Fuck You, Too (Bono)

As the recent Obama-targeted Greenpeace campaign points out, America (and not so lightly inferred, the world) honours not politicians, but social leaders. Who qualifies as a ‘social leader’? There have been many Presidents of India, but it is Ghandi who is renowned the world over as a hero of peaceful revolution. Of the many people to hold the post of Prime Minister in our country, only a select few are remembered at all, and even fewer of them are remembered fondly. Many people aspire to be remembered as social leaders, to have a place along side the likes of Abbie Hoffman, John Lennon or Bob Marley, who survived an assassination attempt and, despite his bullet wounds, played to a massive 80,000-member audience two days later. When asked about the incident he said only “the people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off…how can I?” In our western culture, it is quite often musicians who garner the most acclaim, but what is it about music that so moves people? Who deserves the recognition for being a particularly outspoken artist, if anyone? Is music simple entertainment or a vehicle for social change?
Bono, ironically, would have you believe the latter. I say ironically because Bono is a perfect example of what music should not be…simple entertainment at the cost of all else. Surprised? Don’t be. Bono may talk the talk, and prostrate himself before the altar of public opinion as a would-be saviour of Africa/ The World, but look closer. Look, for starters, at U2’s latest tour. Carbonfootprint.com has estimated that the total CO2 emissions from U2’s upcoming 360* tour is roughly equal to the amount that would be produced should the four piece band travel the 34.125 million miles from Earth to Mars in a passenger plane. 34.123 Million. That’s a lot of miles, and that’s if they deigned to all take the same plane. They usually don’t do that. The four members of U2 generally travel in separate business jets, each with it’s own private bar and theatre. I mean, after all, why would you want to spend time with your fellow artists and (one would assume) friends when you can fly separately, and chat via video-conference whilst crossing the Atlantic for a lunch date in Paris. Madonna, an artist renowned for her over-the-top shows, pales in comparison to the grandeur of U2’s latest offering. And all of this from the guy who would have us believe that buying a red coffee mug from Starbucks is going to change the world, all thanks (and royalties) to him. Not very Catholic of you, boys.
But really, should we hold him and his ilk to such high standards? Should we really expect musicians to be morally infallible? After all, the 30 tractor-trailers required to transport U2’s massive 360* rotating stage from stadium to stadium is just the latest example of massive rock bands living up to massive rock band hype. Should we fault them for giving the people what we want? Well, considering that popular culture gave us the likes of Miley Cirus, Harry Potter and The Hills, the answer is yes, always, and especially when they stand on such ceremony and proclaim their holiness to all who’ll listen.
Bono’s message has always been that change must start with the individual…indeed, it says so five or six times on U2’s website. Obviously then, this concert tour is hypocritical in the extreme. Their website also includes (only) one page of links to the various charities and not-for-profits that the band supports…without a single reference to how they go about providing that support. Bono’s full of shit and he knows it. He’s a businessman, and his product is that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you do something good. Only the feeling he’s selling, just like his Product (Red) coffee cups and atrocious sunglasses, is mass-produced in a foreign, probably Asian, country for pennies a day.
Music is sacred; it’s power overwhelming. I wonder if Kurt Cobain would have pulled the trigger had he known the impact on thousands of young lives his death was to have. As I mentioned earlier, the Beatles influenced an entire generation and Bob Marley is to this day a hero to many more. Music has stirred people to action to protest war, it has spread the news about the dangers corporatism, and pushed the limits of acceptable discourse and dialogue since it’s beginning. Music is what pushed me, and thousands like me, to become a writer. Beethoven was a rogue, Joe Strummer was a punk and Neil Young is the epitome of a patriot. What they all have in common is that their love of music and penchant for controversy has lead to a great many things; although perhaps most notably the musical shift to romanticism, purple hair and the ability to make Canadians cry. Even so, the sums of their efforts have contributed more to society than anything U2 has produced recently. Bono on the other hand, is nothing but a charlatan street vendor, all glamour and panache, hawking his false promises while he robs us blind at the ticket booth. Change must start with you? How about you put your billions of dollars where you billions of words are and lead by example.
Until then, fuck stadium spectacle shows, fuck corporate rock and Fuck You Too, Bono.