Bono met a woman in New York who was living on the street, doing whatever she needed to do to survive there. Bono was attracted to her and the way she was able to just let go of all domestic frills and live her life the way she wanted to. She didn’t want to be a wife, a mother, a respectable citizen. She wanted the streets. Bono explains, “You’ve got to learn to let go in order to really live. That’s what ‘Surrender’ is all about. In one sense, everyone’s got to jump off (referring to the 48th floor mentioned in the song), the idea that if you want to live, you’ve got to die.”
Click here to download the guitar tab for Surrender
Oh, the city’s alight
With lovers and lies
Bright blue eyes
Oh, the city is bright
It’s brighter than day tonight
Surrender, Surrender
Surrender, Surrender
Sadie said she couldn’t work out
What it was all about
And so she let go
Now Sadie’s on the street
And the people she meets you know
She tried to be a good girl and a good wife
Raise a good family
Lead a good life
It’s not good enough
She got herself up on the 48th floor
Gotta find out
Find out what she’s living for
Surrender, Surrender
Surrender, Surrender
Tonight…
Oh, the city’s afire
A passionate flame
It knows me by name
Oh, the city’s desire
To take me for more and more
It’s in the street, getting under my feet
It’s in the air, it’s everywhere
My love for you
It’s in the things I do and say
If I wanna live I gotta
Die to myself someday
Papa sing my sing my sing my song
Papa sing my sing my sing my song…
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