Michael Griffiths
Rock n' Roll Doggie
When Did Bono *Really* Start Smoking? -As Well As Theories To Many Other Questions
It seems as though everyone takes for granted that Bono smokes and, to me, it seems as though it's pretty much accepted that somehow he always has smoked. Strangely enough, no mention is ever made about the fact that no one had ever seen a cigarette in his mouth prior to 1991. If you asked most U2 fans in 1990, most of them might have said Bono was a non-smoker. This opens up a big can of worms...
For starters, if Bono has always smoked - even throughout the "goody-to-shoe" J.T. years - why then did he suddenly bring it into the public eye in the 90s? And is it "right" that he did that? How many impressionable young fans do you suppose he influenced? I hate to say this, but sometimes I wonder how many U2 fans began smoking because they thought Bono was "so cool". (Maybe I should take a poll?)
Thirdly, if he hasn't smoked all his life, what made him suddenly take it up at the ripe old age of 30? No one starts smoking at 30! Yet as mentioned no had ever seen a cigarette in his mouth prior to then. Adam, yes. Bono, no. I find this all very interesting.
My personal take is that Bono and the boys have always smoked, but had been very good at hiding it until they finally decided not to conceal it anymore (for whatever reasons). I think part of their image in the 80s was that of a "clean" one, and they probably had some conflicting personal ethics at the time, as far as possibly influencing people in a negative way. It's funny that Bono actually went out of his way to glamorize his rock star image by going so far as to light a cigarette for the cameras - with impeccable timing - at the Grammy's in 1993 during the nomination announcements. At that point, I have to wonder if it was still an act, or if Bono had become The Fly. Zooropa won best alternative album, and Bono was at his artistic zenith. He was the living embodiment, and the personification of Sam Sheppard's (paraphrased) line, "Right at the center of contradiction is where the heat is, where the energy is...its where you want to be." This was Bono at his most exciting. That's where he wanted to be, and where many of us fans wanted him to be.
When I see the Bono of today, I sometimes long for that rock star; yet, in the back of my mind, I know that he is more comfortable than ever now with who he is and what he stands for. He's found the balance that the contradictions had finally brought him to (remembering another line from Zoo TV: "Contradiction is balance"). He's no longer being taken for a ride in the same way ("...ready to let go of the steering wheel..."). Now, he's more in the driver's seat. He's playing the politicians, beating them at their own game. He can finally see the big picture rather than just acknowledge that it is there.
I do think that the conversation gets quite dull when everyone knows the answers, and the room that much more empty when no one has an argument. Luckily Bono has an argument - now more than ever. Now that he's taken on himself, and won, he's got his sights set dead on his grandest mission yet.
Will the music suffer because of all of this? I don't think it will. I think there will be plenty for U2 to battle out in the studio. And who knows: this may be where things get really interesting (whether Bono cuts back or not )...
(I know I'm going to get burned at the stake for this post.)
It seems as though everyone takes for granted that Bono smokes and, to me, it seems as though it's pretty much accepted that somehow he always has smoked. Strangely enough, no mention is ever made about the fact that no one had ever seen a cigarette in his mouth prior to 1991. If you asked most U2 fans in 1990, most of them might have said Bono was a non-smoker. This opens up a big can of worms...
For starters, if Bono has always smoked - even throughout the "goody-to-shoe" J.T. years - why then did he suddenly bring it into the public eye in the 90s? And is it "right" that he did that? How many impressionable young fans do you suppose he influenced? I hate to say this, but sometimes I wonder how many U2 fans began smoking because they thought Bono was "so cool". (Maybe I should take a poll?)
Thirdly, if he hasn't smoked all his life, what made him suddenly take it up at the ripe old age of 30? No one starts smoking at 30! Yet as mentioned no had ever seen a cigarette in his mouth prior to then. Adam, yes. Bono, no. I find this all very interesting.
My personal take is that Bono and the boys have always smoked, but had been very good at hiding it until they finally decided not to conceal it anymore (for whatever reasons). I think part of their image in the 80s was that of a "clean" one, and they probably had some conflicting personal ethics at the time, as far as possibly influencing people in a negative way. It's funny that Bono actually went out of his way to glamorize his rock star image by going so far as to light a cigarette for the cameras - with impeccable timing - at the Grammy's in 1993 during the nomination announcements. At that point, I have to wonder if it was still an act, or if Bono had become The Fly. Zooropa won best alternative album, and Bono was at his artistic zenith. He was the living embodiment, and the personification of Sam Sheppard's (paraphrased) line, "Right at the center of contradiction is where the heat is, where the energy is...its where you want to be." This was Bono at his most exciting. That's where he wanted to be, and where many of us fans wanted him to be.
When I see the Bono of today, I sometimes long for that rock star; yet, in the back of my mind, I know that he is more comfortable than ever now with who he is and what he stands for. He's found the balance that the contradictions had finally brought him to (remembering another line from Zoo TV: "Contradiction is balance"). He's no longer being taken for a ride in the same way ("...ready to let go of the steering wheel..."). Now, he's more in the driver's seat. He's playing the politicians, beating them at their own game. He can finally see the big picture rather than just acknowledge that it is there.
I do think that the conversation gets quite dull when everyone knows the answers, and the room that much more empty when no one has an argument. Luckily Bono has an argument - now more than ever. Now that he's taken on himself, and won, he's got his sights set dead on his grandest mission yet.
Will the music suffer because of all of this? I don't think it will. I think there will be plenty for U2 to battle out in the studio. And who knows: this may be where things get really interesting (whether Bono cuts back or not )...
(I know I'm going to get burned at the stake for this post.)
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