Little sister don't you worry about a thing today
Take the heat from the sun
Little sister
I know that everything is not ok
But you're like honey on my tongue

True love never can be rent
But only true love can keep beauty innocent

I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman
No I could never take a chance
'Cause I could never understand
The mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

You can run from love
And if it's really love it will find you
Catch you by the heel
But you can't be numb for love
The only pain is to feel nothing at all
How can I hurt when I'm holding you?

I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

And you're the one, there's no-one else
You make me want to lose myself
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

Brown eyed girl across the street
On rue Saint Divine
I thought this is the one for me
But she was already mine
You were already mine...

Little sister
I've been sleeping in the street again
Like a stray dog
Little sister
I've been trying to feel complete again
But you're gone and so is God

The soul needs beauty for a soul mate
When the soul wants...the soul waits ...

No I could never take a chance
Of losing love to find romance
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

For love and sex and faith and fear
And all the things that keep us here
In the mysterious distance
Between a man and a woman

How can I hurt when I'm holding you?



Lyrics submitted by Lyra

Track duration: 04:27

"A Man and a Woman" as written by Dave Evans Larry Mullen

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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A Man and a Woman song meanings
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49 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:y friend is accuring a mysterious relationship with a man, both of them has their own marrige. I want to help her deal with this relationship, so I did some research online and I found this song. In the begining, I thought it was a song to teach people how to handle an affair, later I read all the comments and read the lyrics again very carefully. Here is what I got.
    This is not a song about having an affair. This is talking about a matural man fell in love with a very young girl. The girl wants to have deeper relationship with the man quickly, like having sex or getting serious promise from him. But the man refused her, he did love her, but he was not sure whether the young girl was the right one forever, because she was so young and not matural enough to tell what true love is. so he wanted to take it easy to develope the relationship, but the girl left him. The man was painful and maybe a little regret when he saw the girl again after they broke up, but in his heart, he is sure he did the right thing, not to enjoy the romance before a man and a woman make sure there is true love between them. this will need time, so both of them need to wait to make sure they are turely soul partner not just for romance.
    Flag amywahwahon March 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Memory:this song means so much to me... it's all that he says to me... "Brown eyed girl across the street, On rue Saint Divine, I thought this is the one for me, But she was already mine, You were already mine" he knows that... I'm the one for him... and I'm already his... the problem is that he waited to long... and now is too late... he has a big problem... but I don't wanna let him go... that's why I love this part: "when the soul wants, the soul waits" that's what I'm gonna do... just wait...
    Flag Marissa Brightsideon June 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song seems to me to be about marriage in general.
    Flag tmu2dcon June 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"'True love never can be rent' It means that you can't get real love from a prostitute."

    I'm sorry, but I find it funny that you could interpret this line that way. I assume you are talking about renting love like you would rent an apartment. That is incorrect. The word "rent" is the past participle of the word "rend" which means to split apart, or tear. "Rent" is the word to use in this case because it rhymes with "innocent" in the next line. It probably sounds better than any alternatives anyway. To clarify what this line says, let's replace the word "rent" with a synonym:

    True love never can be torn (or split, or broken, or divided).

    In other words, true love lasts. It has nothing to do with "renting love" from a prostitute.
    Flag JMCAutomaticon June 15, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I completely agree with Mephistocles
    Flag Shewboyon October 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with almost all you said here, Mephistocles, it really makes sense. And you're right about the "little sister" being his wife, at least I think so. In Song of Songs, The Lover calls The Beloved "sister" and the note on the bottom says that it's common to refer to your lover as your sibling in Middle Eastern poetry (at least at the time) and Bono gets a lot of inspriration from the Bible so it would make sense for the "little sister" to be Alison.
    Flag U2fantasyon July 14, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I guess nobody has thought about Saint Divine.

    A while ago, Bono did a song, "In the name of the father", together with Gavin Friday.

    Look at the phrase "Saint divine" in his lyrics and viola!

    Brown eyed girl (his wife) across the street, on rue (the street) saint divine.

    I guess Bono refers to the last verse from "Saint Devine", in which Adam and Eve are mentioned.
    This is the phrase:
    "Laugh you lovers at those who hate
    in each an Adam and Eve entwined... "
    It refers to the perfect relation Adam and Eve had, however, after the ate the fruit, I guess they argued from time to time. So I guess this refers to marriage.

    More metaphors and hidden meanings in this song are:

    "Little sister" I am not completely sure, but I think he means his wife, Alison.

    "Take the heat from the sun" I guess Bono wrote this when he though about or saw Ali (his wife) laying in the sun, getting a sun-tan, on the beach or whatever.

    "But you’re like honey on my tongue" this could refer to how a man and a woman kiss or do something else with their tongue.

    "True love never can be rent " It means that you can't get real love from a prostitute.

    "But only true love can keep beauty innocent" could refer to the previous phrase, because of the word "But", I guess the meaning is pretty clear. A girl (woman) keeps her innocence (virginity) in true love, instead of living like a prostitute.

    "I could never take a chance
    Of losing love to find romance" could refer again to the previous phrase, about a prostitute, fake love instead of real love. He doesn't want to give up his wife for a night romance with someone else.

    "The only pain is to feel nothing at all" I guess everyone experienced this feeling in a longer relationship, when feelings are gone and love is all that's left, or you see each other more as a friend... When love is real, you'll get over it. If not, people often break up.

    "And you’re the one, there’s no-one else" also very important in a relationship (doh!).

    "I thought this is the one for me
    But she was already mine
    You were already mine…" The only phrase in this song what I'm not sure about. It could as said before that he did not know her yet. It could also be that Bono saw Ali once across the street, and he thought "Now that is what I call hot!" and than realises it is his wife... Or something like that.

    "Little sister
    I’ve been sleeping in the street again
    Like a stray dog
    Little sister
    I’ve been trying to feel complete again
    But you’re gone and so is God" I have no idea what Bono really wants to say with this verse. Perhaps he tries to imagine what it would be like if he loses her...

    "The soul needs beauty for a soul mate
    When the soul wants… the soul waits …" love is a lot easier with beauty. Whether it's inner beauty, outer beauty or both.

    "For love and faith and sex and fear
    And all the things that keep us here" These are things you share in marriage. But what the fear is? There are many options about it, but I think it's just common fear everyone has from time to time.

    "In the mysterious distance
    Between a man and a woman" Man and women are different. They act different, they dress different, they think different, in short, they're another species. I think Bono means the difference in loving each other. A man loves a woman another way than a woman a man. I think that's the difference.

    That's the meaning of love. And this song.


    @Bill: Don't loose love to find romance. To have feelings for someone else who's not your wife while you're married is normal, but don't give way in it, or you'll give yourself away. Love your wife, and if you don't, do something about it!
    Flag Mephistocleson May 20, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:That’s exactly what it is about, U2fantasy., good job :)
    Flag mati8on April 04, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't think that the man in this song is actually having an affair. I think that he is reassuring his wife that he never would cheat on her.

    I could never take a chance
    Of losing love to find romance

    This is saying (at least in my opinion) that this guy wouldn't risk losing the love of his life so that he could have romance with another, possibly younger woman.

    I really love the lines:

    The soul needs beauty for a soul mate
    When the soul wants… the soul waits …

    I think that this is saying that you should wait for sex until marriage. That "beauty" is for your soul mate and when you want the best sexual experience, you wait until you meet that person.

    I think that "love and faith and sex and fear" is a lot what marriage is about: love obviously, the faithfulness that they promised each other when they were married, sex again obvious, and fear of what their lives would be like if they did break those vows and separate.

    These are just my ideas. Comments?
    Flag U2fantasyon February 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To me, the song is about a man who yearns for love, and yet, is afraid..He's come close; he's had opportunities to express his feelings and get involved in a relationship, but he can't bring himself to commit to something that serious..

    This song is awesome, but it's even better if you tune everything out and just listen to Bono and the acoustic guitar
    Flag mungledlifeon February 14, 2008   Link

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