Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of by U2

Album: All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)

Charted: 2 52

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This song is about Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS who was found dead in a hotel room in 1997 when he was 37 years old. He and Bono were close friends, so close that Hutchence asked Bono and his wife Ali to be godparents to his daughter Tiger Lily, born in 1996. In his memoir Surrender, Bono says they turned him down because they saw him entering a downward spiral of drug use and didn't want to enable him.

The song is both a tribute to Hutchence and message of understanding, letting anyone going through a rough time know that it will pass.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bono said that he and Hutchence discussed suicide in the past: "We discussed suicide a few times and we both agreed how pathetic it was." Bono said they had "kinda promised each other" neither would ever kill themselves.
Bono (from Rolling Stone): "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--king 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." >>>
Suggestion credit:
Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2
Mick Jagger and his 16 year-old daughter, Elizabeth, came to their Dublin studio and sang backup on this. U2 decided to go another direction with the song and did not use their tracks.
The band sent Mick Jagger a copy of his version of this song and thanked him and his daughter in the album's liner notes.
Three different videos were made for this song. The first, directed by Kevin Godley, shows the band coming to Bono's aid after he gets tossed out of a van. This one uses a technique Godley pioneered in The Police video for "Wrapped Around Your Finger" where the action is in slow motion but the singer is lip-synching at regular speed. This is accomplished by shooting the film at double speed and having the singer mime to a sped-up version of the song.

The second video, directed by Joseph Kahn, was shot in Berlin while the band was between tour dates to tie in with U2's performance at the Super Bowl in 2002 - it shows them in a stadium watching a football game (the American kind). Kahn also directed "Elevation," which featured a battle between good U2 and evil U2.

The third video, directed by Joe Edwards and James Mather, was made for the Elevation 2001 - U2 Live from Boston DVD. This one combines footage of the band performing the song in a studio with clips of the band members relaxing in France.
This got a lot of airplay when terrorists struck America in 2001. Los Angeles radio station KIIS produced a version featuring bits of President Bush's speeches mixed in with the lyrics.
An acoustic version was included on a 2002 album of rarities called U2 7, which was distributed through Target stores.
This won the 2001 Grammy for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal. It was the first award given out on the show, which U2 opened with a performance of "Walk On."
When Apple Computer started their online music store in 2003, an acoustic version of this was offered as an exclusive to the service. It was the #1 downloaded song the first week of the service.

Comments: 19

Leo from Westminster 1, MdStuck in a Moment is a beautiful tribute to Bono's Aussie friend mate Michael Hutchence. The careers of U2 and INXS have and will forever cross paths and have paralled each other because the two of them speak for immortality. I am particularly touched when Bono writes on Michael's behalf "I am still enchanted by the light you brought to me/Listened through your ears/Through your eyes I can see/And if the night runs over/And if days won't last/It's just a moment/This time will shall pass," in hope that Bono will never forget Hutchence because he is touched bythe friendship and memory they shared and will always share as long as rock & roll is alive. Thanks Bono for keeping the memory and music of INXS alive. And to all the members of U2-Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry-Well done and Rock On, lads!
Blake from London, United KingdomThis song is really sad...I've always said U2 have mastered music like no other group. I am pleased to know that Bono thinks that suicide is pathetic, because suicide is something we see too much of these days. You gotta feel sorry for those people who kill themselves. They've obviously just run too low for too long.
Kate from Marietta, GaThe video and the meaning of the song (written for Michael Hutchence) has nothing to do with each other.
Kate from Marietta, GaThis song is positively, absolutely about his good friend Michael Hutchence, of the band INXS, who died from a supposed suicide in the 1990's. Bono says that these are the exact words that he WISH he would have said to him before he died. He said he would have been tough with him, so the result was the words of this song. Bono and his family vacationed, and partied together in the South of France for many years, where Hutchence and his girlfriend, Helena Christensen, had a home. Bono also says that Michael was really upset about the suicide (??) of Kurt Cobain, and would bring it up here and there, saying that if Cobain had only been able to get away from Seattle and his fame, he probably would have lived. Also, often, when this song is performed in concert, Bono always says "this is for Michael." Bono remembers all this in the book U2 by U2.
Cal from Edinburgh, Scotlandvideos mean nothing,

thats why the european and usa version are so different, they mean nothing.
Lacie from Whitefish, MtI LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH! I never care what the genera is of the music i just have to feel something from the lyrics....and this song really makes me feel something! It sounds SUPER CHEESEY! but it does...
Rick from Humboldt, IaI think music videos have ruined rock n roll, but if I have to choose which ones I like the best, this is my second favorite (broadway by the goo goo dolls is my first).
Acrobat from Adelaide, AustraliaAlso at the end of the American version of the film clip, the old man that appears is in fact Bob Hewson, Bono's father, who died whilst they were doing the Elevation tour. Bob also appears in the European film clip of One where the lads dress in drag. Although Bono admits he and his father had a rocky relationship (sited in 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' - written by Bono for his father after he died, and sang at his funeral) I have heard, after he and Ali married, Bono and his father grew closer, as the old man rather liked Alison.
Angela from Hagerstown, Mdboth versions of the video are on the Best of 1990-2000 DVD. i personally prefer the European video to the North American one. Also, in the N. American video, you will notice the football player's name is Paul Hewson (Bono's real name). there are way too many things to list, though.
Marius from LÃ¼neburg, Germanyi think, its about being confrontated with something that shocks you
the "pre-song" when u2 is performing it live is so fantastic, his monoton screams
Danielle from Toronto, CanadaThe video where Bono is being thrown from the van can be found on their best of 1990-2000 DVD (you have to select the track individually, not in succession with the other ones), You can also watch the the football version on this DVD.
Takashi from Tokyo, JapanSomeone tell me where I can see the van video?
John from Madison, WiIf you watch the video closely you'll see about fifteen hidden things relating to the band. It's hard to catch all of them. For example the teams are called the lemons and the flys after the bands 2 singles. Furthermore the head coaches names are Dave Evans (Edge's real name) and Paul McGuiness (the bands manager). The 'fact' about Hutchence can be found on many websites, u2faq.com is one of them.
Shoshannah from Seattle, WaI thought it might be pertaining to something on a more personal level since Bono's real name is used in the video (football players name is Paul Hewson). Where did that 'fact' about Michael Hutchence come from, anyway?
John from Madison, WiI think what they are trying to convey is that the kicker who misses the field goal keeps on replaying the scenario in his head. Thererfore one might dare say he's "stuck in a moment that he can't get out of." ...version with the van is still better.
Scott Baldwin from Edmonton, CanadaI don't get the video. All it showed was a man regretting a football team's loss. Help meout please.
Omar from London, EnglandI confirm the van video, it is thhe european version, i never heard of the football game version
Jen from Boulder, CoI hated hearing this song being mixed in with anything that Bush said. Anybody could've made the same kind of speech after 9/11. At least Bono made this special when 9/11 happened.
AnonymousU2 also released another video that was an alternate or UK version...I'm not completely positive, but anyways the video showed Bono being thrown from a van in a dark rainy alley. Bono then sings the first while rolling around on the ground, making feeble attempts to get up. The second verse shows Bono being thrown out just like before as if he was 'stuck in a moment' and sings the second verse shot a different camera angle however. At the end the sun comes out and the edge gives Bono a hand to help him up. In my opinion it was a better video than the football game, which was a decent video though.

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