Is Bono A Genius?

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DevilsShoes

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Whenever I read any magazine or newspaper articles about John Lennon or Bob Dylan or David Bowie, the word genius always crops up at some point, and quite right too, these men shaped music and if they're not deserving of such an accolade then who is?

But when I read any articles about Bono the word rarely if ever appears. I wonder why? After all he's written some of the most
popular songs of the last 20 years, Streets, With or Without You, UTEOTW, Beautiful Day, Vertigo and especially One, moments of genius certainly occur in these songs, but I'm not sure he's considered one by the music industry or the public at large. I could be wrong however.

He's not put in that tortured genius bracket along with Lennon or Bowie or even Cobain, despite the fact that Bono's an extremely complex and intelligent man. So what do you think will he be remembered as a genius or simply very talented?
 
I think the term "genius" should not apply to any entertainer, only for people who make a life changing contribution to the betterment of mankind.
Anyhoo............of the ones you mention, they are solo artists. I have never heard Paul MacArtney being lablled a genius yet he contributed more over time than Lennon and both did their most significant work as The Beatles.
I somehow think the term genius seems to be reserved for Solo artists. Bono is only as good as the people around him, more so than probably any act ever. U2 could only have happened with the 4 that got involved.
 
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Oh the word 'genius' is definitely bandied around too often gman and should only really be reserved for people who like you said have made life changing contributions, but I certainly think that Lennon and Dylan certainly had/have some kind of musical genius, and I'm pretty sure McCartney is considered to be one, I have heard people refer to him as one. Its just that when all is said and done will Bono be up there with the Lennon's and Bowies of the world who are deemed to be genuine musical innovators or will he just fall short.
 
If any member of U2 even remotely deserves the title of "genius", it's The Edge, not Bono. I don't see what Bono has done to warrant being called a "genius" in any kind of musical context.
 
I honestly don't think the term "genius" should be used on any of the artists named above.

Mozart and Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare and Einstein - yes, but none of today's musicians, solo artists or not.

And I don't think it's important. Everyone can have a little bit of a genius in themselves when it comes to certain areas of life, and then again be not so talented in other areas.

The term genius is something that we use too carelessly.

And as for Bono, IF anyone should refer to him as a "genius", it wouldn't be based on his musical talents alone, more on his overall activities, maybe even more on his political work, his smartness, creativity and persistence, when it comes to his campaigning.
 
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You're defintely right about Mozart and Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare and Einstein Last Unicorn, these are bonafide geniuses, but I think the names I mentioned deserve a mention too, after all what they did during they're own time still has ramifications today, they have helped invent original and unique music which had never been heard before and that has influenced so many people since. The word genius is used all to freely but I think people like Lennon and McCartney are worthy of it, they've had such an impact on us, I'm just asking if Bono will be rememberd as being on par with them.
 
Axver said:
If any member of U2 even remotely deserves the title of "genius", it's The Edge, not Bono. I don't see what Bono has done to warrant being called a "genius" in any kind of musical context.
genius.....
now , if we talking about Sting , Summers , Copeland
or about the Doors or Soft Machine
or Genesis
or Outkast
or Radiohead ...
 
DevilsShoes said:
Its just that when all is said and done will Bono be up there with the Lennon's and Bowies of the world who are deemed to be genuine musical innovators or will he just fall short.

Bono will be rembered as a very talented writer and a great humanitarian, but not as a genius, i dont think lennon, bowie or mcartney are that innovative either though, try Hendrix, or The Who, Pink Floyd and as Axver said The Edge,
 
I think he is a genius for the work, ideas and campaigning he has done for Africa.

His writing and speeches he has given are unbelievable so if that doesn't put him on genius level I don't know what would. :shrug:
 
Are you talking relatively here? If so I guess you could call anyone a genius. I highly doubt Bono is a genius from an objective view though. I don't think his IQ is high enough.
 
He is certainly verbally gifted (and sometimes verbally challenged).
 
Axver said:
If any member of U2 even remotely deserves the title of "genius", it's The Edge, not Bono. I don't see what Bono has done to warrant being called a "genius" in any kind of musical context.

I agree. Edge has very much defined his own style. There's a sort of precision and perfectionism that you don't find with many guitarists today. While some criticize his lack of spontaneity onstage, but I admire his attention to detail when putting together his sound in the studio and doing what he can to recreate it in performance. I also think he's the band member close enough to being a genius by the conventional definition. He'd planned to study engineering if U2 didn't take off, and that's certainly not child's play.

Bono is an excellent songwriter at times, and he's got that charisma that's given him success both as a musician and a humanitarian. I wouldn't say he's a genius, but maybe he's doing something better now than many geniuses ever manage to achieve. Time will tell, I guess.
 
I agree that Edge is the person in the band who would be closest to being called a "genius" when it comes to music.

Bono has more overall competence in many different fields.
I don't know if the IQ is really an indicator for that.
Someone can have a high IQ and would be considered a genius but isn't able to transfer his intellectual abilities into real life.

I am sure that there were many people in history who would have been considered genius, but who never managed to do something that would have been remembered by the world for many years after.

On the other hand, someone can not be very telented or intelligent in an "objective" view but can be a "marketing genius" or whatever you may call it and have success and impact nevertheless.

What we might call "genius" is, in my humble opinion, a combination of many factors, strongly influenced by one's personality and circumstances of one's life.
 
I would add Andrew Lloyd Weber to the genius list.

Bono has certainly had his moments of genius.
 
I wonder what his I.Q. is?

IMO he is a genius and Edge too, although alot of times Bono seems like an absent minded professor.

One definition of genius from Dictionary.net:

Distinguished mental superiority; uncommon intellectual power; especially, superior power of invention or origination of any kind, or of forming new combinations; as, a man of genius.

Usage: Genius implies high and peculiar gifts of nature, impelling the mind to certain favorite kinds of mental effort, and producing new combinations of ideas, imagery, etc. Talent supposes general strength of intellect, with a peculiar aptitude for being molded and directed to specific employments and valuable ends and purposes. Genius is connected more or less with the exercise of imagination, and reaches its ends by a kind of intuitive power. Talent depends more on high mental training, and a perfect command of all the faculties, memory, judgment, sagacity, etc. Hence we speak of a genius for poetry, painting. etc., and a talent for business or diplomacy. Among English orators, Lord Chatham was distinguished for his genius; William Pitt for his pre["e]minent talents, and especially his unrivaled talent for debate.
 
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JCOSTER said:


I think your mistaken.

Well, objectively speaking you have to have a certain IQ to be a genius. I'm not sure what Bono's IQ is, but I don't have reason to think he's technically a genius.

He's really talented though. Not sure if that means you're a genius.
 
shart1780 said:


Lyrically?

Are you sure about that?

"And it's true we are immune.."

"..when fact is fiction, TV's reality"


Could've easily replaced the second bit with "...when pigs fly.."
But Bono's lyrically gifted he chose counter his original verse with another analogy to think about.

So yeah, I think Bono is sort of a lyrical genius when it comes to his song writing. Just listend to his words and think.
 
Bono has worn a mullet and is still considered one of the most important, and influencial people in the world.

GENIUS = CONFIRMED!
 
waynetravis said:


"And it's true we are immune.."

"..when fact is fiction, TV's reality"


Could've easily replaced the second bit with "...when pigs fly.."
But Bono's lyrically gifted he chose counter his original verse with another analogy to think about.

So yeah, I think Bono is sort of a lyrical genius when it comes to his song writing. Just listend to his words and think.

Yeah, but things are a little different now. His lyrics as of late leave much to be desired.

Andrew Bird has probably the deepest, most well written lyrics I've ever heard.

there's one guy I'd like to thank
he signs the checks and leaves them blank
he's the one
he says you don't have to walk a plank
the game is rigged, go figure
the slide show tanked
and your flagship sank

so we're taking all our myths to the bank
so just don't, don't forget who to thank
we're taking our myths to the
drinking a fifth to the
we're taking all our myths to the bank

if you could just do him this favor
although it might involve child labor
join his entourage
give him a foot massage
from Star Search to the Philharmonic
he'll get you there with Hooked on Phonics
he's the one to know
doesn't matter if you blow - no no

in fact it's just the thing
he thinks we're needing
it's a lukewarm liquid diet
they're force feeding
when the words we use have lost their bite
now they hit you like an imaginary pillow fight
but it's all right
cause you're inside
and you're in tight

deals in commodities of the abstract sort
buys them in bulk but then he sells them short
talent, genius, love even signs of affection
he floods the market there's no price protection
and when his master plan is unfurled
there stands a handsome bid on the weather systems of the world



i dreamed you were a cosmonaut
of the space between our chairs
and i was a cartographer
of the tangles in your hair

i sighed a song that silence brings
it’s the one that everybody knows
oh everybody knows
the song that silence sings
and this was how it goes

these looms that weave apocrypha
they’re hanging from a strand
these dark and empty rooms were filled
with incandescent hands

awkward pause
a fatal flaw
time, it’s a crooked bow
oh time’s a crooked bow

in time you need to learn to love
the ebb just like the flow

grab hold of your bootstraps
and pull like hell
‘till gravity feels sorry for you
and lets you go
as if you lack the proper chemicals to know
the way it felt the last time you let yourself
fall this low
time
oh time
it’s a crooked bow
time’s a crooked bow

fifty-five and three–eighths years later
at the bottom of this gigantic crater
an armchair calls to you
yeah this armchair calls to you
and it says that
some day
we’ll get back at them all
with epoxy and a pair of pliers
as ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
through the ragweed and barbed wire
you didn’t write you didn’t call
it didn’t cross your mind at all
and through the waves
the waves of a.m. squall
you couldn’t feel a thing at all
you’re fifty-five and three-eighths tall
 
Bono's lyrics come from the heart, he's not trying to be over-intellectual or analytical. What I find so stunning about most of his lyrics is how he can mix imagery from religious, spiritual and emotional, human, often sensual contexts. Most of his lyrics can be interpreted more than one way. He's good at making it ambivalent, open to interpretation. That's what I like about poetry in general as well, it gives your imagination room as well as your feelings, and no matter, what it had meant to whoever wrote it, it can mean something totally personal to you when you read it.

That said, I know it doesn't make Bono a genius, I just wanted to state that I find his songwriting remarkable.

And I don't need him - or anyone else - to be a genius in order to be a fan.
 
even if you think his lyrics are pap, his melodies that he sings are genius.
 
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