New York Times slags off Bono

[LyricalDrug]

The New York Times ran a story today about U2, and it had a pretty big mistake in it. The writer, David Carr, said:

"Bono came close to jumping
the shark by donning a blindfold and miming a prison torture scene
during "Bullet the Blue Sky," the band's fatwa against United States
military intervention and then saying at the end of the song, "This is
dedicated to the brave men and women of the U.S. military." Which of
these things, Bono?"

I fired off a letter to the editor (public@nytimes.com) and asked them to correct the mistake. (see email below)

It would be cool if you guys flooded that inbox with requests for a correction, too!




-------

Dear Sir or Madam:

As a longtime U2 fan, I enjoyed reading David Carr's November 28
essay, "Media Age Business Tips from U2." However, Mr. Carr's piece
contains a significant error -- he wrote, "(Bono came close to jumping
the shark by donning a blindfold and miming a prison torture scene
during "Bullet the Blue Sky," the band's fatwa against United States
military intervention and then saying at the end of the song, "This is
dedicated to the brave men and women of the U.S. military." Which of
these things, Bono?)"

However, Bono has never dedicated the song "Bullet the Blue Sky" to
the men and women of the U.S. military. Rather, on the current
Vertigo tour, he reserves such a dedication for the song "Running to
Stand Still." As any avid U2 fan knows, Bono's pre-song dedications
during concerts are often repeated from city to city; indeed, on the
Vertigo tour, "Running to Stand Still" has been dedicated to military
members on almost a nightly basis.

This fact can easily be confirmed by reviewing either U2's "Live from
Chicago 2005" DVD, or the band's worldwide radio broadcast from
London's Twickenham stadium this past summer.

A world leader of Bono's stature deserves better than Mr. Carr's
erroneous and misinformed comment.

Sincerely,
[my name]
Berkeley, California

 

[U2DMfan]

if you get a repsonse, post it here

 

[LyricalDrug]

K

 

[i_love_adam]

If you wanna be impassioned like Bono, copy and mail this letter now! I just did it, lyricaldrug! And I'm not even from the same continent!

 

[i_love_adam]

I titled mine Huge Error in U2 article

 

[LyricalDrug]

I titled mine Huge Error in U2 article

Heheh... I titled mine "Glaring Error"

 

[i_love_adam]

This is really cool. I hope we get a warm response for this! Let the press feel our power! I like doing things like this cos I wanna grow up to be like Bono. He's my idol! (lol ok, hero worship). You just posted this 20 minutes ago, right? Where I'm from it's going to be 3pm in the Afternoon on a Tuesday already!

 

[LyricalDrug]

lol... wow, you're like Edge: you're from the future.

Where do you live? It's 11 pm here in Cali

 

[yolland]

Are you sure about your sources for the concert he's talking about? According to what I've read, BTBS was indeed dedicated "to the brave men and women of the US military" at the most recent Madison Square Garden concert (11/22), while RTSS was not played at all.

In any case, Bono is not a "world leader," and "slags off Bono" is a bizarre mischaracterization of the article.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Are you sure about your sources for the concert he's talking about? According to what I've read, BTBS was indeed dedicated "to the brave men and women of the US military" at the most recent Madison Square Garden concert (11/22), while RTSS was not played at all.

In any case, Bono is not a "world leader," and "slags off Bono" is a bizarre mischaracterization of the article.

Aw, really? I didn't read that at all. Crap, maybe I was wrong. I just couldn't possibly envision Bono dedicating that song, of all songs, to the US military.

Did he really do that? If so, I retract my correction demand!

 

[Carek1230]

I noticed that paragraph too and it pissed me off. Thanks for the post, I just fired off an email changed slightly to REALLY get my most passionate heated feelings across. I'd be interested to know if any of us get any responses at all.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Um, I was at the two Oakland shows and at the end of "Bullet" he DID dedicate the song to "The men and women of the US military". And yes, I definitely thought "WTF?" when Bono said that.

So yeah, if you're sending in corrections, you shouldn't be.

 

[Chizip]

Yeah he's been dedicating Bullet to the US military at most shows of the 3rd leg

 

[LyricalDrug]

Um, I was at the two Oakland shows and at the end of "Bullet" he DID dedicate the song to "The men and women of the US military". And yes, I definitely thought "WTF?" when Bono said that.

So yeah, if you're sending in corrections, you shouldn't be. [/QUOTE

I was at both shows, in the ellipse, and I don't remember any of that!

 

[LyricalDrug]

Yeah he's been dedicating Bullet to the US military at most shows of the 3rd leg

I want proof in the form of an MP3!

 

[Meghan]

I don't think it really matters if he dedicated the song to them and then did the prison torture thing.

There shouldn't be a problem with expressing your support for the average American troop (who doesn't commit acts of torture) and condeming the torture that does take place.
If he happens to do it in the same song, so much the better I think. It shows he knows that not all members of the military are evil and torture their prisoners.

But I'm just a kid, I wouldn't know anything.

 

[blueyedpoet]

The great thing about the drama that Bono acts out, to me, is this:

How eerie is it that Bono's blindfolded scene is reminiscent of both the awful prison torture photos and the beheading of American troops? Bono sings Johnny Comes Marching Home because he wants the troops to be able to come home, and live safer lives. It's not fair to the troops that our government officials wage war without consulting the troops. The treatment of the detainees is also unfair and inhumane. Unless we can COEXIST and stop letting religion blind us, all will suffer - Arab, Muslim, Irish, English, American, Canadian, African, Christian, Jew, Israeli etc.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ummmmmmmmmmm unfortunately your letter about an error just may, in fact, have an error. this article was written after the november shows at madison square garden... where u2 did not play running to stand still. they played miss sarajevo.

 

[pookybear]

I was at the 11/21 show and unfortunately I'm going to have to agree with what's been said about the BTBS dedication. But there are definitely other glaring errors in the article, like:

"The Vertigo tour included seven curtains of lights, consisting of 12,000 individual bulbs, and a heart-shaped runway"

"For years, U2 declined invitations to play at the Super Bowl, but the first one held after the attacks of Sept. 11 had special significance. Bono, in the middle of singing "Beautiful Day," slyly opened his coat to hundreds of millions of viewers and revealed it was lined with the American flag."

(I'm just being a nitpicky like any good old U2 fan)

But other than that, the article's a definite good read.

By the way, here's a link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/b...l=1&adxnnlx=1133287688-xG72utvQhY88Xvvj0QpwXA

 

[Chizip]

I want proof in the form of an MP3!

http://s43.ysi.com/d.aspx?id=27X8VBA1ZEA9209QV621VCUN5Y

 

[LyricalDrug]

LOL I am so busted...



Abort email writing mission! Abort! Abort!

 

[Judah]

I don't think it really matters if he dedicated the song to them and then did the prison torture thing.

There shouldn't be a problem with expressing your support for the average American troop (who doesn't commit acts of torture) and condeming the torture that does take place.
If he happens to do it in the same song, so much the better I think. It shows he knows that not all members of the military are evil and torture their prisoners.

But I'm just a kid, I wouldn't know anything.

Kid or not, you're exactly right.

The NYT writer is wrong to pose the question to Bono (i.e. "which is it?"). Bono is smart enough to know you can raise awareness of human rights while at the same time appreciate the sacrifices made by American soldiers on a daily basis. It's his comment to those people (mostly the Repubs) who say that saying the war in Iraq is wrong is an attack on our troops or an attack on freedom.

 

[Utoo]

Kid or not, you're exactly right.

The NYT writer is wrong to pose the question to Bono (i.e. "which is it?"). Bono is smart enough to know you can raise awareness of human rights while at the same time appreciate the sacrifices made by American soldiers on a daily basis. It's his comment to those people (mostly the Repubs) who say that saying the war in Iraq is wrong is an attack on our troops or an attack on freedom.

The song's been dedicated to the troops mainly because of the "Johnny comes marching home again" part. He dedicates it to the troops---the people---and hopes that they come home safely; he never dedicates it to the cause, etc.

For some reason, the complexity of supporting the troops, but not the war or what's been going on in it, simply cannot be grasped by so many people. I don't get it.

 

[U2FloridaFan]

The song's been dedicated to the troops mainly because of the "Johnny comes marching home again" part. He dedicates it to the troops---the people---and hopes that they come home safely; he never dedicates it to the cause, etc.

For some reason, the complexity of supporting the troops, but not the war or what's been going on in it, simply cannot be grasped by so many people. I don't get it.

Unfortunately, I think that whatever the tour BTBS is always used as a dig to whatever the U.S. is doing politically that Bono doesn't like

 

[Chizip]

bullet is long overdue for a rest anway

 

[chickadee]

This kinda reminds me of over here in the UK when people like myself were given a hard time for opposing the war but supporting the troops. Of course the two can co-exist (see what I did there?) and to say otherwise is rather foolish as the NYT guy demonstrated.

Bono can dedicate songs to whoever the hell he wants.

 

[Val]

I liked the article overall, but I do agree a reporter should check all his facts.

 

[Meghan]

Bono can dedicate songs to whoever the hell he wants.

 

[joyfulgirl]

LOL I am so busted...



Abort email writing mission! Abort! Abort!

your intentions were honorable (but you know what they say about good intentions...)

 

[caragriff]

i almost wrote a letter about that, too, but i just figured it wasn't worth it because overall the article was pretty positive.

my letter would have just asked: can't a person be against the war, yet still pray for the troops?

i know that's my position, and i believe that is bono's as well. but nice try lyrical drug!