Lead singer Bono was influenced by the work of Delmore Schwartz when writing the lyrics of "Acrobat", to whom the song is dedicated.
"[6] In the time leading up to the start of the Achtung Baby sessions, U2 listened to records which had a "hard-edged industrial kind of sound", including works by KMFDM and Sonic Youth, as well as artists such as Roy Orbison and Jacques Brel.
These influences led the band to seek the creation of songs which were harder musically than their previous work, while remaining personal lyrically.
[2] The Edge noted that the song contained "a bit of venom", likening it to "the bitter, John Lennon tradition of 'Working Class Hero', slightly snarling and cynical.
"[7] Bono stated "as we moved from the eighties to the nineties, I stopped throwing rocks at the obvious symbols of power and the abuse of it.
And you know, you exact very high standards on people in the world but then you don't live them personally", noting the theme was most evident in the lyric "I must be an acrobat to talk like this and act like that".
[6] Hot Press editor Niall Stokes felt The Edge's guitar playing combined elements of "Where the Streets Have No Name" with "Bullet the Blue Sky".
"[2] Andy Greene of Rolling Stone believed the "aggressive and venomous" song reflected Bono's thoughts during the album sessions, saying "Nearly every lyric brims with rage...
"[10] U2 biographer Bill Flanagan credits Bono's habit of keeping his lyrics "in flux until the last minute" with providing a narrative coherence to the album.
[11] Flanagan interpreted Achtung Baby as using the moon as a metaphor for a dark woman seducing the singer away from his virtuous love, the sun; he is tempted away from domestic life by an exciting nightlife and tests how far he can go before returning home.
[12] For Flanagan, the final three songs on Achtung Baby—"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)", "Acrobat", and "Love Is Blindness"—are about how the couple deal with the suffering they have forced on each other.
"[14] Craig Delancey, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, cited the conclusion of "Acrobat" as an example of how rock music can be "profoundly successful at evoking the mixture of anger and contempt that can keep you going in the face of seemingly overwhelming opposition."
"[15] Timothy Cleveland, the Head of the Philosophy Department at New Mexico State University, wrote that the opening lyric was an introspection of the self.
"[16] Robyn Brothers felt the line "I'd break bread and wine / If there was a church I could receive in" referenced feelings of spiritual alienation.
[19] Artist Gavin Friday, a childhood friend of Bono, thought the chorus line "Don't let the bastards grind you down" was a retaliation to the criticism of the press.
[22] Greg Potter of The Vancouver Sun believed it "sums up Bono's lyrical direction and mindset better than any song on the album... alluding to the theory that true contentment must begin from within.
[31] The end of the song segued into the beginning of "Zoo Station", leading concert historian Pimm Jal de la Parra to speculate that it was being considered to open the set.
As MacPhisto, he commented on recent events in the US such as the 2017 Charlottesville rally by riffing on the lyrics from the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil".
[37] Bassist Adam Clayton confirmed that part of the reason for finally playing the song was because devoted U2 fans had been requesting it.