songs written by Bono Songs written by the Edge Songs written by Adam Clayton Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr. Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois Songs about heroin