U2 - Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of - Lyrics Meaning

A hit for U2 in 2000, this song was written by frontman Bono about his close friend, and lead singer in the band INXS, Michael Hutchence who committed suicide in 1997.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bono said, "It's a row between mates. You're kinda trying to wake them up out of an idea. In my case it's a row I didn't have while he was alive. I feel the biggest respect I could pay to him was not to write some stupid soppy f...ing song, so I wrote a really tough, nasty little number, slapping him around the head. And I'm sorry, but that's how it came out of me."

Knowing why the song was written and who it's about, makes it hard to escape the deep sense of loss being felt at the time of writing. The lyrics let us in on Bono's anger with the line, `I never thought you were a fool,' but also his love with, `I am still enchanted by the light you brought to me.'

The message in the song is one of understanding that life can be tough but also that nothing is ever so bad that it can't be dealt with; these things are but small moments in the bigger picture. The lyrics feel like a plea from one man to another to stop and think before doing something that can't be undone.

The last lines in the song are particularly moving as we're left with the impression that Bono wishes his friend could be standing in front of him as he says, `It's just a moment, this time will pass.'