Wow, the Irish Times really hates U2

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I thought it was a great piece, and North American journalists could learn from this kind of critical attitude toward one's nation's own artists instead of the usual nationalistic nonsense.

They're dead right on the triteness of Bono's pleas for peace in the last decade.

However, during the rehearsal, he made no reference to Israel. Listen carefully from 2:30
YouTube - U2 Lincoln Memorial Rehearsal 1-17-09

He says, "Also an Africa dream, South American dream, and tonight a Palestinian dream.... ceasefire."

He said nothing about an Israeli dream because their dreams have long been satisfied often to the extent that it has infringed on Palestinian rights. This was certainly a moment for which to be a bit more proud of Bono's stance because he seemed to be taking, at least, a slight stance. Perhaps the next day, for the official performance, he backed down to making more of his tepid pleas. Sad, really.
 
I thought it was a great piece, and North American journalists could learn from this kind of critical attitude toward one's nation's own artists instead of the usual nationalistic nonsense.

They're dead right on the triteness of Bono's pleas for peace in the last decade.

However, during the rehearsal, he made no reference to Israel. Listen carefully from 2:30
YouTube - U2 Lincoln Memorial Rehearsal 1-17-09

He says, "Also an Africa dream, South American dream, and tonight a Palestinian dream.... ceasefire."

He said nothing about an Israeli dream because their dreams have long been satisfied often to the extent that it has infringed on Palestinian rights. This was certainly a moment for which to be a bit more proud of Bono's stance because he seemed to be taking, at least, a slight stance. Perhaps the next day, for the official performance, he backed down to making more of his tepid pleas. Sad, really.


Thanks for posting that, interesting.

Way I interpret it is that, the dude's instincts are still in the right place, but he gets these warnings 'ooops, better adopt the establishment line, better tone it down a bit here'.

Alternatively, to be cynical about it, he is playing both sides.
 
I wish I could recycle talking points, toss in a few they used to be cool!s, and get paid for it. I read shit like this every day on Interference.
 
Thanks for posting that, interesting.

Way I interpret it is that, the dude's instincts are still in the right place, but he gets these warnings 'ooops, better adopt the establishment line, better tone it down a bit here'.

Alternatively, to be cynical about it, he is playing both sides.

I saw the rehearsal film the evening before the concert, and was minimally disappointed to note that he included Israel in the performance version.

I agree with what you say though, about his instincts, and why he probably feels the need to tone it down these days. However, I don't really think the idea that he plays both sides (in the context of his activism work, at least) is necessarily cynical, or that it's done by him for less than pure purposes. I think that maturity has probably shown him that playing both sides gets results, and given that results are the important thing in all his work, he's willing to compromise his beliefs a bit in order to achieve those results.
 
Oh, and one more thing. Bruce Springsteen just wrote fucking Working On A Dream, and Queen of The Supermarket isn't exactly Shakespeare either. He's been wonderful in the past, but it's going to be quite some time before he can redeem himself.
 
I thought it was a great piece, and North American journalists could learn from this kind of critical attitude toward one's nation's own artists instead of the usual nationalistic nonsense.

They're dead right on the triteness of Bono's pleas for peace in the last decade.

However, during the rehearsal, he made no reference to Israel. Listen carefully from 2:30
YouTube - U2 Lincoln Memorial Rehearsal 1-17-09

He says, "Also an Africa dream, South American dream, and tonight a Palestinian dream.... ceasefire."

He said nothing about an Israeli dream because their dreams have long been satisfied often to the extent that it has infringed on Palestinian rights. This was certainly a moment for which to be a bit more proud of Bono's stance because he seemed to be taking, at least, a slight stance. Perhaps the next day, for the official performance, he backed down to making more of his tepid pleas. Sad, really.


Clearly biased point of view.
 
You know its a BS article when hes trying to tell U2 where they are from.

Where you are born isn't always exactly where you identify yourself being from. If they were raised and met each other from the north side of Dublin, then thats where they are from, period.

edit: read the rest of the article, doesn't seem that bad, but the part about where U2 was from is baffling.
 
All this fuss over one silly article.

I sort of agree with the writer, though. To me Bruce has bigger balls than Bono when it comes to certain aspects of the politics thing. Bono has to play both sides, to a degree, but I've been a U2 fan for a better part of my entire life and even his pandering and "come on, we're all ONE!" gets a bit annoying at times.
 
^ I hate that Bono vs. Bruce thing. I love both of them, for different reasons. It would be stupid of Bono to take sides in his political work. Bruce doesn't advocate for Africa, therefore he's free to chose whatever side he wants. I have more problems with celebrities endorsing a certain politician so strongly than I have with people who simply work for a cause and are willing to look beyond party lines for it. We are ONE means: We must work on issues together instead of against each other.

The article is silly. They met on the north side of Dublin, that's where U2 were formed. If the writer would use his brain a little bit, he'd know that this statement is not about where the band members come from individually.
 
America rules. Germany drools.

just out of curiousity, have you ever lived outside of america?

i'm not german, but i've lived in five countries, america being one of them.

it's pretty safe to say that i like germany more than the united states. but i'm sure you've got an educated opinion on the matter, so lets hear it.

?
 
However, during the rehearsal, he made no reference to Israel. Listen carefully from 2:30

He says, "Also an Africa dream, South American dream, and tonight a Palestinian dream.... ceasefire."

He said nothing about an Israeli dream because their dreams have long been satisfied often to the extent that it has infringed on Palestinian rights. This was certainly a moment for which to be a bit more proud of Bono's stance because he seemed to be taking, at least, a slight stance. Perhaps the next day, for the official performance, he backed down to making more of his tepid pleas. Sad, really.

Between the rehearsal on the 17th and the performance on the 18th, Israel declared a ceasefire, that's why they changed their statement, the day before they felt the urgency of stopping deaths, after a ceasefire they claim for a negotiation so that both countries could get a lasting peace, that's all.
 
just out of curiousity, have you ever lived outside of america?

i'm not german, but i've lived in five countries, america being one of them.

it's pretty safe to say that i like germany more than the united states. but i'm sure you've got an educated opinion on the matter, so lets hear it.

?

Never lived outside America. And my comment is dripping with sarcasm.

I do not feel, however, that rampant anti-Americanism is justified. This country does so much more good for people (American and non-Americans) than harm.

It's just fashionable at this time to rip the country, and that's all well and good. It would just be good if more people could acknowledge everything that is right about this place.
 
after reading the comments in this thread, i think it's safe to say the reaction to this article is what's ridiculous, and not the article itself.

bono's fascination with america is sickening... i'll always go back to that disgusting display on the elevation tour when he took an american flag and cried in it. fuck off already, bono. if you want to be this ultra-patriotic american, fucking just pick up your shit and move there already.

this article was gentle on bono, and i believe echoes many peoples sentiments on the man.

does this mean bono's a bad guy? no, and they never said that. i'm sure one to one, he's a fine man... but that's not what this is about.
his endless pandering to be loved by the united states drives every fan who's NOT from there absolutely mental.

Well said.
 
I don't think Bono ever panders to a certain country (sure, when they play Italy the Italians are the noisiest and the Dutch are when they play in The Netherlands)
he just wants to reach out to people
is it sometimes corny? -sure
and I admit that I've cringed when watching a video at home outside of the context of being at the show
but I really don't think his intentions are anything but good
 
just out of curiousity, have you ever lived outside of america?

i'm not german, but i've lived in five countries, america being one of them.

it's pretty safe to say that i like germany more than the united states. but i'm sure you've got an educated opinion on the matter, so lets hear it.

?

See that's fine, you like Germany better than the US, great.

What I don't get though is why Bono's pro-America stance is so bothersome to you. Because you don't like the US means no one else can? :huh:

I could care less what country Bono loves or doesn't love. Bono wore the flags of all of the South American countries in his jacket during the Vertigo tour; do I care? Not at all.
 
Bono must be well aware that people cringe at his onstage outbursts and yet it doesn't stop him because he obviously believes he's doing some good and he's more concerned about doing good than he is about being cool or doing exactly what his fans of joe public wants. BUT....... I would love - just once to see Larry or Edge or Adam (or all of them in tandem) just completely lose it with him onstage and start humming or singing or just go "LALALALALALALALALAL BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH..." while he tries to preach or send his message to the masses! Maybe he needs that once in a while.
 
U2 put on shows night after night, they are a band of 4, and they haven't put a stop to what he does on stage yet. You think they actually would put up with it all over and over if they didn't agree with him? :shrug:

I just always hear people complaining about what Bono does during the shows as if the other 3 are up there completely seperate from him. There are 4 people on that stage obviously ok with the show they are all presenting.
 
Between the rehearsal on the 17th and the performance on the 18th, Israel declared a ceasefire, that's why they changed their statement, the day before they felt the urgency of stopping deaths, after a ceasefire they claim for a negotiation so that both countries could get a lasting peace, that's all.

That's an interesting point, didn't occur to me.
 
You know its a BS article when hes trying to tell U2 where they are from.

Where you are born isn't always exactly where you identify yourself being from. If they were raised and met each other from the north side of Dublin, then thats where they are from, period.

edit: read the rest of the article, doesn't seem that bad, but the part about where U2 was from is baffling.

Well, I can certainly understand it would be baffling to anyone not from Ireland, but the point the writer seems to be making (and I am not necessarily saying I agree), is that Bono (in the view of the writer) is presenting an image of U2 as being from a hard core tough working class background (because, in Ireland, if you say you're from North Dublin, people would tend to have the perception that you're from a rough, tough, working class area), whereas the reality is that although all four members of U2 did grow up in north Dublin, one grew up in quite a posh area of north Dublin (Adam), and the other three, while they didn't necessarily have privileged upbringings, didn't grow up in grinding poverty either.

And Bono, in interviews previously, has somewhat overplayed the 'salt of the earth', working class Dub kind of approach, so I do think the writer could be making a valid point here.

The writer could be profoundly correct or utterly wrong, he could have written an excellent article or the worst possible article - both views are of course valid, but I'm just trying to give the context and my interpretation of what I think the writer was trying to say.
 
Never lived outside America. And my comment is dripping with sarcasm.

I do not feel, however, that rampant anti-Americanism is justified. This country does so much more good for people (American and non-Americans) than harm.

It's just fashionable at this time to rip the country, and that's all well and good. It would just be good if more people could acknowledge everything that is right about this place.

I think you're glossing over some major issues, though. For example, how can you defend the States when we write things like "favorite" as opposed to "favourite"? Step back from your jingoism for a moment and please ponder that.
 
I think you're glossing over some major issues, though. For example, how can you defend the States when we write things like "favorite" as opposed to "favourite"? Step back from your jingoism for a moment and please ponder that.

I absolutely cannot defend this. We obviously do not have the sophistication of the Euros to add extemporaneous letters to words. It's indefensible, and it's absolutely a big reason as to why the terrorists hate America.
 
^ I hate that Bono vs. Bruce thing. I love both of them, for different reasons. It would be stupid of Bono to take sides in his political work. Bruce doesn't advocate for Africa, therefore he's free to chose whatever side he wants. I have more problems with celebrities endorsing a certain politician so strongly than I have with people who simply work for a cause and are willing to look beyond party lines for it. We are ONE means: We must work on issues together instead of against each other.

i think bono would say "you sometimes have to shake hands with the devil to do the lords work". or maybe someone else said it, in that case i just committed plagiarism.
 
Sorry, but Bruce is also huge in Europe. His concert in my city was sold out within hours yesterday. Many people here love him and Magic was a big success.
 
See that's fine, you like Germany better than the US, great.

What I don't get though is why Bono's pro-America stance is so bothersome to you. Because you don't like the US means no one else can? :huh:

I could care less what country Bono loves or doesn't love. Bono wore the flags of all of the South American countries in his jacket during the Vertigo tour; do I care? Not at all.

some of my best friends are american, and i think in a lot of ways the united states is the best country in the world.

i do not hate the united states in the slightest... that's not even close to what i was talking about. what i can't stand is what i perceive is bono kissing its ass at all times... i'm not particularly patriotic (i'm canadian, for the record), and maybe that's why i'm harsh in this regard. i've seen/heard many, many canadians pretend to be american particularly in the last year especially when it came to the election.

i had friends that crossed the border to CAMPAIGN FOR OBAMA. that's utterly ridiculous.

if americans want to be proud of their country, i say go for it. but BONO IS NOT AMERICAN, and sometimes i think he forgets as much.

seriously, i want to make it clear that aside from mainstream american politics, i think the united states is a brilliant country with brilliant people. it's just time people from canada and ireland stop pretending like they're one its citizens.
 
I think you're glossing over some major issues, though. For example, how can you defend the States when we write things like "favorite" as opposed to "favourite"? Step back from your jingoism for a moment and please ponder that.

you're completely missing the point of that thread.

i have no problem with americans spelling the way they do. they're americans, they can do what they want. their official spelling dictates that they SHOULD spell favor without a u, and all else.

my problem is with the fact that so many canadians have been completely americanised in their culture and day to to day lives, that little things like distinctive spelling have gone by the wayside. that thread was specifically written for canadians, and you know it.
 
some of my best friends are american, and i think in a lot of ways the united states is the best country in the world.

i do not hate the united states in the slightest... that's not even close to what i was talking about. what i can't stand is what i perceive is bono kissing its ass at all times... i'm not particularly patriotic (i'm canadian, for the record), and maybe that's why i'm harsh in this regard. i've seen/heard many, many canadians pretend to be american particularly in the last year especially when it came to the election.

i had friends that crossed the border to CAMPAIGN FOR OBAMA. that's utterly ridiculous.

if americans want to be proud of their country, i say go for it. but BONO IS NOT AMERICAN, and sometimes i think he forgets as much.

seriously, i want to make it clear that aside from mainstream american politics, i think the united states is a brilliant country with brilliant people. it's just time people from canada and ireland stop pretending like they're one its citizens.

That's fine. I guess I just don't care so much. :shrug:
 
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