U2 played this song on their Elevation tour. Bono said it was written about a hangover - the night before appears to be a distant memory. "I had this idea of writing about the temporal nature of being, but setting it in a hangover gives it some comedy and earthiness that balances out the philosophical pretensions." Bono was running on two hours of sleep when he arrived at the studio to record the song. He improvised the lyric and melody.
Bono mentions in the book U2 by U2 that the lyrics, "A little girl with Spanish eyes/When I saw her first in a pram they pushed her by," refer to his wife, Alison. She was a year younger than him in school, and Bono was often teased as being a baby-snatcher for dating a younger girl.
Bono cites "In A Little While" as an example of U2 guitarist The Edge's ability to "revel in the non-extraordinary." In his memoir Surrender, he wrote: "This bluesy accompaniment will never get old because it's never felt new. The chords are classic gospel from Brian Eno." Brian Eno produced the track with Daniel Lanois.
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