Most folks know the U2 frontman as Bono, but a growing number of politicians the world over know him as Paul Hewson, quite a pain in the rear end for many.
Bono by all accounts is the person many of us would like to be, but we're not quite as vocally and musically talented as the man.
Down under here in Sydney where Bono and the band recently wowed em, one or two Australian politicians have appeared to raise the ire of the Irish bred chosen one.
Cafes and watercoolers across our great national are abuzz who Bono gave the finger to. Was is for the usual suspects - the paparazzi, or was it a message he choose to convey via news media and "people power" to one or two Australian politicians who are severely out of favor (and chances) with the Australian public. I don't know about you, but I strongly suspect that it was Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Kevin Rudd that asked for a face to face with Bono, not the other way around. Didn't anyone warn Bono of Rudd's very public falling off a high pedestal known as Aussie P.M, less than six months ago. Maybe the muso felt comparison for Rudd, given that he pretty much politically butchered within an inch of his life by his own team.
Over the years U2 has enjoyed quite the love - hate relationship with the media, with Rolling Stone Magazine generally being very good to the group, and only a couple of days ago Bono got his own article published in the Rupert Murdoch owned Aussie newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, penning 'When love comes to town: An Australian Romance'.
It's worth noting that Bono has previously gone on record (with Rolling Stone Magazine we understand) "I have very sensitive eyes to light. If somebody takes my photograph, I will see the flash for the rest of the day. My right eye swells up. I've a blockage there, so that my eyes go red a lot. So it's part vanity, it's part privy and part sensitivity". Bono is also quite sensitive to people in public office who spin yarns to the the people they are supposed to be serving.
It's widely understood that Bono coined the phrase "the currency of celebrity", and Bono looks to be cashing in, and why the heck not.
What do we find so appealing about this rock god come humanitarian? Ok, there's the obvious - his genius song writing and performing, but over the years he's been rapidly building his fan base for his off stage performances, sometimes telling 'Big Brother' polies where to go, with a certain amount of diplomacy. God, you would have liked to be a fly on the wall when he's enjoyed his friendly chats with the likes of George W and more recently, K Rudd (shown to be condescending to the B-man, no less). Ruddy, those Wikipedia wires gave a behavior analysis account of you (as well as those of a pandora's box of other polies the world over). "Water off a ducks back" hey. Who was the goose that failed to deliver golden eggs and a left a swag of broken promises.
One of Bono's pet hates is the tendency of diplomats and supposed "world leaders" and "super powers" to continually bend and break promises, and sometimes outright lie to the people.
Let's take a look at some of U2's songs and in particular some lyrics, to see what tree Bono is barking up....and note the strong political, religious and social themes...
Classic number "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" resonates for many of us. Why, because we can relate, and he shouts it out on a world stage - what many of us feel. Maybe Julian Assange's Wikileaks might help him just a tad to find what it is that he's actually looking for, but rest assured its not a new band or mic. He's been blessed from above and clearly knows it.
'Sunday Bloody Sunday' is rated by critics as one of the greatest political songs of all time.
Drummer Mullen said of the song in 1983: "We're into the politics of people, we're not into politics. Like you talk about Northern Ireland, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' people sort of think, 'Oh, that time when 13 Catholics were shot by British soldiers'; that's not what the song is about. That's an incident, the most famous incident in Northern Ireland and it's the strongest way of saying, 'How long? How long do we have to put up with this?' I don't care who's who - Catholics, Protestants, whatever. You know people are dying every single day through bitterness and hate, and we're saying why? What's the point? And you can move that into places like El Salvador and other similar situations - people dying. Let's forget the politics, let's stop shooting each other and sit around the table and talk about it... There are a lot of bands taking sides saying politics is crap, etc. Well, so what! The real battle is people dying, that's the real battle." In a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bono explained that he was motivated to become involved in social and political causes by seeing one of the Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows, staged by John Cleese and producer Martin Lewis for the human-rights organisation Amnesty International in 1979. "I saw 'The Secret Policeman’s Ball' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." In 2001, Bono arranged for U2 to videotape a special live performance for that year's Amnesty benefit show. Bono and U2 performed on Amnesty's Conspiracy Of Hope tour of the United States in 1986 alongside Sting. U2 also performed in the Band Aid and Live Aid projects, organised by Bob Geldof. In 1984, Bono sang on the Band Aid single "Do They Know it's Christmas? - Feed the World" (a role that was reprised on the 2004 Band Aid 20 single of the same name). Bono later went on to say that it was one of the worse Christmas songs ever. Geldof and Bono later collaborated to organise the 2005 Live 8 project, where U2 also performed, once again making history and redefining the impact of performing artists.
U2's people power concerts and mega happenings frequently go beyond the normal realm of what a performance is all about. The man becomes one with the music.
I recently learned that Bono helped support and promote the humanitarian efforts of noted Australian aid worker and ex military man, Donny Paterson - part of the inner circle of our friends at the Media Man agency. I was pleased to hear this, but not surprised, as the agency tends to surround themselves with some absolute gems of people. Trust them to find their own Aussie version of Bono ...ok, he doesn't sing as good as Paul, but he works just as hard, if not harder, and you must check out a doco that features Paterson and friends 'The Third Wave', in its raw and honest account of what happens when a tsunami wipes out a country already in ruins.
One feels that Bono has been jaded somewhat by the media and "celeb thing" over the years, but a number of his quotes always reassure us that he still has time for good people and worthy causes. If you even need a bit of a pick me up, check out and remind yourself of gems like "Music can change the world because it can change people" and "My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them", "the less you know, the more you believe" and on the all important subject of human rights - "So what we're talking about here is human rights. The right to live like a human. The right to live, period. And what we're facing in Africa is an unprecedented threat to human dignity and equality".
Some comparisons can be made, or rather more to the point, could previously be made to Australian Minister For The Arts and former frontman for Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett. On the wild arm flinging and pen pushing one, Bono said of him "his moral compass was setting a course even back then" (circa 1980s). Both gents had power, passion and wisdom, but in recent years many Aussies feel that Garrett got distracted, if not sabotaged, upon joining the ALP. A stint in the ALP will do a person). We can perhaps only hope that Bono doesn't become a MP in the Irish equivalent of the Labor Party, but Bono, if you must enter politics in your homeland, please make it the equivalent on The Greens - anything else would be a crime.
Its little wonder that TV talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey has extended the olive tree to Bono and offered him the opportunity to host his own talk show on the newly formed OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). O has talked of OWN being the outlet that she always dreamed off, and clearly Bono is in her dream. As to if that dream is reciprocated or not, will be playing out in the news over the coming weeks or months, but eventually Bono will have to give an answer, and most of the people want it to be a "Yes".
Back to Bono giving the finger to the camera. Perhaps this may shed some light on it, before I might manage to confront him about it sometime, in that seemingly unlikely event.
"I know I can be a pain in the arse. I have an annoying gene; it's in my DNA. I even annoy myself. When righteous anger turns to self-righteous, projectile vomit is the right response. All I can say is that you can become traumatised as well as inspired by the lives you meet along the dirt road of extreme poverty. Watching the bright light of life go out of some kids' eyes gets me to a place I can't explain. Sometimes I forget that I'm an artist - but I shouldn't, because that's what I am, a working pop artist in a big F-Off rock band".
Maybe Bono had a brain snap and just wanted to show his very human side, and remind us that he's a rock star with attitude, and perhaps also he thought it might be good for one more news item from an up and coming freelance writer. In that instance, he was right, as is often the case, and its my human right to speculate, and yours - the reader, to critique.
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