Question about Bono's One Speechifying

[corianderstem]

I must say, as someone who actually enjoys Bono's speeches, I think Bono would do much better to say just a couple of lines in concert and leave his longer talking for spoken functions and interviews. Why? Because when you compare a quick two-sentence mention during a song's intro to a two-minute speech before One, I honestly think that Bono makes his point far more effectively.

Excellent point.

 

[Varitek]

I must say, as someone who actually enjoys Bono's speeches, I think Bono would do much better to say just a couple of lines in concert and leave his longer talking for spoken functions and interviews. Why? Because when you compare a quick two-sentence mention during a song's intro to a two-minute speech before One, I honestly think that Bono makes his point far more effectively in the brevity of the two sentences.

But I think during a performance he gets very emotional and almost loses the capability for brevity - if he ever had it to start with!

 

[Axver]

But I think during a performance he gets very emotional and almost loses the capability for brevity - if he ever had it to start with!

Compare the couple of sentences he'd say before Please on Popmart to his Elevation and Vertigo Tour speeches. Those two sentences were clear, to the point, and I feel engaged the crowd far more than a long speech that many people (rightly or wrongly) perceive as "rambling" or "boring".

 

[GibsonGirl]

I agree with Axver. Really, I don't mind Bono's speeches and I absolutely support the reasons behind them...but I do think they tend to get a little long. Something more direct said in, say, thirty seconds or so, would probably get the point across a little better.

 

[amerrydeath]

I agree with Axver; I went to a show with my friend and she totally agreed with Bono on what he had to say; but she was completely turned off by how he had to push it so much. I do agree with him, his causes, but it's just the way in which he pushes it SO HARD that makes it a little bit obnoxious. I tried to defend him a little bit and then realized that if he needed to be defended to someone who had barely heard of him before the concert, then there was something wrong with the way he was trying to get things across.

 

[catlhere]

Compare the couple of sentences he'd say before Please on Popmart to his Elevation and Vertigo Tour speeches. Those two sentences were clear, to the point, and I feel engaged the crowd far more than a long speech that many people (rightly or wrongly) perceive as "rambling" or "boring".

I totally agree. I think longer speeches hurt a person's cause. Just because someone can talk at great lengths about something, doesn't mean that we should listen more. We have short attention spans. I think more people get annoyed with a long speech, than enjoy it. We don't buy U2 albums to hear a 20 minute epic (well maybe some do), so don't give us a big speech that lasts longer than the actual song. Alot can be said in such a short amount of time, that Bono doesn't need to stand and talk about the Milky Way and paying your electricity bill to get his point across. Just tell me that all I need to do is that it's free, text this information to this #, hit send and I'll have done my part. Mission Accomplished! K-I-S-S Keep It Simple Stupid!

 

[Anu]

Is it okay for me to love Star Wars and loathe Jar Jar Binks?

Does U2 have a Jar Jar Binks?

Is it Bono?

 

[c4veritas]

I'm not saying you're a Nazi or some stupid-ass shit like that--I'm just saying that the sort of reasoning you use does not even remotely hold up under scrutiny. I'm a Cubs fan, but I want the team NOT to suck, anymore. They do suck. They have sucked, uncannily, for quite some time. But I don't like them because "that's the way they are." I love the team because I've enjoyed a lot of their non-losing moments. I want them to be something more and STOP losing.

Completely understand where you're coming from, but I have a hell hard time putting up with people who have seen many many shows complaining about what they've seen when so many other people haven't had the chance to see a single one. Obviously once you've heard the speech once, anything more than that is tremendously boring, but u2 aren't aiming to please the people who can come to a dozen of their shows, they're aiming to get a message across to the casual fan, maybe open up their minds a little (and God knows we need a little bit of that sometimes). Bono does have a tendancy to ramble, yes, and go on and on about Edge is from the future and such and such and Oh look Edge it's the Milky Way made out of cellphones and you can do so many things with those cellphones isn't it great and don't forget the one campaign now! But in the end for a first-time concert goer it's not *that* bad because:

A) All bands need something to cool off between songs, no matter who they are (I recently went to a foo fighters concert where Dave Grohl kept stopping and talking about the various people he'd invited to the concert and how they met and how this guy was the first bandmate he ever had and so on and so forth), and personally I'd rather hear them trying to accomplish something, advance these causes that are obviously so dear to them and have influenced their music so much, rather than just giving really long shout-outs to the people who happen to be at the concert that night.

B) This speech usually happens when the band is coming up on some of the most aggressive and/or most vocally difficult songs in the setlist -- LAPOE, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo (he has to frikkin channel PAVAROTTI!), etc -- and Bono simply can't handle those songs without giving his 45-year-old voice a bit of a break in between. Although I guess in the extreme you could suggest giving Bono's voice a rest by bringing Edge out to sing something (ala Sunday Bloody Sunday in Sarajevo), but this is never going to happen because of... (read on to find out).

Just imagine, I guess, if "Please" were to be played in its entirey on this tour--I think it'd be a lot more powerful to let an already powerful song do the talking, rather than saddle it with a bunch of burdensome, repetitive, ham-fisted rhetoric which you've already heard a million times from this guy (on the radio, in magazines, on television news, entertainment, and music programs, and even at other shows, if you've attended them) before.

[/B]

This in my opinion brings up one of the bigger problems with this tour, which is that the band seems to be under the misguided impression that nobody likes them anymore (still smarting from Popmart I guess) and so they're sticking to the *big hits* that everyone's heard on the radio (Streets, One...) and staying away from the harder material (anything from ZOOROPA or POP), because dammit nobody seemed to like these songs last time around so if we play them now nobody will come to our concerts any more. All this coming despite the fact that this is one of the most successful tours in history, and has sold out EVERY SINGLE SHOW they have played.
Because the band has this mentality, they won't play the 90's songs, which are in my opinion the most powerful of their lineup, because they aren't as clear-cut as the 80's stuff, and so they're harder for new fans to understand. I agree that if they played Please (or god forbid something even more powerful and harder to understand like Love is Blindness, or switching to the Edge version of SBS like I mentioned above) then the show would inherently become more emotional and would obliviate the need for some of these verbal diarrheas, but, well, it looks like we're going to have to wait a *long* time before seeing any of those anytime soon


Wow that was long. I do hope I've made sense...

 

[caragriff]

ya know, all artists do something between songs. bono preaches. motley crue shows boobs on a titty cam. take your pick.

 

[CTU2fan]

Does U2 have a Jar Jar Binks?

Is it Bono?

U2's Jar Jar isn't a band member, it's Lemon..so it's like loving U2, but hating Lemon.

I don't mind the speeches/preaching all that much, doesn't bother me one way or the other. Though I like it better mid-song (pre-Vertigo "Bullet", R&H "Sunday Bloody Sunday").

 

[Gen. Chat]

Well into the third leg of the tour, I just thought I'd check in on Bono's preaching status. I have a concert in November and want to know what to expect.

About how long does his One speech usually go? Has he ever skipped it? Do you personally feel it's in good taste, or is it overlong/obnoxious/cringe-worthy? Opinions please...

It was cool at my first show but afterwards what I thought was original and spontaneous I came to realize was scripted, just like pulling some kid up from the ellipse and dancing with the girl du jour during Mysterious Ways. The preaching does tend to breakup the flow of an otherwise great show but Bono and the band have always been political so it’s not really a surprise but even a diehard fan like me think that Bono protests a little too much and with all the themes floating around I need a scorecard.

All we need now is a PETA booth in the arena so I can feel bad about wearing leather, eating meat, and otherwise enslaving animals. The protesting is not a make or break issue for me and as with any relationship you compromise and take the good along with the bad like bed head, bad breath, and no makeup in the morning. I still enjoy the music but if we must have the speeches they should be consolidated into a single monologue, kind of like a 7th inning stretch, which will leave more time for a beer run or potty break.

 

[c4veritas]

Re: Re: Question about Bono's One Speechifying

I still enjoy the music but if we must have the speeches they should be consolidated into a single monologue, kind of like a 7th inning stretch, which will leave more time for a beer run or potty break.

Yeah that's a good idea, and it would stop the greatest hits crowd from taking potty breaks during songs like Miss Sarejevo just because they've never heard them before.

Although from Bono's P.O.V I suppose it might also defeat the purpose of having these speeches if everybody leaves as soon as he starts...

 

[redsox04]

But I think during a performance he gets very emotional and almost loses the capability for brevity - if he ever had it to start with!

Except that his speeches are so clearly scripted. This is based on the eight shows I've seen this tour. The preaching would be more palatable if it had some spontaneity to it.

BTW, love the username.

 

[Lemonfix]

Except that his speeches are so clearly scripted. This is based on the eight shows I've seen this tour. The preaching would be more palatable if it had some spontaneity to it.

BTW, love the username.

I'm pretty sure they are scripted. If you are sitting behind the stage, somewhat close, you can see the telepromter going while Bono is making his speeches.

While the speeches aren't my favorite, I can put up with a lot when it comes to Bono, they really don't bother me, they aren't THAT long. Bono probably thinks he has to be direct with the audience and putting a message in a song is too subtle to really get to people.

 

[caragriff]

in new york, during the break before the encore my brother and i were screaming for two things "MOFO!" and "MORE SPEECHES!"

we were joking obviously, but the uncomfortable feeling that spreads around the crowd when bono starts to ramble just cracks me up actually. i had all these casual fans around me who spent part of the show sitting down and part of it yelling for "old stuff!" if the speeches piss those people off, i say keep it up bono...

i do understand that the speechifying pisses off actual fans (like those on this thread), and i agree that he could speak with more brevity and clarity on his political issues. thousands of fans leave the shows every night having no clue what the one campaign is and being pissed off that bono is "asking them" for money, which he really isn't doing. he is not always getting his message across very well. but dammit he is trying!

 

[Varitek]

OK, so they're mostly scripted, though I've seen plenty of variation on the scripted themes. (And I too was a bit disappointed at my second show to realize the extent of their scriptedness.) But I still think they enhance the meaning of the songs as they are tied up in the root of the songs - and while you might complain cause you've seen them many, many times, it's important for the majority of concertgoers who are at their first show to see that part of the performance.

I don't think, caragriff, it would be a good idea for him to go into more detail with the One campaign. His speeches have a lot to do wtih the songs he sings, and the One campaign would be way, way too tangental. He publicizes it but it would be a HUGE (or even bigger) interuption to the show to actually go into detail. There's booths with information and if people are too stupid or closed-minded to check them out.

 

[Axver]

I'd like to elaborate on what I wrote earlier. I am a big fan of Bono's speeches and an advocate of his cause; I enjoy listening him to the point that I have two DVDs just of him talking! I think his points are important and need to be made, and that the setting of a rock concert is not inappropriate. To add to this, I thoroughly enjoy public speaking and debating myself, and have won awards for it. So as a fan of the speeches and as someone who likes to speak in public, two things are of great concern to me:

1. Effectiveness: what is the best way for Bono to make his point and persuade people?
2. Entertainment: if people are bored, they won't listen, it's as simple as that. If you want people to listen to your points (let alone think about them!), you need to present the points in a manner that is engaging, interesting, and entertaining.

A rock show is an event that is first and foremost viewed as a form of entertainment. For this reason, when presenting his points, Bono must ensure he avoids rambling - he needs to engage and connect with the audience through what he says. To convey his point with the greatest effectiveness, he needs to be concise, clear, and get straight to the point without any rambling on the side that could lose the interest of the audience.

I'm not necessarily advocating the full elimination of speeches here. Just watch Rattle And Hum - Bono's expolsive rant during Sunday Bloody Sunday is one of the most famous and best parts of the entire film. Why? Because of the emotion, because Bono avoids being sidetracked and makes his point with the utmost clarity, and because it is ultimately entertaining. Not every speech can be as powerful as that, but when made, they should strive to be. They certainly should not cause the show to drag or kill the entertainment value or lose the interest of the audience. There should not be people crying out "get on with the music" and "shut up". Such statements are clear signs that the audience is not engaged (remember, not every person thinking "shut up" will actually yell it like some do, so the amount of people who've been lost would be greater than the amount of people vocalising their frustration).

It is my opinion that very simple and clear statements will serve Bono much better, especially when delivered over 'free space' - i.e. where the band is playing, progressing a song, but Bono wouldn't normally be singing. To illustrate this, the band could just play the start of Please, or Bono could say two sentences calling for co-operation and communication over the top. Such statements are worked into the show, do not comprise the entertainment value of the event, make a very clear point, and happen at a time when the audience is engaged and doesn't go so long that they have the opportunity to become disinterested.

At the end of the day, I'm concerned about Bono's cause and would like it presented in a way that communicates best to an audience at a rock concert. It's my belief that except in exceptional and typically emotional cases such as Sunday Bloody Sunday on Rattle And Hum, Bono should stick with short and concise statements rather than lengthy speeches like what we see before Miss Sarajevo and One. An audience that's disengaged and uninterested won't be swayed no matter how good someone's points are.

 

[angelordevil]

I'd like to elaborate on what I wrote earlier. I am a big fan of Bono's speeches and an advocate of his cause; I enjoy listening him to the point that I have two DVDs just of him talking! I think his points are important and need to be made, and that the setting of a rock concert is not inappropriate. To add to this, I thoroughly enjoy public speaking and debating myself, and have won awards for it. So as a fan of the speeches and as someone who likes to speak in public, two things are of great concern to me:

1. Effectiveness: what is the best way for Bono to make his point and persuade people?
2. Entertainment: if people are bored, they won't listen, it's as simple as that. If you want people to listen to your points (let alone think about them!), you need to present the points in a manner that is engaging, interesting, and entertaining.

A rock show is an event that is first and foremost viewed as a form of entertainment. For this reason, when presenting his points, Bono must ensure he avoids rambling - he needs to engage and connect with the audience through what he says. To convey his point with the greatest effectiveness, he needs to be concise, clear, and get straight to the point without any rambling on the side that could lose the interest of the audience.

I'm not necessarily advocating the full elimination of speeches here. Just watch Rattle And Hum - Bono's expolsive rant during Sunday Bloody Sunday is one of the most famous and best parts of the entire film. Why? Because of the emotion, because Bono avoids being sidetracked and makes his point with the utmost clarity, and because it is ultimately entertaining. Not every speech can be as powerful as that, but when made, they should strive to be. They certainly should not cause the show to drag or kill the entertainment value or lose the interest of the audience. There should not be people crying out "get on with the music" and "shut up". Such statements are clear signs that the audience is not engaged (remember, not every person thinking "shut up" will actually yell it like some do, so the amount of people who've been lost would be greater than the amount of people vocalising their frustration).

It is my opinion that very simple and clear statements will serve Bono much better, especially when delivered over 'free space' - i.e. where the band is playing, progressing a song, but Bono wouldn't normally be singing. To illustrate this, the band could just play the start of Please, or Bono could say two sentences calling for co-operation and communication over the top. Such statements are worked into the show, do not comprise the entertainment value of the event, make a very clear point, and happen at a time when the audience is engaged and doesn't go so long that they have the opportunity to become disinterested.

At the end of the day, I'm concerned about Bono's cause and would like it presented in a way that communicates best to an audience at a rock concert. It's my belief that except in exceptional and typically emotional cases such as Sunday Bloody Sunday on Rattle And Hum, Bono should stick with short and concise statements rather than lengthy speeches like what we see before Miss Sarajevo and One. An audience that's disengaged and uninterested won't be swayed no matter how good someone's points are.

You make perfect sense. U2 should hire you to keep Bono on message and focused! I think there are certain divsions in the U2 fanbase, and one of those divisions probably lies between Bono talk lovers and those who care a little less. I fall into the former, however, and would love to hear him speak for hours, given the opportunity. But I'm a bit of a nut, and not very representative of the mainstream...

 

[Sken]

Bono gets his point across best when he is angry. F you on Sunday Bloody Sunday and the F you's during Bullet the Blue Sky on the Zooropa tour were chillingly awesome.

B has spent too much time with politicians he now rambles like them, and like others have said he makes his point best when its within the music.

We need to get rid of Zzzzzzz Bono, make your ears bleed Bono and bring back angry Bono, passionate Bono, direct Bono, in your face Bono.

And really, choose one song to get your point across, one direct message, not use SBS, then LAPOE, then Streets, then One, then Miracle Drug, then Crumbs etc etc.

Less is more, and this has been proven by him numerous times in the past.

 

[U2Man]

I don't think "F Bono" will ever return. Too much of a nice guy/politician in him now. Occasionally he pops up, but that's when he does something ludicrous like yelling at fans for holding a phone. That's the ridiculous part of "F Bono", not the one we once knew.

 

[u2granny]

Not sure when the "shut the fuck up and sing" started but I first heard it in 87.

 

[VertigoGal]

Thanks for the opinions...although I'd appreciate it if anyone else could tell me how long the speech(es?) went at their concert and what the general reaction was to it.

Godwin's Law (or Theory)...that's great! And so true too.

I hope Bono takes a cue and shortens the speech a little although I'm not counting on it. The R&H Sunday Bloody Sunday speech was effective. I have a ZooTV version of One where before the song, Bono simply says "I'd like to play this for the people of Sarajevo. Have our politicians learnt nothing in 60 years?" He doesn't need to say anything else, the song sort of conveys the message.

Personally, I'm not expecting to be bothered by it. But I'm going with my mamma and would hate to be embarrassed for the band. Any chance that since we're in the far corner of the upper levels, we won't be able to make out his speeches at all?

 

[caragriff]

I don't think, caragriff, it would be a good idea for him to go into more detail with the One campaign. His speeches have a lot to do wtih the songs he sings, and the One campaign would be way, way too tangental. He publicizes it but it would be a HUGE (or even bigger) interuption to the show to actually go into detail. There's booths with information and if people are too stupid or closed-minded to check them out.

i think we are on the same page. just to clarify, i said he could speak with more brevity and clarity - not more detail. his live8 speech was perfect - short and to the point.

but as i said before, i personally could care less how long he talks. it is what is in his heart and i'm happy to be bored to pieces by it.

 

[AtomicBono]

This in my opinion brings up one of the bigger problems with this tour, which is that the band seems to be under the misguided impression that nobody likes them anymore (still smarting from Popmart I guess) and so they're sticking to the *big hits* that everyone's heard on the radio (Streets, One...) and staying away from the harder material (anything from ZOOROPA or POP), because dammit nobody seemed to like these songs last time around so if we play them now nobody will come to our concerts any more. All this coming despite the fact that this is one of the most successful tours in history, and has sold out EVERY SINGLE SHOW they have played.
Because the band has this mentality, they won't play the 90's songs, which are in my opinion the most powerful of their lineup, because they aren't as clear-cut as the 80's stuff, and so they're harder for new fans to understand. I agree that if they played Please (or god forbid something even more powerful and harder to understand like Love is Blindness, or switching to the Edge version of SBS like I mentioned above) then the show would inherently become more emotional and would obliviate the need for some of these verbal diarrheas, but, well, it looks like we're going to have to wait a *long* time before seeing any of those anytime soon


Wow that was long. I do hope I've made sense...

So. Fucking. True.

And I'd say I agree with Axver on Bono's speeches. I love hearing the man talk (I saw him on the Heartland of America tour ) and I fully support his cause, but even a three minutre speech during a rock show is pushing it, especially when it's BEFORE a song and not paticularly...well...angry. The thing is, I know the issue of poverty makes Bono angry. Stupid poverty, he calls it. Thousands of people dying everyday is a reason to get pissed off. However, at shows he just sort of rambles, and you don't sense the emotion you sense in the songs themselves. I'm not saying Bono needs to shout "FUCK POVERTY!!" and yell instead of talk, but perhaps if his speeches were a bit more impassioned as I know they can be...and, ultimately, they should probably be shorter. When I saw U2 in Chicago (5/7), the speech before One didn't seem that long to me. It was maybe two minutes at the most. Listening to the stream of the recent D/C show, I was like, holy shit, this guy doesn't shut up. His speech was like five minutes! And that's on top of the Miss Sarajevo speech, which had no corresponding speech during the first leg. What the fuck is he even on about? The Miracle Drug speech I don't mind, The Edge story sounds funny. But really, I think he should just cut out the majority of the Sarajevo speech and shorten the One speech. Or incorporate it into a song, ala Mark Chapman rant during Bullet

 

[redsox04]

I think there are certain divsions in the U2 fanbase, and one of those divisions probably lies between Bono talk lovers and those who care a little less.

I wouldn't associate the level of interest in Bono's speeches to the degree to which someone cares. Some people may be very tuned into to the issues he espouses but would prefer to hear more music.

It is proabably true that there is a camp of people who are truly annoyed about ANY political/social statements during the concert. (I recall Eddie Vedder and Michael Stipe actually telling the audience who to vote for way back in 2000. I found that incredibly annoying, as if I cannot think for myself.) Of course, Bono has rightfully kept away from overtly partisan statements. But the way he works his speeches into the show don't work for me, and all of the people I've attended shows with this tour seem to feel the same way. The speeches lack passion, spontaneity, and timing.