I have a confession: I’ve never connected with the music of U2.
I love music. I love all kinds of music styles and love seeking out old and new treasures whenever I am able. I love sharing music with my friends and family when a song or album inspires me. However just like one song or album inspires one person and is met with indifference with another person, so are my feelings with this mega-popular band from Ireland. It’s just personal preference.
Before and after I became a Christian, time and time again, over and over, I’ve seen and read articles telling me how great and profound singer/songwriter Bono and the band U2 is. Music artists and writers of all kinds list keep coming back to this one particular band as one that has greatly influenced them. As a fellow music lover and musician, I can empathize with these people and attest to music and musicians that has stirred my soul and influenced my thinking.
But I also remember switching the radio station as a teenager any time the song “Desire” came on the airwaves. I remember being put off when I watched the music video “Numb.”
And more recently, I removed the album “Songs of Innocence” from my itunes collection after Bono had the audacity to violate privacy protocol by simply dumping his album into hundreds of thousands of iphones. It is one thing to disagree with one’s musical preference, even to the point of trying to get someone to change their mind. It is quite another to forcibly and deceitfully import your music into my playlist because you are convinced that I need you.
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There is a 2016 viral You-tube video out there right now called “Bono and Eugene Peterson/ THE PSALMS.” It is about the Psalm section of Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible which is basically the Bible translated into modern terms. The body of the video is an interview with Bono and Peterson and how this version of the Bible inspired Bono in much of his more recent song writing and lifestyle. It has come up a half dozen times on my Facebook feed, and I finally decided recently to watch it.
The 21-minute video has the “Sunday Morning” program flow and interview style that I quite enjoy, albeit the pre-interview filler was unimpressive. There was the obviously ‘planted’ stack of U2 CD’s in Peterson’s living room. And then there was an old clip of a TV host interviewing Peterson and asking him the question: “How COULD you decline an audience with the great and powerful Bono?” I’m paraphrasing here.
The interview itself starts out alright and ends alright. Bono mentions how Peterson’s interpretation, especially the Psalms, inspired him and his more recent music. He mentioned a concert closing song with was inspired by Psalm 40 and even sang an impromptu version of “Psalm 23” at the kitchen table where they were being interviewed. The best part of the whole movie was the last scene where the interview was concluded and Bono was departing, jogging up the outside steps of the Peterson’s home. “Don’t run,” implored Mrs. Peterson, and Bono, with a big smile on his face, slowed his pace to a deliberate walk.
However during the body of the interview, Bono said something that has caused waves on social media: “I’m talking about dishonesty that I find a lot in Christian art. A lot of dishonesty. And I think it’s a shame because these are people who are vulnerable to God - in a good way - vulnerable. I mean porous open. I would love if this conversation would inspire people who are writing [with] these beautiful voices, these beautiful gospel songs [to] write a song about their bad marriage. Write a song about how they’re pissed off at the government. Because that’s what God wants from you...Why I’m suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism. And I’d like to see more of that in life and in art and in music.”
Most of the replies have been apologetic to Bono: “Bono obviously hasn’t heard about [insert musician/band].” My reaction is a bit different: Maybe it’s none of Bono’s business.
Let’s take the bad marriage bit. Airing your dirty laundry might make you a rock star but it also makes you a gossip. And it won’t help your marriage in the slightest. Both the husband and wife who are experience a bad marriage are obviously hurting; what is needed in these times are the prayer closet conversations with God, conversations with each other and perhaps conversations with a tight-knit group of close friends. Again, unless Bono is personally involved with one of these hurting couples, it really is none of his business.
I don’t think “dishonesty” is the right word for Bono to use. We live in an era where we have practically unlimited access, through social media, to connect with each other. Even if a song glorifies God but doesn’t reveal the human traits of the author, don’t the majority of these individuals include their own personal testimonies on their social media pages? And for those who don’t, or don’t use social media at all, isn’t it still their freedom and right to open up as they see fit? Just because something is kept private doesn’t mean that it is therefore publicly dishonest.
In closing, maybe the biggest eye opening revelation in the entire video was about Bono himself. Bono tells a story that when we was a youth, there was a day where he had to ride his bicycle to and from work because of a bus strike; It was the day where a bombing had occurred and had he been on the bus he would have been in the area where the bombs had gone off and could have been killed. This one incident shaped an entire U2 song and possibly, in my mind, the entire U2 anthology: Faith mixed with doubt mixed with anger mixed with hope and perhaps a little fear. Perhaps these traits are why so many people connect with Bono and U2. I just hope that people watching this video are inspired by the beauty and mystery of God’s poetry and not inclined to try and appease man rather than God instead.
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