Transcription of FOX News Channel Heroes Bono Interview

[spanisheyes]

Transcription of FOX News Channel Heroes Bono Interview - aired
Thursday,
Nov. 22, 2001

Heroes with John Kasich
Segment title: The Band Plays On

(B= Bono, J = John Kasich)

J- You know we all do what we can - whether it's riding motorcycles or selling lemonade or performing sold out concerts just to prove that life will go on. And one band is doing just that. The band is U2. A foursome
from the streets of Dublin, they started as a punk rock band back in 1978. Since then, they have found their way. Twelve albums have earned them nine Grammy Awards. They have been called the most important band out there. The lead singer - a man called simply Bono. But there is nothing simple about him. The thing about Bono is when he sees something in the world that he thinks
isn't right, he does something about it. In the beginning of September, Bono assembled a who's who of today's music stars from Jennifer Lopez to the Backstreet Boys to Alicia Keys to re-record the Marvin Gaye hit
"What's Going On."

B - I have to say that all the ones that I called they didn't even - the conversations were like - I just - I didn't get past hello before they'd say "anything you want" and and then they were interested in the issue and just wanted to be a part of this.

J - The proceeds from that recording were to go to Artists Against AIDS, and then came September 11th. The artists quickly decided that the proceeds would be split between the AIDS relief fund and the United Way September 11th fund. I sat down with Bono in New York, and as with so many conversations these days, we started with that day.

B - September 11th, um I was in Europe - I was on holidays with my little boy, Elijah, and ah, like a lot of people I watched it live on TV and, you know, with disbelief and horror and concern I suppose for the people
that I know. So many that live in New York.

J - You are now approached in 80 directions by people that want you to take on their cause, you know - you have tributes for heroes - and I would like to know specifically how did you decide to do that?

B - You only get a few shots every year or every few years to stray outside of the music and to connect with a punch on a certain issue and in U2 at the moment it's Africa. When September 11th happened, we got a call to be a part of the grieving of America and to contribute to that fund and we went to a secret location in London and as others went to in New York and Los
Angeles and I'm very proud to be a part of that Tribute to Heroes.

J - Then U2 hit the road. What are you feeling out there now since that September 11th?

B- Well we put our tickets on sale after 9/11 and that's a great thing. It's
not like we cancelled the tour - we started, we booked the tour after September the 11th. I don't know what to make of it. We came on stage at Madison Square Gardens, I had never heard any noise as loud in my
life. And then I realized they weren't screaming for us - they were screaming at
each other, and that U2 was the smallest part of the occasion. That's what's
happening to U2 on tour in the United States at the moment - we're just a conduit for all this joy and hope and despair and it's all coming out - People say "Oh, Rock and Roll is great - just take people's minds off
of it" - No. That is not our job. Our job is to take peoples' minds through it.

J - Bob Geldof and what you did with him many years ago - Live Aid - you played a big role in that. Was he a guy that sort of showed you the way how to be effective?

B - Yeah, he still is. Bob Geldof is still one of the biggest influences in my life. He's fierce, he's funny, and he went after what was right when a lot of politicians were ignoring Africa in the middle 80's. I got so caught up with it I ended up in Africa - I went to work with my wife, Ali, in
Africa.

J - And it was in Africa where Bono discovered his true passion - forgiving
Third World debt.

B - When I found out that for every dollar in government aid to Africa coming from the West, they owed us 8, that sent me - and I knew that - I knew that if I could just get the air time, other people would agree. The
moment I can't remember because these things, i mean if you're in a band and
you hear one of these - you almost want to put it out of your head.

J - They certainly want - the members of the band certainly want you to put it out of your head

B - That's true, but you know they share, they share the same, they share the same, um, they have the same feelings, they just wish it wasn't so unhip what I'm doing. You know, they're like, being in a rock band, it's like "oh God - who's he going to be in a photograph with next? You know, how
uncool." I always say, "but listen - it's as uncool for the politician you've got
to remember it's a battle for both of us."

J - The other person I wanted to ask you about quickly was Jesse Helms - when you went to Washington to approach the Congress, you had - that was an odd couple to sit with Jesse Helms.

B - You know, my band think I've got a lot of unusual friends through our work for Africa. And, ah - I was delighted that some of the people I met on Capital Hill - even ones I wouldn't agree with everything on every issue, but they have some real convictions. Jesse Helms was a man with a burden in his heart for Africa as it turned out. He sat there, I spoke to him about
the issues - people said "this is a tough guy - you have no chance with this guy." But you know what - he had a burden for Africa, not just because it is, it is, you know distance can not decide who is your neighbor - but because I think he saw it in America's interest ahead of September 11th that we have to deal with what's going on in Africa in order to protect our own freedom and I think he came to our aid and I'm very grateful for having him.

J - Bono is making friends wherever he goes and he's making a huge difference. But he says that doesn't make him a hero. September 11th taught him and all of us what a hero really is.

B - I love the idea of heroes, actually - that's what this program's about, that's what that event was about, but it is never been clearer that rock stars, film stars, politicians, are not the real heroes and that it is about firemen, nurses and mothers - and I know that's what essentially what your program's about - it's about ordinary people doing extraordinary
things and that's one of the great legacies about September 11th is the notion of celebrity has been upended.

J - Thanks to Bono's hard work, last year then President Clinton signed a bill that gave 435 million dollars in debt relief.

[oliveu2cm]

Thanks SpanishEyes for posting that. I especially liked this part:

" People say "Oh, Rock and Roll is great -
just take people's minds off of it" - No. That is not our job. Our job is to take peoples' minds through it."


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Your eyes make a circle
I see you when I come in here

* U2 Take Me Higher *

[sulawesigirl4]

Thanks for posting that, Chris. Wish I could have seen the interview. Over and over I am reminded at how cool and intelligent Bono is compared to any of the other flaky "stars" out there today. Rock on.

-sula

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~I want to play the guitar very badly, and I do play the guitar very badly - Bono~

Take a virtual tour of U2's Dublin... Crzy4Bono's U2 page with some of Sula's Dublin pic's

[Gloria]

Thanks Chris. Good to read. In april I'm going to Africa too.

[spanisheyes]

Hey oliveu2cm, that was cool you mentioned that quote as well, because that is the one that stood out to me as well...and it is so true with U2 on the leg of the tour.

Good morning Bethany!

And Gloria, great to see you posting again! So, Africa... are you planning on visiting all the continents? That is great that your visiting Africa...do you know what countries in Africa yet?

Chris

[tiny dancer]

Thanks spanisheyes for posting this I missed the interview on tv.

[Salome]

thanks for posting this

adn Gloria, aren't you just back from Oz!?

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[Gloria]

Yep, I know I'm just back but...
Besides U2 I have a passion for travelling! Next year I go to Africa (probably South Africa or Tanzania) and India. I've never been in Africa before and I'm really excited to go there.

And Chris, I'm happy to be back too.

[spanisheyes]

Thanks to the interview for me new sig.

Chris

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That's what's happening to U2 on tour in the United States at the moment - we're just a conduit for all this joy and hope and despair and it's all coming out - People say "Oh, Rock and Roll is great - just take people's minds off
of it" - No. That is not our job. Our job is to take peoples' minds through it. Bono's take on the Elevation Tour since 9/11.

[DebbieSG]

Good read! Next best thing to seeing the interview. Thanks for posting, Chris!

[follower]

First thing I read this morning. The man is brilliant, definitely. Thanks friend.

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"To me a rock and roll concert is 3-D, it´s a physical thing - it´s rhythm for the body. It´s a mental thing in that it should be intellectually challenging. But it´s also a spiritual thing, because it´s a community, it´s people agreeing on something, even if it´s only for an hour and a half." (Bono, as quoted in the book U2 The Road to Pop)

Brasil is the country of the future. And it will always be that way...(my translation of a popular saying)

[follower]

Okay, it´s not from the same source, but it´s another example of Bono´s brilliance. It´s a passage from the Rolling Stone interview, the People of the Year article, is touching and thoughtful at the same time, it´s about him and his father, I love it.

"What was your most memorable personal encounter this year?

Sitting beside my father in his last weeks and hours. And his last words, which were,
"Are you all fucking mad?" [laughs long and loud].

That's amazing. To whom was this addressed?

Me . . . I was sleeping beside him. I'd get back home after gigs we were doing in
Europe and England and have a pint of Guinness and a chaser to steady my
nerves, then I'd go into the hospital and I'd sleep beside him, you know, because
I didn't want him to be alone at night. He had many memorable things to say. He
was very funny in the last few days. "Dad, ya got any visitors today?" He says,
"Yeah. It's great . . . great when they leave." He's a tough guy, really, just tough.
[Grows quiet for a moment] I had a bit of an epiphany about it all. My prayer for him
was that he would keep his dignity. He had a lot of front. But he didn't get to keep
his dignity. Cancer is very cruel in the way that it kills you so slowly. But I, you know,
I sat there. I drew him. I held his hand. I did things that he would never let me do.
He was trapped [chuckles]. But I thought that maybe dignity is not such a big deal.
I had dignity up there with righteousness, something you'd aspire to. But the two
most important events of your life - being born and dying - are very messy. Very
messy. Giving birth is very messy for mother and child.

They defy being cool. There is just no way to keep it up in the face of something
so real.

Right, that's it! That was the insight. That dignity is a human construct like cool, and
that it might be vain. I began to understand Indian sadhus and the begging bowls
of the Hindu priests that get dignity out of the way. And that maybe humility is the eye
of the needle that we all have to pass through."



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"To me a rock and roll concert is 3-D, it´s a physical thing - it´s rhythm for the body. It´s a mental thing in that it should be intellectually challenging. But it´s also a spiritual thing, because it´s a community, it´s people agreeing on something, even if it´s only for an hour and a half." (Bono, as quoted in the book U2 The Road to Pop)

Brasil is the country of the future. And it will always be that way...(my translation of a popular saying)

[spanisheyes]

Thank you Maria for the passage from Rolling Stone...very touching, heartfelt words from Bono...one of those stuck in a moments you can't get out of...but also tender towards the end..."...But I, you know, I sat there. I drew him. I held his hand. I did things that he would never let me do.He was trapped [chuckles]."

Chris

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"That's what's happening to U2 on tour in the United States at the moment - we're just a conduit for all this joy and hope and despair and it's all coming out - People say, 'Oh, Rock and Roll is great - just takes people's minds off of it' - No. That is not our job. Our job is to take people's minds through it." --Bono's take on the Elevation Tour since 9/11

[camiloj]

Thanks Chris for posting this, I totally missed it when it was on!

[Giant Lemon]

Thanks for posting the interview! I missed it when it was on TV.