"With or Without You" is one of U2's defining songs and a central moment on The Joshua Tree. The recording is built on restraint and gradual release: Adam Clayton's bass line circles steadily, the Edge's guitar textures shimmer, and Bono's vocal moves from near-whisper to open anguish. The lyric describes attachment as both necessity and wound, which gives the song its unresolved power. Rather than behaving like a conventional rock anthem from the start, it gathers intensity slowly until the emotional pressure breaks through. Its success showed U2 could make a global hit out of atmosphere, spiritual tension, and disciplined simplicity.