<P> Bono wrote the lyrics during his first night visiting Côte d'Azur in 1986, while struggling to reconcile his responsibilities as both a married man and a musician . His wanderlust in belonging to a musical act was often at odds with his domestic life . While writing the lyrics, he realized that neither facet of his life defined him, but rather the tension between the two did . He explained that the final lyric is about torment and how repressing desires only makes them stronger . </P> <P> "With or Without You" is written in a 4 / 4 time signature and is played at a tempo of 110 beats per minute . Although certain stanzas of lyrics are repeated, the song does not follow a traditional verse - chorus form . Lanois says of it, "It has tension and builds like one of those great Roy Orbison songs, where every section is unique and never repeats . I like that kind of sophistication (...)." </P> <P> The song begins with a minimal drum beat of eighth notes played by Mullen, while a backing track--Eno's synthesiser--plays a "rippling" triplet arpeggio of the chord D major . A high sustained guitar part (played by The Edge's Infinite Guitar) enters, played "dry" in the left channel before reverberating on the right . At 0: 09, Clayton's bass guitar begins to play eighth notes in time with the kick drum, and the song's four - bar sequence of the chord progression D--A--Bm--G, begins . This chord progression is never explicitly played but is "implied" by the root notes played by Clayton and the guitar parts of The Edge . </P> <P>--The Edge, on the song's concluding guitar figure </P>

What is the song with or without you by u2 about