Bono's dilemma

He seems to be pretty good at fighting any prospect of his own poverty.

 

I don't give a flying ******** what his bank account looks like. Bono has spent a large amount of his recent history traveling around and using his fame to get people to talk about pretty important issues. Any celebrity who decides to take the spotlight off of themselves and talk about a good cause is okay in my book...good lord, we hate the self-obsessed side of fame, but then we all make fun of a celebrity who decides to take a social cause seriously.

 

I want to criticize him, but then I think of the millions that he's raised in the Bill Gates-Bono Foundation, wherein Bill Gates pledges a dollar for every cliche in U2's catalog.

 

Was just about to type the same thing. I've seen him speak up-close on the social issues he's passionate about, and his sincerity is obvious. Further, I don't think a dying kid in Sudan gives a flying fukc from where his help comes from.

If Bono wasn't Bono, he'd never get his points heard by anyone. Seeing he's got a seemingly direct line to The White House and 10 Downing St, I wouldn't change anything he's doing at all.

And for the arguement that someone here is bound to come up with, that he or other celebrities use charity as a publicity ploy, if it raises awareness one bit, who cares? I'd so rather Chris Martin bore people with Fair Trade yappin' than Lenny Kravitz trying to get me to shop at The Gap.

 

Well, his "hobby" raises alot of awareness and money. How you can find fault in that sounds like your own issue...

 

I think that it is just a matter of using the wrong verbage. He isn't dedicating his life to that cause. If he did, he would disband U2, never tour again, and spend all of his time, energy, and most of all, give up most of his money to that cause. But he doesn't.

Though I agree that "celebrities" who talk about social causes are never really a bad thing, I take two issues with when they do it:
1) It starts with the underlying theory that we actually give a crap that he is dedicating his life to poverty. a) we all know that poverty is a problem not only in the US but in the world, celebrities typically get all "preachY" like we dumbarses don't have a clue about anything b) I don't have a press release when I dedicate my life to poverty. I really don't give a crap what Bono does with his life. If he is going to dedicate it to poverty, prostitution, illegal gambling, drug dealing, spreading the word of the lord, charity work, etc. It doesn't make a lick of a difference to me. I don't/won't judge him or his life. So do what your going to do Bono and get on with it. Don't tell me about it. If you want to appear in informercials to give you money, great. If you want to beg for foreign aid bills from the US, Europe, etc. great. Actions speak louder than words. Don't tell me your dedicating your life, just do it.
2) Lots of celebrities bring up social causes for their own career/PR/political/whatever issues that aren't done to further the causes at all. Instead, the celebrity gets the benefit of drawing up press before a tour or some record or some movie or what have you, and it is mostly good press. I am not going to say that this is any part of Bono's motivation. I don't know anyone's motivation.

 

Bono knows that he has a platform and he's willing to use it for good.

End of story.

 

To me, the celebrity dedicating his life for change more than any other is Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett. He broke the band up a few years ago to concentrate on concerns he cared about and was recently elected a member of Australia's parliament. I know plenty of celebrities have become elected officials, but most have done it much later in life after their careers were over (despite Midnight Oil not being super popular in the US recently, they were still VERY popular in Australia and Europe....I saw them in concert in Atlanta in 2000 too in front of a good sized crowd.) Anyway, this was his first successful bid in a federal government election. He tried in the 80s and was defeated and would've hung the band up then. He's been president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and has been politically active as a musician, but now he's the "real deal." It'll be interesting to follow his political career.

For those still reading, here's his website: http://www.petergarrett.com.au/ and this is the message from the Midnight Oil site about following "pursuits outside music": http://www.midnightoil.com/index_NOTICE.html

 

damn and here I thought his dilemna was whether or not they were going to continue with the ashlee simpson routine..

Bono and U2.. the worlds greatest fraud.

 

I thought the Feejee Mermaid in Seattle was the world's greatest fraud.

 

IIRC Jello Biafra finished 4th in a San Francisco mayor's race like 20-something yrs. ago. "There's always room for Jello."

 

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in 2 and one half years you have made less than 350 posts, which probably means that you spend a lot of time thinking about what incisive and hilarious remark you can make about trenchant matters like Bono's "dilemna". you really should have come up with something more witty.

i realize that you are under a lot of pressure, but when stuff gets complicated, you should ask for help, really.

 

Bono didnt want to sing line but they made him.

Justin Hawkins is best on song anyway.

 

I guess I should apologize for actually having a life other then Bigsoccer...

other then that.. who said i was being funny or witty.Bono and U@ are frauds ...they very rarely actually perform without recorded backup for vocals and guitar and much of their material is blatenly ripped off from small indy bands.Their latest hit being one of the more blatant attempts at this.

If U2 was a corporation they would be akin to a microsoft or Nike.Souless ********************s with no originality.

but I guess other soulless ********************s love them for that...

 

So they rip off small bands...such as?...

And even if they do, well, is it their fault they can take a mediocre idea and make it good? How is that a fault? Shakespeare ripped off and took over ideas all the time. He seems to be liked for it more than anything.

Age of Empires was good...

 

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please give a couple ( you said much of their material ) of examples: the song that they ripped off and the indie band that performed what they stole.

while you are doing your research, please remember that U2 has been around for 25 years. Joshua Tree was 1987. you were what? 10? what did you know???

also, brian eno and daniel lanois have produced several of U2s songs/albums, and their production techniques have been copied over and over.

sorry, fellow, but i think you've memorized the sacred indie texts and are now spewing.

 

I believe the riff for Vertigo is taken from something by Sonic Youth. Its not really a rip off just more of a derivation, using the original as inspiration. And U2 are not trying to hide this.

I believe it was Picasso who said "all artists borrow, great ones steal." The fact is all art is predicated upon previous events or artefacts of art, that the artist then takes, reworks, adds his/her own perspective to and essentially makes their own. That is what U2 did, and has been doing as well as every other artist of the 20th century. If anything it was a tribute to Sonic Youth, and how they influenced U2.

Heck, Bob Dylan was copying Woody Gurthrie. But that does not make Dylan any less great. Pretty mcuh all rap in the last twenty years are working off of various Parliment/Funkadelic bass lines. This is how music gets made.

As for the claims that U2 are phony and just doing this for themselves. You can think that. But that is your own problem.

And you will never know how much Bono and the boys give away of their own income to help the less fortunate. That is private.

Whether you like him or not, Bono is a Christian who believes that God has given him a platform to make the world better. With the fame and wealth that he has, he has already done more for bettering the world porportionally than me or anyone on these boards. He is not perfect, but at least he is trying.

 

Maybe I'm not right on with these quotes, but:

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
--Anonymous

"Imitation isn't the greatest form of flattery, it's plagiarism."
--Red Skelton

 

So if I understand correctly some folks would be happy if Bono would shut up, sit on his ass, and just be plain wealthy, ******** everyone else?

Bono = pompus ass? Sure.

Bono = doing something for his fellow man? Ain't no doubt.

 

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what does ******** mean? i know what **** means.

to me, it's all about the hair. self respecting philanthropists don't have long hair. except Biblical characters, expecially Moses, not the Charlton Heston Moses, though. his hair was long enough, i guess, but i just wasn't impressed by his accent. sounded pretty 20th Century to me. what do i know?

i like Bono's accent. nothing like a working class Ulster accent to round out ones résumé...