Sometimes you can’t make it on your own by U2

We’ve been spending a lot of time over the past week in hospital with our youngest daughter as she had planned spinal surgery. When it comes to people watching, hospitals are one of the places you certainly get to see the extremes. One of the other patients we observed put a really brave face on her surgery when people were around, but staying on the ward overnight, we got to see the other side of the patient, the part that was still struggling.

This idea of not having to ‘tough it out’ is the subject of this week’s song choice, Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own by U2. The song opens with the lyrics:

Tough. You think you’ve got the stuff. You’re telling me and anyone, you’re hard enough.

It is said that the song, which was originally entitled Tough, was written about U2’s lead singer Bono’s dad during his struggle with terminal cancer. Bono noted that his dad, whilst charming and funny, was a “tough old boot of a guy”.

It’s funny how we often try to give this impression to people. The idea that we are tough and can handle whatever is thrown at us. But, as Bono expresses in this song:

You don’t have to go it alone.

So, whilst we often want to show how well we can handle everything, the real wisdom is in understanding that we often can’t, and perhaps even more significantly, don’t need to. Trying to do everything on our own can make us exhausted, and often take from other people the gift of being able to show their love and support for us.

So, do yourself and others a favour, and don’t do everything.

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