Your comment alreadygone about the photo of Bono with the Pope, which I don't actually recall, reminded me of crying when I first saw the yahoo frontpage telling of his passing and they showed a picture of the Pope kissing the top of a baby's head....
Such an interesting confluence of associations...
And for me that's where the whole 'big ego' thing lies with Bono. He's willing to be big, big in his movements, in his reach, in the associations he'll make. He's admitted as much readily, but I've never seen it as self-aggrandizement. "grandizing" yes, but not so much ego as spirit. I'd bet he gets moments of ohmygod it's fucking amazing the power and the stuff and the experiences and the rush of being the biggest fucking rock star in the world, and lately *also* nobel peace prize nominee! How incredible is that?!
He can come off as damned confident in his gestures, but it always seems as though it's that he's letting himself be a locus for an idea he finds terribly compelling, like when he's claimed that it feels sometimes like they're channeling the music, that it's coming through them.
I had no idea biff that bono would get terrible stage-fright! I think I had read somewhere that he felt he had to learn to be less attuned to absolutely everything in the venue, like oh god somebody's off to take a piss or isn't paying attention, this isn't working! I guess that would make it quite scary to worry about *not* connecting with an audience as you feel you need to. Hasn't he also said recently that he didn't feel he got the approval of his father, so oddly to compensate he has to have 20000 people screaming for him nightly to feel 'normal'?
Sounded like a bit of a joke, but I never really thought of it from the perspective of going out there to try and please 20K people and doing it with anything like the vulnerability of hoping to achieve your parent's approval?! That's terrifying to think about really. And rock stars, unlike actors, have *themselves* out there, he's gotta do something to protect himself, my god. The Fly, MacPhisto, shades, coming to play Jesus, *something*.
Especially with all the hands coming out at him. This has got to be a hard tour, it being so personal material-wise...
You know, sometimes I read ABOY as a relevant statement here, doesn't it seem about preserving confidence and having big spirit and finding your voice and liking it, imposing it even...but ultimately it's not a statement about being all that, it's all because of you (I AM, with the spiritual implications there...).
It's not about being better than, it's about being. And he actually takes that big BE of celebrity and feels obliged to use it to DO as much as he can for those whose are most challenged. lovely!
cheers all!