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Without You I'm Nothing (Commentary)
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Bono: Without You I Am Nothing, the version that we've decided to
Include in A Place For Us To Dream is our illustrious collaboration
With David Bowie. We'd already recorded the song for our second album
When David became interested. I remember the writing of the song was
Just... I mean, at the time we used to do a lot of writing at sound
Checks because we actually used to sound check, which we don't
Anymore. So I just remember over like maybe a period of six months
Playing around with this riff which would eventually... well, these
Chords, which would eventually become... these melancholy chords
Which would eventually become Without You I Am Nothing. Sometimes
Stef would chip in on the bass. That's sort of how it sort of grew
To... how it kind of evolved. What's interesting for me structurally
And as a songwriter is that it's actually... structurally, it's quite
Unique as far as a song goes because it's exactly the same, and this
Is totally unintentionally, but it's exactly the same as Happiness Is
A Warm Gun by The Beatles. None of the sections of the song repeat
Themselves. So if you go back and listen to The White Album
Happiness Is A Warm Gun, which is one of my favorite songs, there is
No chorus. There's a section, then it moves on to another section
Then it moves on to another section. And Without You I Am
Nothing does that, which is unusual because normally you have
A verse and then you have a chorus, then you have a verse
Then you have a chorus, then you have a middle eight, then you
Have a double chorus and that's your classic song structure
So that's A, B, A, B, C, C, C essentially. Well, Without You I
Am Nothing goes A, B, C, D, E. And I just think it's really...
It's cool that we have a structurally unusual song in our canon
Aron: I remember when you recorded that guitar. It was Without You I
Am Nothing, the album, out in real world in the fields. Well, not
Literally in the fields, but away from any city or pub. And we had
A troubled relationship with our producer. And we would kill some of
The songs. He would make us do 60 or 70 takes of a track, and that is
A practice that we've never done since because you can easily squeeze
The life and the spark out of a song in the studio. And there were
Days where we would be feeling the weight of our incommunication and
The slight troubled relations we had with our producer. And I think
It wore us down. There was a certain wariness and melancholy. And I
Remember you just trying the sound for the guitar
Part for Without You I Am Nothing and that
Was recorded. And that ended up being the take
Aron: So there's... yeah, whenever I hear that, I remember where
I was standing when Brian played it and recorded it. And I could
Kind of feel him going, "Fucking hell, this is a hard recording
Session and I'm gonna sort of feel my way through this guitar
Part." And it is a melancholy and quite beautifully dark guitar
Part. So it was one of those moments that was... sometimes
You have magic moments in the studio, and that was one of them
Bono: Well, I was on holiday in Barbados, and I went there with my
Brother. And so there we were, fast asleep in Barbados kind of thing
And I'm woken up by my brother and the first thing I see is he's
Shoving a telephone receiver in my face. And I'm like, "What are you
Doing? Shit. Go away." And he's holding his hand over the receiver
And he's going, "No, no, no, no. It's David Bowie." And I'm like
"Huh? Really? I guess I better take it." And that was the thing
About David, is that it was never... If he had an idea, he
Would call you. It would be him. You wouldn't hear about it
Through his management or whatever. If he was excited about
Something, and other people have said that, he would call you
Personally, straight away. And so there I am, I'm still kind of
Half asleep and David Bowie's on the line and this is all very
Very surreal. Of course, I know him because we've been... it's
1999 And we first started touring him... touring with
Him in 1995, yeah? And, uh, I'm like, "Hello, David
. How the hell did you track me down?" You know?
And he's going, "Oh, don't worry about that. Now
Anyway, listen, that song of yours, Brian, '
Without You I'm Nothing.'" And I'm like, "Yeah, uh..."
He's like, "Well, I really, really like it, so I've written
My own harmony part." And I'm like, "What?! Huh? Okay!"
"And I'd really like to sing it with you. Let's do it at the BRIT
Awards." And I went, "Uh... I don't think that's really gonna work
You know. It's not really... it's, it's a bit melancholy for the BRIT
Awards. Um, why don't we do something else at the BRIT Awards, uh
Together, and, um, why don't we record your vocal harmony part and
Release a special single together?" And he went, "Yeah, I think
You're probably right, Brian. Yeah, okay, so, uh, I'm gonna have to
Make a few phone calls. Um, I might bring Tony in on this one. You
Know, Tony Visconti." And he was just like, "What the hell is
Happening? Uh, okay, speak to you soon." And, uh, then yeah, a couple
Months later we were flying to New York to, yeah, record, record '
Without You I'm Nothing' again with, uh, with David Bowie. It wasn't
Terrifying because, uh, to be in the studio with, with David Bowie
Um, because we'd gotten to know him really quite well by then, you
Know, so we were very kind of comfortable in his, in his presence
You know. Um, David was a very laid-back, down-to-earth guy, you
Know, um, loved a good chat, a good natter, you know, loved a
Loved a, an anecdote, of which he had hundreds, um, about famous
People, which we can't share with you. Um, so it was very, very...
It was breezy, it was, it was easy, it was, uh, fun. And Tony
Visconti was at the mixing desk and he was such a, such a hip cat
You know, well, he still is, you know, a total, total dude, you know
Um, and so when David wasn't there, you know, you were with, you
Were hanging out with Tony, so, Tony Visconti, so, who himself had
You know, dozens and dozens of stories, uh, to tell you. So I mean
It was, it was really fun. I remember, um, being very mischievous at
One point. It was like the first time that, um, David Bowie actually
Sung the song in the studio and we recorded it, so this was his first
Take. So he, he does a whole take and, uh, and he finishes, and it's
Great. And, uh, he looks up from the microphone and he goes, like
"Um, how was that?" And there's like a slight pause. I look down at
The mixing desk and my eyes just focus on the button that says "
Talk." And I just, without thinking, I just press it. I press "Talk"
And I go, "David, that was great, but I think you've got a better
One in you." Clunk. And then I'm like, "Agh! I actually did that!"
You know, but it was just absolutely irresistible. So he went, "Oh
Well, Brian," and he did another take. I don't know which one we
Used, but we only recorded, like, maximum four takes or something
Like that. I don't know which one we used. We probably used a
Combination of them all, you know? But it was just so
Irresistible, you know? I found myself in this situation
Where I actually had the opportunity to tell Bowie that he
Had a better take in him, even though the one he'd just
Done was perfectly fine. It was just too difficult to resist