Re: Please!!
No one can find fault with anyone who doesn't like U2's music. That's a matter of taste. Me, I was always impressed by The Edge, who said in a 1987 interview that the only fellow guitar player that he really liked and admired was Johnny Marr.
Bono's social/political agenda is another matter.
The Great Bono Debate is so old now, but it always seems fresh. No one excites as much antipathy, insecurity, and resentment-- and affection-- as Bono does. He dares us not to be cynical, and that's hard. And if he was easy to ignore in his histrionic flag-waving days, of late Bono has put to shame people who use the argument that a celebrity's status instantly and automatically outweighs his or her real convictions. I used to revile Bono's crusading antics as much as anyone, but after reading several accounts of his work for debt relief in Africa, I'm more than a little humbled in the face of what the man has actually helped accomplish.
Now, in many ways I feel Morrissey has done as much as other, more celebrated "socially conscious" artists, but the incontestable fact is that Bono has done more to give real help to real people in the world than Morrissey or any other contemporary pop star. This is verified; this is beyond debate.
As a figurehead for the Drop The Debt organization, he has had a direct hand in saving the lives of thousands of Africans. Not only that, he's far from a hypocritical figurehead who's all commitment for the cameras but couldn't care less about the cause. Time and time again, he's had an impressive list of witnesses come forth to testify to his intelligence, hard work, and genuine feeling.
"I refused to meet him at first," says Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who last year joined Pope John Paul II, Bill Clinton, Jean Chretien, George Soros, Jesse Helms and Colin Powell on Bono's all-star chat list. "I thought he was just some pop star who wanted to use me." After their scheduled half-hour session went 90 min., O'Neill changed his mind. "He's a serious person. He cares deeply about these issues, and you know what? He knows a lot about them." [Time Magazine]
As for Bono's self-promotion, the attention he's gotten from pulpy news outlets doesn't take away the fact that he has truly made a difference. And if Bono has been using his considerable talent for self-promotion, it has been directed mainly at people who matter-- politicians and power-brokers.
I remember a very keen observation of Morrissey's, apropos Live Aid. He said that the whole thing was essentially a horrible mistake because the artists were asking for handouts from average citizens rather than going after the people who could really help the famine in Africa. He was right, and of course U2 was part of the sham. But give Bono credit. He may have inflicted his bombastic presence on the public in Live Aid, but he learned his lesson and these days he's doing exactly as Morrissey wanted-- he's working directly with politicians to change the world for the better. For every show-biz interview he does for his causes he probably has five meetings with politicians in various countries to push the Debt Relief campaign. That means a lot.
On a personal level, Bono isn't nearly as pretentious and self-serving as he seems. Or rather, he is, but he can laugh at himself, and at the end of the day I think he knows exactly who he is. Can anyone say the same of Morrissey, who is every inch a pop star twenty-four seven?
You might want to read Bono's engaging account of his activities in a speech he gave to Harvard students in June 2001. Here are a few excerpts.
"My name is Bono, and I am a rock star.
Now, I tell you this, not as a boast but as a kind of confession. Because in my view the only thing worse than a rock star is a rock star with a conscience - a celebrity with a cause... oh, dear!
Worse yet, is a singer with a conscience - a placard-waving, knee-jerking, fellow-travelling activist with a Lexus, and a swimming pool shaped like his head.
I'm a singer. You know what a singer is? Someone with a hole in his heart as big as his ego. When you need 20,000 people screaming your name in order to feel good about your day, you know you're a singer. ...
But I've seen the other side of music - the Business. I've seen success as a drug of choice. I've seen great minds and prolific imaginations disappear up their own ass, strung out on their own self importance. I'm one of them.
The misery of having it all your own way, the loneliness of sitting at a table where everyone works for you, the emptiness of arriving at Aspen on a Gulfstream to stay in your winter palace. Eh, sorry, different speech ... "
http://www.jubilee2000uk.org/worldnews/northamerica/bono_addresses_harvard.htm