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Cover of The Joshua Tree by U2 — Cover: The Joshua Tree

Song · U2

“Running To Stand Still” by U2

From the album The Joshua Tree (1987)

“Running To Stand Still” by U2 appears on 18 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1999 and 2020. It was first released in 1987 on the album The Joshua Tree. Its best result is #121 on the 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #994 alternative song of all time.

18countdowns

3stations

#121best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2020years charted

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Running To Stand Still (Remastered 2007)

Video from YouTube (U2 - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Running to Stand Still" sits between "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Red Hill Mining Town" on U2's 1987 album The Joshua Tree, and after the fury that comes before it, it's a long exhale: a slow ballad built on piano and guitar, with a thread of Bono's harmonica. Bono sweated over the words, but the music came together on the spot, improvised with Daniel Lanois during a session. Lanois adds guitar, tambourine and omnichord, Brian Eno plays keyboards, the pair produced it, and Flood recorded it.

The subject is bleak: a couple hooked on heroin in Dublin's Ballymun flats, towers that have been tied to the song ever since. The band's American homework shows in its folk rock and acoustic blues bones, critics singled it out as one of the album's best tracks, and it has been a regular in the set on four of their tours.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#994 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

#3,609 of all time

All Rock Formats

#1,852 of all time

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2004	664	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004)	885
2005	567	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2005	121	99X	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)	1000
2007	992	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	952	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	974	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2009	825	WXPN	WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009)	885
2010	1007	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1036	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1096	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1120	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2020	1017	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020

Also listed as: Running to Stand Still.

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