In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was
Lying still
Said I gotta do something
About where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah da da da de day
Ah la la de day
Sweet the sin
Bitter than taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison
From the poison stream
Then I floated out of here
Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day
She runs through the streets
With eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will
Suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand
Still
Woke up from where she was
Lying still
Said I gotta do something
About where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night
Singing ha, ah la la la de day
Ah da da da de day
Ah la la de day
Sweet the sin
Bitter than taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry without weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison
From the poison stream
Then I floated out of here
Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day
Ha la la de day
She runs through the streets
With eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will
Suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand
Still
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
Running to Stand Still Lyrics as written by Dave Evans Adam Clayton
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
i heard this song and realized i was exactly where the song described. Ive been wanting to quit all my life and i know there's only one way out.
and when it says: You got to cry without weeping Talk without speaking Scream without raising your voice
It is exactly how my life is with my surrounding because maybe thats what my addiction led me to. i couldnt speak the truth anymore to anyone.
For a non-native English speaker like me in the far-eastern culture, it had never occurred to me that this song has something to do with drugs until I read the previous posts. I was deeply touched by the lines "You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice." Before I read the previous comments, I interpreted as a kind of resistance to social norms or some sort of dominance that one wants to break through, as a strategy to resist not through protests or violence, but through influencing others in a moderate, or a less radical way. Clamor does not speak as loudly and powerfully as a hushed voice. But I have to admit that I didn't and couldn't see the whole picture of the meaning of this song as an "outsider" of a culture that I'm not familiar with. It's great to learn how people "in" the culture read this song. :-)
Interesting that some people feel the song is ruined for them when they find out it's about heroin. I feel the opposite -- I would be disheartened to find out it's about something other than drugs. Addiction is more powerful than love, and if you don't believe me, you're awfully naive.
This song and "Bad" are my favorite U2 songs.
@sharkycharming Imagine a song about some other disease - say hypertension. Yes, people who have high blood pressure might find it interesting, but it's totally boring to everyone else.
weeell buttofmalmsey i dont know Bono personally but the lyrics seem to suggest a drug addiction - "i took the poison from the poison stream, then i floated out of here."... and... "she will suffer the needle chill." the lyrics in general seem to articulate some sort of hopelessness - some kind of desire to escape from something that you know you really cant (addiction) - hence the term 'running to stand still'.
also, "step on a steam train" cooould be a reference to what people call taking heroin, 'riding the H-train'. or that could be looking too far into it.
anyway i think this song communicates hopelessness and dependence beautifully.
"I took the poison from the poison stream" Could also be the singer's adulterous meanderings, allowing him to float out of a bad relationship and be held in some loving arms too.
not to be pedantic - they are the Ballymun towers in North Dublin, they have just been demolished Ballymena is in northern Ireland and the only thing there are addicted to up there is bigotry.
These sensitively written lyrics are about the observance of a junkie; also, about her environment, which creates a social commentary as secondary to the primary subject of heroin addiciton. "You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice" - this is what addiction is...it's crying without weeping, talking without speaking, and screaming without raising your voice. Being a junkie is such a quiet thing. And addiction, especially to heroin, which is a repetitive, consistent addiction, is "running to stand still".
For me it means my spirit cries out. My home was abusive and I couldn't cry. But inside, I sure was crying. That's what cry without weeping, talk without speaking means to me as well as scream without raising your voice. It can mean different things to different people. Sometimes the tower locking us in is our own home. I think that God got me through all that and he was the one who heard my screaming. I was suicidal and he kept me going. And Bono is right, each person is addicted to something.
the only other thing u can cling to is that it is about addiction itself- not necessarily heroine. bono vox says we are all addicted to something. "In an interview, Bono talks about this song and how it is about a woman who lived in the Ballymena Seven Towers, an area in Dublin which is like the projects in the states. I see seven towers/but I only see one way out The drug use there is very widespread, and the one way out which he speaks of could be canning the habit, stopping the heroin, which the woman he sings about could not do." (Annie D mrs_chanandler_bong@hotmail.com 2001 07 03)
The song takes place in Dublin, with the reference to the 7 towers.
there were also 7 towers in Thebes, the city Oedipus tried to escape his fate in being King of, I think.
Yes it is the seven towers are the seven tower blocks of flats in Ballymun the tallest flats where called the towers though they where surrounded by multiple other small blocks of flats built in like a fortress
I didn't realize this song was about drugs until a few years ago, and needless to say it ruined my vision of it. But it is still one of the best U2 songs, and my most listened to on The Joshua Tree.
Hopefully it didn't ruin your vision of the song in a negative way. I don't think the message is promotion of drug use or even glorifying it in any way. Just a very powerful message of addiction (which could be addiction to anything, really).
@jarokai A song, regardless of the meaning by the author, can be about whatever it means to you. Words speak to us in different ways, and if a song about drugs isn't something you need, you'll find what you do need and it can speak to that. It can easily be about sin, in general, and our desire to leave it behind. We become addicted to a lot of things...money, power, a person...but letting go of those things can lead us to the freedom to choose and become our best selves.