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U2: The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll |
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Written by Donovan Henderson
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Friday, 28 April 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2 Even in this age of celebrity worship and overexposure, it does seem far-fetched for an Irish mega-rock star to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Bono, the frontman for U2, the biggest and most resilient band in the world, quickly acknowledges as much whenever the topic of his 2005 nomination for the prestigious award is brought up.
Yes, he’s honored by the nomination. And, yes, this is truly a case were being nominated is as good as winning.
Whether it be in the not-so-serious setting of the Conan O’Brien show, or the more conventional environment of Rolling Stone or Time magazine, Bono is knowledgeable, gracious, witty and most of all, passionate. He demurs when the breadth of his humanitarian work is praised. He recites facts and figures like an accountant on speed when talking about Third World debt relief or solving the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.
But regardless of topic, regardless of setting, Bono always settles back comfortably into conversation about what put he and his bandmates on top of the world: the music.
For more than 25 years, U2’s art, passion and recognizable sound have gained them millions of fans the world over.
I’m one of them. Normally, once a band reaches a certain level of popularity, it becomes uncool to be a fan. With U2, it’s cool to be uncool.
The first U2 CD I bought, I was a sophomore in college. It was U2’s “Rattle and Hum,” a purchasing choice I can’t really explain. It was on the rack. I knew of the band, knew about the popularity of “The Joshua Tree,” one of the seminal records of the 1980s, and knew about the band’s soulfulness.
But I never expected the band to become the one I never turned off on the radio, the one whose record releases I anticipated, the one for whom I’d shell out more than $100 a ticket to see live.
The first time I saw the band was in 1992 during its Zoo TV tour. It was at Mile High Stadium and I was pushing my friend Nicky in a wheelchair. Nicky was as friend, colleague and future roommate who was recovering from surgery to remove cancerous tumors from her youthful body.
She’s healthy now and recently married, and I think of that concert often when I listen to U2. Many of the band’s songs are laced with spirituality, and moments of healing are when such tones and undertones resonate with us the most.
The power of faith, as sung by Bono, revealed itself again several years ago when I was sitting by my mother’s hospital bed. She was in a coma, machines, tubes and IVs keeping her alive after a massive stroke. On the advice of my uncle, I read to my mother, a spiritual woman, from the book of Psalms. I started at the beginning and when I started reading Chapter 40, the words were familiar.
“I waited patiently on the Lord, he turned and heard my cry...”
I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know the lyrics from the song “40,” the last song on the War album, were from the Bible.
A few days later, mom awoke from her coma, taking me back to those words.
Johnny, a young man in the Intensive Care Unit with a head injury, wasn’t as lucky and he died that week. My family had become close to his family, so we went to the funeral. During the service, his pastor said he was going to read one of Johnny’s favorite passages in the Bible.
Psalm 40.
During the band’s Vertigo tour, which I saw in Denver in April 2005 and in Omaha in December, they ended the show by playing “40,” which harkens back to the live version of the song on the Under a Blood Red Sky record. (Recordings from U2’s groundbreaking show at Red Rocks in 1983 are on that record.)
Hearing 17,000 people coo in unison, “I will sing, sing a new song,” the song became mine.
I saw how four guys from Dublin are able to overcome the burden of stardom and still reach into the heart of their audience and pull out applause, roars of approval, goosebumps and even a few tears.
Donovan Henderson is NEXTnc’s assistant editor. His musical tastes go beyond preachy quartets and reach to ’80s Hair Bands, too. Read his blog.
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
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|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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