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Interview As Song
Ed. Note: Bono takes part in the 1,000th issue of Rolling Stone, discussing his Nov. 3, 2005 cover photo and interview, as well as other U2 moments in the magazine's history. Online, Bono discusses U2's appearance on the magazine's cover in 1985 when the band was named "Band of the '80s." That podcast can be accessed here.
My memory of that picture is greasy lips and dry mouth. Lipstick was never my thing. But I'm proud to have lipstick on, even if it's just Vaseline. I'd do that for Rolling Stone.
Before U2 had ever come to America, my introduction to Rolling Stone was the interviews with my heroes: Dylan, Lennon. I read them all. They were like songs. When you set off on oe of those conversations, it's for the same reason you write lyrics. It's a voyage of discovery. Talkers and searchers. I talk because I'm trying to find out about things. It's like that in friendship or with your lover. You see where the conversation will take you. So when I'm sitting down with someone who understands the history of rock 'n' roll, who sees our band in that context, I have to think about that.
I suppose I agreed to this interview to actually find out where w're at as a band, where I'm at, and use it as an opportunity to reassess. Because if you don't, you can't make the next jump. And the only thing on my mind at the moment is how far we can jump. This interview forced me to do something I never do: stop and tidy my room.
It was quite a grilling Jann gave me. I had no idea how relentless he was going to be. For example, he took the side of my father. He asked me more and more about my relationship with him. And then he said, "I think you owe your father an apology." I was like, "What?" He said, "You sound like you were a lot of hard work. He was a poor man. Your mother was dead. He was trying to keep things together, and you were precocious ..." By the way, Jann is completely right. But I cannot imagine doing another interview like this one. That's it for now.
It's a slightly fierce face on the cover. I would have rather had a more smiling, relaxed version of myself. But when I'm nervous, I bump into smug if I'm not careful. I suppose better fierce than smug. The photographer, Platon, put me at ease. I've gotten much better at being a rock star, but self-consciousness makes any face ugly. I've had to find ways of tricking myself out of that. I try to think myself into a place or look through the camera at the person on the other side.
Megalomania started with U2 at an early age. We wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. We thought it was just a matter of time. Our attitude was outrageous. But then on our first cover [RS 443, March 14, 1985], Rolling Stone called us "Band of the '80s." It was the most incredible compliment. I didn't like the picture. I remember arriving at the session, going, "This is too grand for us." And we seemed personality-less.
But nothing mattered next to the headline. We just didn't want to screw up. We wanted to be worthy of it. And if I have a criticism of our '80s work, I would say we tried a little too hard. We weren't consistent; it was hard for us to achieve liftoff every night. Then you feel like you're not up to the accolade you'd been given.
Rolling Stone has changed over the years. It has wandered in and away from music, through movies and politics. It has followed its own nose. But music, politics, art and commerce get very interesting when they're all mixed up. That's our band, what we're all about. And there has always been a spine to the magazine we relate to--a way of seeing the world, the idea that music might change the world. Rolling Stone, in a way, found a rhyme for itself in us.
Since Rolling Stone took their chances with U2, there have been other publications that will put us on the cover. But when I went out on a limb talking about debt cancellation [for impoverished Third World countries], there was chagrin in the Irish and UK press: "Oh, here we go. What's he on about now?" I was grateful for those early articles in Rolling Stone which attempted to explain something that was not easy to digest. I think it's because the inherent philosophy of the magazine is that musicians should stray and kick up the darkness a bit.
But you cannot underestimate what it means for a band when people take a chance on you, as Rolling Stone did with U2. When you're in a band, you believe you can jump off the top of a building in a hang glider. You believe you can fly. But deep down, you think you're going to fall. All the bravado and front comes out of fear. So when someone else says, "There it is," it's incredible.
--Rolling Stone
Interview As Song
Ed. Note: Bono takes part in the 1,000th issue of Rolling Stone, discussing his Nov. 3, 2005 cover photo and interview, as well as other U2 moments in the magazine's history. Online, Bono discusses U2's appearance on the magazine's cover in 1985 when the band was named "Band of the '80s." That podcast can be accessed here.
My memory of that picture is greasy lips and dry mouth. Lipstick was never my thing. But I'm proud to have lipstick on, even if it's just Vaseline. I'd do that for Rolling Stone.
Before U2 had ever come to America, my introduction to Rolling Stone was the interviews with my heroes: Dylan, Lennon. I read them all. They were like songs. When you set off on oe of those conversations, it's for the same reason you write lyrics. It's a voyage of discovery. Talkers and searchers. I talk because I'm trying to find out about things. It's like that in friendship or with your lover. You see where the conversation will take you. So when I'm sitting down with someone who understands the history of rock 'n' roll, who sees our band in that context, I have to think about that.
I suppose I agreed to this interview to actually find out where w're at as a band, where I'm at, and use it as an opportunity to reassess. Because if you don't, you can't make the next jump. And the only thing on my mind at the moment is how far we can jump. This interview forced me to do something I never do: stop and tidy my room.
It was quite a grilling Jann gave me. I had no idea how relentless he was going to be. For example, he took the side of my father. He asked me more and more about my relationship with him. And then he said, "I think you owe your father an apology." I was like, "What?" He said, "You sound like you were a lot of hard work. He was a poor man. Your mother was dead. He was trying to keep things together, and you were precocious ..." By the way, Jann is completely right. But I cannot imagine doing another interview like this one. That's it for now.
It's a slightly fierce face on the cover. I would have rather had a more smiling, relaxed version of myself. But when I'm nervous, I bump into smug if I'm not careful. I suppose better fierce than smug. The photographer, Platon, put me at ease. I've gotten much better at being a rock star, but self-consciousness makes any face ugly. I've had to find ways of tricking myself out of that. I try to think myself into a place or look through the camera at the person on the other side.
Megalomania started with U2 at an early age. We wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. We thought it was just a matter of time. Our attitude was outrageous. But then on our first cover [RS 443, March 14, 1985], Rolling Stone called us "Band of the '80s." It was the most incredible compliment. I didn't like the picture. I remember arriving at the session, going, "This is too grand for us." And we seemed personality-less.
But nothing mattered next to the headline. We just didn't want to screw up. We wanted to be worthy of it. And if I have a criticism of our '80s work, I would say we tried a little too hard. We weren't consistent; it was hard for us to achieve liftoff every night. Then you feel like you're not up to the accolade you'd been given.
Rolling Stone has changed over the years. It has wandered in and away from music, through movies and politics. It has followed its own nose. But music, politics, art and commerce get very interesting when they're all mixed up. That's our band, what we're all about. And there has always been a spine to the magazine we relate to--a way of seeing the world, the idea that music might change the world. Rolling Stone, in a way, found a rhyme for itself in us.
Since Rolling Stone took their chances with U2, there have been other publications that will put us on the cover. But when I went out on a limb talking about debt cancellation [for impoverished Third World countries], there was chagrin in the Irish and UK press: "Oh, here we go. What's he on about now?" I was grateful for those early articles in Rolling Stone which attempted to explain something that was not easy to digest. I think it's because the inherent philosophy of the magazine is that musicians should stray and kick up the darkness a bit.
But you cannot underestimate what it means for a band when people take a chance on you, as Rolling Stone did with U2. When you're in a band, you believe you can jump off the top of a building in a hang glider. You believe you can fly. But deep down, you think you're going to fall. All the bravado and front comes out of fear. So when someone else says, "There it is," it's incredible.
--Rolling Stone
