Is U2 Having A Mid-Life Crisis?

[Salome]

I think not even Bono would write about a mid-life crisis while going through one


I don't think U2 as a band will ever have a midlife crisis

 

[joyfulgirl]

I'm done with mine. I really rock now.

 

[jick]

I think not even Bono would write about a mid-life crisis while going through one


I don't think U2 as a band will ever have a midlife crisis

Yes, this makes sense about not writing about a mid-life crisis while going through it. U2 went through their mid-life crisis with POP. So during the Pop era he didn't write about it.

It was only AFTER POP and he looked with retrospect and realized he had just gone through a mid-life crisis and wrote about it in ATYCLB's New York.

Cheers,

J

 

[follower]

I remember an interview from back in 2001 where Bono got kind of mad when people started thinking he had a midlife crisis and lost his wife because of the lyrics to New York. He said, it was just a song, and he was not the character in the song. At some Elevation shows, he even changed the word "midlife" to "midwife" as a joke because of that

I remember some of his comments about that as well. Yet he wrote "Still I'm staying on to figure out, My midlife crisis". That sounds like a statement to me, but obviously it hasn?t anything to do with Ali, so I think he used the change in the lyrics to clarify things. Anyways I think the song could be about him indeed, his experiences and feelings on the city of New York and its dwellers. That?s just my opinion, whether you agree or disagree with it. Nobody but Bono could reveal us the truth.

Cheers
MT

 

[U2Kitten]

Well, I don't think it's just my opinion that Bono HAS revealed in an interview that the lyrics to New York were not about him, and he seemed annoyed that anyone would think that they were. He said they were about a hypothetical character, a guy living in New York, having problems with his life and his wife. Maybe it was some guy he knew, or just an observation. But it wasn't Bono. It's also interesting how the lyrics became eerie after 9-11, wih the 'voices on the cell phone, voices down the stairwell' stuff (people running for their lives down the steps of the twin towers, telling their loved ones goodbye on their cell phones on the way) and more.

I also disagree with the idea that ATYCLB is Bono writing about the crisis he went through during Pop. I think Pop, the way they were dressing, acting and all, was their midlife crisis, and ATYCLB was them coming to terms with themselves as they are and being comfortable with it Those are just my opinions and observations, I don't know, because I've never heard any of them say. Either way, whether they had one or not, they aren't going through one now if that was the original question.

 

[Liesje]

I don't see why Pop has anything to do with a mid-life crisis. Pop itself or the recording of the album might have been a crisis (at least many people think so), but just because someone doesn't like the album doesn't mean U2 was having a mid-life crisis. They didn't seem to be experiencing problems at home or among each other during that time. The only crisis I see is an album obviously finished in a hurry and a tour that got off to a slow start.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

It's also interesting how the lyrics became eerie after 9-11, wih the 'voices on the cell phone, voices down the stairwell' stuff (people running for their lives down the steps of the twin towers, telling their loved ones goodbye on their cell phones on the way) and more.

It is eerie, isn't it-that whole album really seemed to fit quite well after 9/11.

*Walks off humming "Twilight Zone" theme"*

Angela

 

[U2Kitten]

Yeah. *chills*

Other stuff in the song was ironic too, like hot as a hairdryer in your face, religious nuts and political fanatics, lose your balance, lose your wife, in the queue for the lifeboat, that's where I lost you, New York...

 

[mystery girl]

U2 went through their mid-life crisis with Pop??? What is it about Pop that makes it the product of a mid life crisis?
If I had to choose, I'd say their "mid life crisis album" is atyclb.

 

[Liesje]

U2 went through their mid-life crisis with Pop??? What is it about Pop that makes it the product of a mid life crisis?

I also don't understand what Pop has to do with a midlife crisis. I think people who aren't too fond of Pop are just looking for a reason other than admitting that U2 made some mistakes by planning such a huge tour before they were sure the album would be completed in time. I think that reason ALONE caused the album to sound "unfinished" (as some say, I don't mind Pop, but I can agree with this) and the tour to start out completely unprepared. The way they dressed on tour has nothing to do with a mid-life crisis. The point was to be excessively flashy, bright, bold, and over the top. Pop was supposed to be rediculously overdone.

 

[Leeloo]

No, people that rich don't have a midlife crisis. They are too rich and famous. A midlife crisis is for poor people who feel like they wasted their lives and have nothing to show for it. U2 doesn't have that problem!

 

[Liesje]

No, people that rich don't have a midlife crisis. They are too rich and famous. A midlife crisis is for poor people who feel like they wasted their lives and have nothing to show for it. U2 doesn't have that problem!

haha, in that case, I'm screwed!