Quotes
FUNNY
"We're in this position - I think it's our duty to abuse it." - Power goes to Bono's head, 1993.
"I have to tell you, I don't like doing intimate concerts. I have very sensitive nasal glands and being that close to so many armpits is absolutely terrifying. I'd rather play a stadium any day." - Bono on the disadvantages of shows like the Astoria gig, 2001.
"There were no bad vibes when we were there, other than Edge's smelly feet."- Bono 1991
"What a city. What a night. What a mistake. What a wanker you have for president". - Bono on the French president's nuclear policy, MTV Europe Awards in Paris, Nov. 1995
"I'm here to kiss Homer Simpson's bottom" - Bono, interview about their part on Simpsons.
"People keep asking what Popmart is all about. Well...I don't fucking know!" - Bono, Popmart Toronto, 10/27/97
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" - Adam
"Here we are in our 40 ft. lemon. Fuck off!" - Bono
"Larry was too embarrassed to tell his girlfriend that we were going to call the LP after this clump of prickles in the desert" - Bono about The Joshua Tree record
B.P. Fallon: "Bono, do you like you?" - Bono: "Which version?"
Interviewer: What do you do when female fans get too agressive? Adam: We let Larry deal with those things.
Q: What do you do with the money you would have spent on drinks?
Adam: "I buy socks." - Q magazine, 2000
"?this is our back to the roofs tour, because we're playing on roofs." - Bono, 2000
"I just passed Adam, I said, Adam, you're 40, do you have anything to say? And he said, obscurely, How long do I have to sing this song?" - Bono YahooChat 12 March 2000
"In the early days our ambition was just to end the song together!" - Adam
"I would certainly consider myself to be one of the inventors of the mullet. I think it comes down to Patrick Swayze or me." - Bono
"Edge, for a minute I heard that awful word in my head....progressive rock.....but only for a second." - Bono, 1997
"We will play in South Africa, Southamerica and so. We are open to anybody. We would also play at weddings and fumerals .." - Bono, Mannheim 1997 on German TV
"Did you come here to play Jesus?I did ..." - Bono, ZooTV live in Sydney
"And if it doesn't work, we'll just blame Eno" - Adam on the Passengers, Original Soundtracks I
"What has kept us together?...Fear of our manager!" - Bono
"In the shower, which is a natural echo chamber, I sing like I never have sung on a record. But the way I always try to sing on records. Completely bollocks naked!" - Bono, YahooChat, 12 March 2000
"I was very upset because I was guaranteed that I was sharing a room with the supermodels and it occurs that I?m not, I?m sharing it with the boys!" - Larry about his attendance at the Dublin Fashion show 2000
"Security, get off my stage! This is MY stage!" - Bono, Las Vegas 1992
"We don't allow people to make jokes in our company. Anyone on the crew who's ever seen with a smile on their faces we let go." - Bono, May 1985
Interviewer: Excuse me but why have you taken your clothes off, Bono?
"For the same reason," interjected the Edge, answering on Bono's behalf, "that he's the lead singer. Because he's a rampant sex god with a huge ego."
"And a small willy," added Adam. - Details, Sep. 1992
"Yep. I'm sitting right beside it (the Christmas tree) now in this room. It's got a load of mirrorballs hanging from it... and a lemon." - Bono in a phone interview
"No... (laughs) I'll probably go out AFTER Midnight Mass because actually ...I am a .... vampire. I won't be going to bed early." - Bono discussing his Christmas Eve plans
"I was in [the Artane Boys' Band] for three days, and they told me get my hair cut. And at the time, it was my pride and joy - you know, shoulder-length golden locks. So I got it cut a few inches, and they told me to cut it more. So I told them to stick it, and I left!" - Larry
INSPIRARIONAL
"Fuck the past, kiss the future!" - Bono
"I can change the world in me" - lyrics to Rejoice
"We'll punch a hole right throught the night" - lyrics to In God's Country
"They could not take your pride" - lyrics to Pride
"I know that the tide is turning 'round...don't let the bastards grind you down" - lyrics to Acrobat
"don't worry baby. It's gonna be alright...uncertainty...can be a guiding light" - lyrics to Zooropa
"It's a beautiful day / don't let it get away" - lyrics to Beautiful Day
"And if the night runs over / And if the day won't last / And if your way should falter / Along the stony pass / It's just a moment, this time will pass" - lyrics to Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
"And if your glass heart should crack / And for a second you turn back / Oh no, be strong...I know it aches / How your heart it breaks / And you can only take so much / Walk on" - lyrics to Walk On
PREDICTING FUTURE
"I don't mean to be arrogant, but ...I do feel that we are meant to be one of the great groups." - Bono, Rolling Stone, 1981
"A picture in grey, Dorian Gray" - lyrics to The Ocean (was Bono referring to Larry?)
"When fact is fiction and T.V. reality" - lyrics to Sunday Bloody Sunday (all too true in this day and age of reality TV around the world)
"our sons and daughters / Were cut cown and taken from us" - lyrics to Mothers of the Disappeared
"September...streets capsizing...spilling over, down the drain...shards of glass splinters like rain but you can only feel your own pain...October...talk getting nowhere...November...December...remember...are we just starting again...?" - lyrics to Please (really this whole song is valid)
"Tell the ones who hear no sound / Whose sons are living in the ground / Peace on Earth...No-one cries like a mother cries / For peace on Earth / She never got to say goodbye / To see the colour in his eyes / Now he's in the dirt...They're reading names out over the radio / All the folks the rest of us won't get to know...Their lives are bigger, than any big idea" - lyrics to Peace On Earth
"Religious nuts, political fanatics in the stew...That's where I lost you...New York" - lyrics to New York
The lyrics to One this song has been the most versatile, multi-purpose song used to convey any sentiment since it was written.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION
"There were no bad vibes when we were there, other than Edge's smelly feet."- Bono 1991
"You work in a knicker factory! Lingerie! That's ok, in Sweden we don't wear underpants" - Bono, June 11/92, Stockholm Sweden
Q: What do you do with the money you would have spent on drinks?
Adam: "I buy socks." - Q magazine, 2000
"In the shower, which is a natural echo chamber, I sing like I never have sung on a record. But the way I always try to sing on records. Completely bollocks naked!" - Bono, YahooChat, 12 March 2000
Interviewer: Excuse me but why have you taken your clothes off, Bono?
"For the same reason," interjected the Edge, answering on Bono's behalf, "that he's the lead singer. Because he's a rampant sex god with a huge ego."
"And a small willy," added Adam. - Details, Sep. 1992
"The penis-ring I felt was enough. It's a lot of weight for one man to carry. No, I'm a virgin in that sense." - Bono after being asked if he had any tattoos
"On a bed of nails she makes me wait...My hands are tied / My body bruised", "...you can tie me down...with my nails under your hide / with my teeth at your back" - lyrics to With of Without You and Do You Feel Loved (we don't really need to know about Bono's bondage fantasies, do we
)
The lyrics to Mofo - it's just so intensely personal!
ABOUT U2
"We never, ever felt that being a great musician was a necessary qualification for being in U2. The individuals were much more important than whether you could play." - Paul McGuinness sums up the essence of U2, April 1987.
"This is when the band became Depeche Mode!" - Steve Lillywhite plays some tracks that didn't make it to the final cut of WTSHNN
"Hellllooooo, we're on holidaaaay. Daddy, if that's you, we're not coming home until you take the horns off! Byeeeeee!" - 8-27-93 Jordan Bono's four-year old daughter on Bono's home answering machine
"U2 has become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters." - Chris Connoly March 1985
"I think I hate them [U2] far more than they would hate me. They have more important things on their mind than thinking about me. Whereas I have little to amuse me." - Fachtna O'Ceallaigh
"I wish you could take Edge's guitar sound, put it on a plaque and hang it on the wall for all the world to see, because it is just THAT good" - radio DJ
"Apart from his compact height (5'6") he radiates largeness." - Q magazine describes Bono, 2001
You half expect the lame to throw their crutches in the air and lepers to jig about shouting "Hallelujah!" - Q magazine about the Madison Square Garden's Elevation show
"Edge is the good-looking boffin with great cheekbones, eyes gentle yet intense at the same time, and a mind that can find a bunch of wires and build a spaceship." - B.P. Fallon
"The four of them stood there and made an enormous noise. That is what a rock 'n' roll band ought to do as far as I'm concerned and they now do it supremely well." - Paul McGuinness
"There are two Bonos - one is the saint with all the problems of the world on his shoulders and some answers in his heart. The other Bono knows that Bono is not to be taken too seriously" - Jackie Hayden
"After the release of Joshua Tree Bono was embraced as rock's latest mystic leader, a sort of holy cross between the Morrisons, Jim and Van" - Neil McCormick, HotPress
"The interview hadn't even begun..... and suddenly we all noticed something very peculiar: Bono - is - taking - all - his - clothes - off. The white shirt went first, then his black suede boots, his socks, trousers, and briefs (black with white trim, possibly Calvin Klein, probably Marks & Spencer)." - Sean O'Hagan, Details September 1992
Funny stories about U2:
Now...the frazzled musicians are grumbling into their coffee cups in the Sunset Marquis breakfast room...
Finally Bono organizes his thoughts enough to demand to know why they have been made to sit here waiting to depart.
"Dennis said we had to leave by nine or we'd miss the gig," Larry says bitterly. "Now look! It's nine-thirty."
They all snort and nod. "And he wonders why we don't believe him," Bono says. They all grunt and agree.
Suddenly Edge opens one of his eyes. "Where is Dennis?" he asks.
"He's gone to the airport." Larry shrugs...
The four members of U2 stare at each other stupidly. Finally Bono speaks: "Are we waiting for a phone call that will never come?" They stare at one another. Finally Bono goes up and goes over to the limo driver. The driver has been waiting for U2 while U2, used to being transported like very expensive pandas, have been waiting for someone to move them...They jump up and hurry to the car.
In the car Bono struggles to get the TV to switch channels, but it stays stuck on one of those half-hour self-help commercials. Finally, in exasperation, Bono says, "Edge, you're the scientist, can you get this to work?" Edge leans over and tries to change the station. Each time he does, it clicks back to the self-help ad. This is very strange. Edge gets down and fiddles the switches with the furrow-browed dedication of Louis Pasteur at his Bunsen burner, oblivious as Bono to the fact that Larry is sitting with a remote control by his leg, clicking the channel back each time Edge tries to change it.
While Bono was doing his solo opening of "One" tonight, Larry slipped into the vast underworld beneath the stage to stretch his legs. One of the crew took off his phone operator's headset and handed it to Larry, who put it on and listened in to the video directors talking to each other, calling shots, ordering close-ups, and generally making sure the giant TV screens were jumping. Larry dialed up Monica Caston, the live video director, and said in an American drawl like one of the security crew, "Monica, ah don't like this shot of Bono."
Her flustered voice came back, "What do you mean you don't like it? What's wrong with it?"
"Ah don't know, ah jest don't like it. Why don't you change it?"
"Blow me!"
"Monica," Larry said, switching back to his own stern voice, "this is Larry." Her scream almost blew out a few headsets. Laughing, Larry slipped back behind his drums.
When Adam and Larry arrive for the "Numb" shoot at the film studion in Spandau...Edge has already been working for five hours. He is sitting on a stool in a black sleeveless T-shirt with three sexy women on the floor around him like the cover of Electric Ladyland.
"Tough work, Edge?" Larry asks...
Director Godley is in the middle of coaching a little girl, about five, on how to beat on Edge's chest. "Harder! Hit harder!" he tells her.
Larry steps forward: "I'll do it!"...
The director has an inspiration. He asks an assistant to throw a bunch of couch cushions on the floor behind Edge. Then he tells Larry to come over, put his hand on Edge's face, and push him straight over backward, stool and all. Larry says, great! Edge says, "Should we try it first with somebody expendable?"
They give it a shot. Larry comes up fiercely, grabs a handful of Edge's face, and sends him reeling over backward, both feet straight up in the air like a cartoon...
Godley suggests that maybe it should be Bono who comes up and binds Edge with the string.
"Bono?" Edge says with mock alarm. "Bono is going to tie ropes around my neck? Wait a minute..."...
Finally they film the entire first sequence...The two models drag their tongues across his cheeks ("More tongue! cries the director. "Now bite his ear! Harder! Lick his face!)...
The director reads off the list of options: "Do you want Morleigh's legs around your neck or her foot in your face?"
Bono, Adam, and Larry say together, "The foot in the face!"
Edge: "I prefer the legs around the neck."
Back on the set, Edge returns to his seat while Morleigh and Andrea climb up on card tables on either side of him and start rubbing their bare feet all over his face. Edge, his eyes closed, is enjoying it very much. Larry sneaks up, takes his shoe off, and adds his smelly, socked foot to the facial, ruining Edge's fun...
I whisper to him [Bono] that it would be funny if someone lifted Edge's ever-present hat off - and he had another one underneath. Bono's eyes light up and he goes over and whispers the idea to Godley, who laughs. They call over Edge, who shots it down faster thana a slow duck on the first day of hunting season. Edge keeps his lid on.
All excerpts from U2 at the End of the World, by Bill Flanagan
There were the beginnings of some scripts, but since they're not finished, I won't bore you with them!
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Proud owner of Larry's mesh shirt
And now for something completely different...
Fortune cookie lyrics!
"Live your life filled with joy and wonder"
"Faith lies in the ways of sin"
"The future is no place to place your better days"