The Sweetest Thing- U2

U2, originating in Ireland, formed in 1976 when all the members were still teenagers. Despite starting their musical career so young, they quickly became a world renowned rock/alternative band. Eventually they won 22 Grammy Awards, which is more than any other band. In 2005, as soon as they were eligible, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They ranked #22 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists." Aside from advancing in the musical world, members of the band also supported, and campaigned for, human rights and social justice causes.

The very first thing one notices about this song is the title. The title is ironic with respect to the meaning of the song. In the song, the lead singer sings about his "stormy kind of love" in which his lover doesn't treat him as she should, but in the title, and chorus, he calls her "the sweetest thing." This is ironic because the way he describes her in the song isn't sweet at all. The next poetic device resides in the first line of the song when he says, "My love she throws me like a rubber." This is an example of a simile because he is comparing himself to a rubber ball. There is ambiguity in the two lines, "she won't catch me or break my fall," and "I wanted to run but she made me crawl." These lines contain ambiguity because it is not clear whether the actions being described are literal actions or if they are meant to be figurative. There is an example of a paradox when he says, "I got black eyes but they burn so brightly," this is a paradox because the color black doesn't particularly burn brightly. Another example of ambiguity is in the last verse where it says, "you can sew it up but you still see the tear." He could be literally talking about sewing up fabric or he could be talking about an emotional tear or wound and how, even if you think it's healed or sewn up, you can still see the tear in the way it effects one's everyday behavior or personality.


This song has universal relevance because almost everyone can relate to loving someone who doesn't love them back the same way. This song scored average on the Student Song Rating System.